Five Steps to attain Salvation

I had been hearing about the attainment of salvation from my very childhood. The stories from Puranas which also turned out to be our bedtime stories, pointed out the importance of Salvation/ Moksha. As a child the word appeared to be out of bounds to children and strictly for the grown-ups. Still at times the questions, what moksha is and how it could be achieved crept into the mind.Though it could not hold sway for much time; kept coming back from time to time.How could one  attain Moksha? I asked many. But the answers i got didn't satisfy me at all.

The growing up years and the world around me, pushed my doubts to the back corner of my mind, but never into oblivion. And i always knew that i will come to know about it one day.

And that one day came without any drama, when my Guru embraced me into his fold. His teachings were a great revelation and it also gave me a sense of deja-vu. Not of this life, maybe of a previous one. The blessings of the Guru might have swept away the darkness from my inner-eye. And these are what i found:


The five steps to attain Salvation / Moksha:

Knowing oneself.

Knowing the Supreme Being.

Knowing the path leading to the Supreme Being and following it in total faith.

Knowing the hurdles one has to face, while following the chosen path to the Supreme One.

Knowing the bliss, when one surpasses all hurdles and reaches the Supreme Being.                

I'll try to deliberate on the above later.

Selfie

We have come across many many definitions and descriptions on friends and friendships. How much of it is true? Is it possible to have a friend who understands us inside out.                                                             

In my experience i have got lots of good friends. We value and understand the goodness in each other. As for me, the topic of discussion with each friend is different, with one i discuss spirituality, with another i delve  on the intricacies of cooking, and yet another, we giggle throughout on trivial things and end up light hearted.

And Each of these relationships are important to me. Knowingly or unknowingly we never discussed unpleasant things, we loved and enjoyed the time spent together. I have never shared my deepest fears and insecurities with anyone. I always solved those myself.

This is how i became a true- blue selfie
As a youngster i held on to props,
My friends true- blue.
Time and tide,parted ways
with My friends true- blue.
Life carried me to new places
I tried, but could not find
New friends true- blue
Then  realized:
Overlooked the real one,
My Self
My friend true-blue.

Karma Yoga

What is Karma Yoga? Let us start with the meaning of the phrase. Karma means action and yoga* means union and the whole phrase literally means union of action. In short, Karma Yoga is the process of achieving perfection in action. It is the path of selfless service.

There are different levels of actions: Physical, emotional ( senses), mental, intellectual. A human being is usually pulled apart by these different levels of action, which in turn takes him away from his life plan - purification of the soul and finally salvation.

To attain Karma Yoga the body, the mind, the intellect and the senses must function in unison. For this to happen one should allow the life-plan to takeover - leave the rest to the Supreme Being and become just a witness to the magic that unfolds before one. 

*Yoga is the union of the mind, body and spirit. Yoga is the realization of the oneness of the individual consciousness to the cosmic consciousness. 

Master oneself

When one is born to a certain dimension, the nature of the dimension deploys its effects on the being. Genuine intention, honesty, constant aim and effort are needed to overcome these effects and find one’s true path to Salvation.

To live on this planet one needs a body which is composed of the PANCHABHOOTHA ( 5 elements ) – air, water, fire, ether, and  earth. The Panchabhootha  needs the PANCHENDRIYA ( 5 senses ) – smell, sight, sound, touch and taste, to experience life on Earth. The senses evoke desire in  human beings and in the long run enslaves the majority of them. The humans ignorant of the repercussions of being enslaved to their own senses, become trapped in the unending cycles of birth and death. Succumbing to ones senses increases ones karmic obligations, the result of which is more and more lifetimes.

What is the point of having more and more similar lifetimes?  Just a waste of precious time. One can overcome this by mastering one’s senses. When one masters one’s senses, the real world presents itself before him, where he is one with all. This develops detachment. Detachment is the first step towards salvation.

The Purpose of Life

"Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is reached." 

          - Swamy Vivekananda.


Each and every living being has a purpose in life. What is it? .......... It is to seek the Para Brahman, The Supreme being. Is it so easy??? ..........not at all. But each life is a step towards the goal.  

But there is no compulsion, no time frame. One can take one's own time to start one's pursuit of the Truth. One can start now or a few lifetimes later.

Once the decision is made, one should be like Tennyson's Ulysses and his men: 'To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.' Here is where Meditation comes to one's aid. It expands one's consciousness.  Every seeker must spend some time to meditate.

Sharanagathi

Everyday before meditation i do Sharanagathi......er.... What is Sharanagathi??? Well, Sharanagathi is the total surrender before the Supreme Being.

What does a human being achieve through Sharanagathi? I too didn't know about it,  until i happened to read an article in a Faith column:

When one surrenders oneself to the Supreme Lord, all the Sanchitha Karma (past life karma) and  Aagaami Karma (future life karma) are nullified.

But one cannot avoid the Prarabdha Karma (present life karma). One has to work ones way out of it.

When one surrenders completely, ones Kriyamana Karma ( Instant Karma ) becomes good. Thus the burden of Agaami Karma will not increase. 

But all the good Karmas are of no use  if you don't do Nishkaama Karma (Service).

The Taurus Full Moon had been a great eye-opener.

Akashic Record

Many among us write about our day to day activities in our diaries, most of us don’t. But the truth is each and everyone of us write our diary and that too with objectivity – even the fleeting thoughts are recorded. Every thought, every activity, every word are recorded by us and ChitraGupta is just a keeper of those records. This happens in ‘higher levels.’

Not only this, we are born with a plan - we have a purpose to fulfill in each life. But after birth we gradually forget and later 'pretend sleep' about the purpose, at least most of us, because that is the easiest thing to do.

And I think, a compilation of our life purpose and what we do on earth is known as Akashic Record in the esoteric circles. This record is not about a single life.

In the physical realm we put up a show. We foolishly think that no one is aware of what is going on within us, however malicious that might be. 

But the instance we take our eyes off the physical realm, we ourselves record everything very very  honestly.So in a way we keep a tab on ourselves. We spread our lifelong fare before the Supreme Being to be seen or 'judged.'