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Those wishing to quickly rescue Oneself and Others, Need to practice the most sacred Secret, The exchange of self with others! If it can be remedied, Why be upset about it? If it cannot be remedied, What is the use of being upset about it? (From the walls of Tushita, Dharamshala)

It was a 10 day long retreat on practicing Metta-Loving-Kindness. On the 8th day, I was able to share Metta with my spiritual friend for like 30 minutes without getting distracted.  The more I was practicing forgiveness for myself, the more I was able to develop Metta within me effortlessly.   It felt like I was cleaning a pipe that got choked with loads and loads of garbage.  It felt like the water was flowing freely-naturally without any obstruction.  After the formal sitting, I reflected and found that when I 'genuinely' started forgiving myself, I realized, that is all I have to do. I don't need to forgive the other person if I have forgiven myself. As when I looked more closely, I could see that it was all my mistake or craving or clinging towards some feelings/people that caused me pain and suffering. I suffered because of my own ignorance, not because of the other person. But one question was kept on coming in my mind, as Goenka ji said, "जितना गहरा राग है, उत...

This was my first time when I was getting introduced to  analytical meditation on  Equanimity during one of the course at Tushita. I began with seeing 'me' 'myself', I was directly looking into my eyes and recognizing all the positive and negative qualities of mine one by one, and wished, "May I be happy, May I be free from sufferings.." And then, I started thinking about a 'stranger', to whom I had seen on the street or on the TV channel. I did not know anything about that person. Very gently and with full awareness, I put myself into his/her place and started seeing the things from his perspective, and checked what that person really wants? and deep down I found that,  "He wants to be happy and wants to be free from sufferings.." Afterwards, I brought an image of a person (in my memory) whom I love, who is very close to me. I then started thinking about all the good and positive qualities of that person. I put myself also on his place and  ...

I keep asking this question to myself time to time just to remind myself of the impermanent nature of our being and also to shift my focus to spend my time on more meaningful stuff.. I have heard this in many teachings that at the time of death, we should generate positive thoughts like love, compassion and our state of mind should be positive. We need to cultivate our mind in this way, so that we don't regret or feel guilty on any of our life incidents of past. And this is something that helps me to be more mindful, to be in the moment. Remembering death sharpens our awareness towards LIFE!! Isn't it? If I want to be in the state of more compassion and love at the time of my death, I need to practice all these things in THIS MOMENT only. If I am living my life in a positive way, or by cultivating love and compassion for each living being right now, then the possibility is high that I would have similar state of mind when I die. I feel it is something like, if I am watering the...

One of my teacher, always emphasis on becoming MAD  :) M : Motivation What is my motivation for the day?  Before getting up from the bed in the morning, taking some time and setting a motivation for my day, is a wonderful thing to practice. And don't get off from your bed, until you set a motivation for the day. A : Action Are my actions, during the day, driven by 'that' motivation?  Simply living the whole day for that motivation. D : Dedication  Before going to bed, can I dedicate the positive energy (that I've accumulated during the day) to others?  Simply thinking about the people, who are suffering from delusions like anger, hatred etc. and giving them space in our heart and dedicate the accumulated merits to them, is such a beautiful practice before going to bed. Isn't it? PS Reminder to self : I can always start with setting a 'little' or 'small' motivations. :) Happy MADness! 💓

...when I was practicing the meditation on forgiveness... Initially, my mind started scolding me in a very sarcastic way, it laughed at me and  said, "why are you asking for forgiveness, when you were doing 'the' mistake at that time you lost your awareness and now you are asking for forgiveness. Go  to hell!!" It felt like there is a small innocent baby inside me with a devil. When I asked myself to forgive me, it (my mind) started taunting me. When I was forgiving the 'other person', I could feel my breath becoming so deep and deep. Particularly when I was looking directly into that person's eyes.  And when that person was forgiving me, it was kind of a neutral feeling. The more I was practicing it, the more I (my mind) was becoming stable. But at the end, it always asked me, "My dear, what if you repeat the mistake AGAIN?" and that was the moment I got scared, because I did not had any answer to it! :( . . I went to my teacher, and asked the s...