In a world fascinated by instant success, glittering lifestyles, and borrowed identities, The Power of Competence offers a refreshing and deep-rooted truth: success is not inherited or imitated; it is built. And the material with which it is built is competence. We live in an age where people effortlessly copy the external trappings of their role models—the clothes they […]
Meditation has long been recognized as a pathway to self-discovery, inner calm, and heightened awareness. Beyond relaxation, meditation offers something deeper—it enables us to look inward and understand ourselves more clearly. But can meditation truly help us uncover what lies beneath our surface awareness? The answer is yes. Through consistent practice, meditation sharpens our perception […]
For centuries, the human mind has been captivated by one of life’s most profound questions: Is death truly the end, or is there something more? These questions can stir unease, especially when we only hold a partial understanding of the topic. The book, Beyond Life by Sirshree Tejparkhi, is here to unveil these deep mysteries. […]
Life often feels like a winding road, with both breathtaking vistas and unexpected roadblocks. We set out with a purpose, a destination in mind, only to find our journey swayed by the pendulum of our emotions and the constant tug of the mind. But what if these challenges aren’t meant to derail us, but to […]
Have you ever wondered how a simple “Thank you” can transform your life? It’s a phrase so familiar, yet so profound. It holds the power to transform the way we experience life. It’s not just an expression, but a vibration—one that must be deeply felt to truly resonate. Gratitude is not just a polite gesture; […]
Maharashtra, a land of spiritual luminaries, has been blessed by the presence of great saints like Saint Dnyaneshwar, Saint Namdev, Saint Eknath, and Swami Ramdas. These luminous souls graced the earth, imparting wisdom to uplift humanity. Among this constellation of saints, Saint Tukaram shines as a beacon, igniting a devotional renaissance in Maharashtra. Despite the […]
All of us often encounter minor or major upheavals in life, be it in our professional, financial, social, emotional, or even spiritual aspects. When confronted with these unexpected events, we unknowingly adopt a victim mindset, attributing our problems to others, external circumstances, or even ourselves. Most of us can relate to this in our own […]
Christmas is a time of celebration, a season filled with cherished traditions. Yet amidst the familiar traditions, the true significance can sometimes be overshadowed by the festivities. It is a time to reflect on the core message of Christmas beyond just the festivities. What wisdom can we draw from Jesus’s teachings? What messages and teachings […]
In our hectic daily lives, we often relate to the feeling of missing or lacking something. It could be as trivial as a missing ingredient in our food, the absence of love and support from our dear ones, a gap in our progress toward our health goals, the lack of spiritual progress, or even something […]
A Healthy Mind, a Path to Salvation Lessons from the Life of Saint Ravidas There was once a cobbler who lived in the holy city of Kashi, who not only cobbled shoes but also guided people in cobbling their life together onto the path of salvation. Saint Ravidas. Born in the 15th century to Santokh […]
In a tech-infused era, we live in a world embedded in technology, and now Artificial Intelligence, i.e., AI, is becoming a silent conductor orchestrating our daily lives. There is so much “artificialness” in our daily lives today. Is the omnipresence of AI a tool we wield, or has it morphed our behavior? Are we harnessing […]
Did you know that at any given time you are with four bodies on Earth? They are the material body made of food, the breath layer which energizes the material body, the mind layer or the thought layer, and the wisdom-intellect layer. This whole human composition has been called as Mano-Sharir-Yantra (MSY) in Hindi which […]
As we focus on articles on the role of the Guru in the spiritual journey of a seeker, let’s also discuss the importance of the words and advice given by the Guru. This article sheds light on the importance of the commandments and orders that come directly from the Guru. Not a single word spoken […]
“A dream is not that which you see while sleeping. It is something that does not let you sleep.” ~ Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam So, are you awake? There are two kinds of people in this world—the ones who dream, and the others who make their dreams real. Where do you stand? Long ago, someone dreamt […]
Beep, Beep, Beep… Snooze… and then… Ahh…I’m late again! Are mornings a fight for you? Exercises… Not now… sure for tomorrow! Do you procrastinate? Your words to a colleague or friend or relative… Promise! I will get back to you soon! Sounds familiar? Is this how your day wears on? Are you fighting a losing […]
On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, let us understand the missing links in the import of some of the Buddha’s teachings to direct our lives towards liberation. There is a significance behind the three names associated with the life of the Buddha. As Siddhartha, he lived the life of a prince. As Gautama, he […]
This day in the Indian calendar is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Saint Mahavir. This day marks the birth of Saint Mahavir’s physical body. However, through the practice of rigorous austerities, Saint Mahavir had attained freedom from the cycle of birth and death by being free from the vices of the mind. […]
Everybody would like to lead a happy, fulfilling, and dignified life and strive towards making it possible. But this can become a reality only when all the members in a family understand the value of self-sufficiency and attain it. With self-sufficiency, we can attain dignity and completeness. A conservative meaning of self-sufficiency would mean earning […]
The waves in the ocean continuously emerge from it and again dissolve back into it. The wave doesn’t have an existence of its own. It is a part of the ocean itself. In other words, the wave is nothing but the ocean. Its properties are the same as that of the ocean. It’s just that […]
Our tongue has the power to win the world if we train it to always make use of positive and pleasant words, also reducing its indulgence in tasty foods at the same time. This may sound like an overstatement or too simplistic a formula for so great a goal but it is true nonetheless. We […]
Once, some people from a nearby village visited a saint to seek solutions to their problems they were facing from their neighbors and relatives. They felt that the saint would help them by giving some mantra or asking them to do some ritual. The saint asked each one of them to bring as many potatoes […]
Nature functions based on certain unseen laws. Aligning our thinking, our actions, and our faith with these laws makes the journey of life effortless and joyful. The visible laws of nature are quite evident. For example, if one were to thrust their hand into a fire, it would be burnt. We know this; it is […]
This is a day of deep reflection for spiritual seekers, as it commemorates the birth of the devotee of divine devotion – Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Shri Ramakrishna lived utterly immersed in devotion all his life. While serving as the priest at Mother Kali’s temple at Dakshineshwar, he became an ardent lover of devotion. If we […]
We all set different goals in life. And when we align these goals with our interests and abilities, we not only achieve these goals but also enjoy the process and efforts taken to fulfill them. But a powerful aim, that is beyond all the goals in our life, can help us achieve all our goals. […]
Happy St. Valentine’s Day! On this Valentine’s day, let’s explore the essence of true love with the help of a story. There was once a person named “J” who had a cute little son “L”. As he had to set out of home for his daily chores, he requested his neighbor to take care of […]
The 12th day of January 1863 is etched in Indian and indeed the world history as a day that witnessed the birth of a soul that would go on to fuse spiritual quest and intellectual excellence and bring about a spiritual revolution so amazing that its effects would escape the horizons of both time and […]
In this challenging year, we all have been graced with the opportunity to look within. For many, it has given the chance to re-define the meaning of their life. Christmas, too, is no exception. Festivals are celebrated in a true sense only when they bring about the right change in our lives. All over the […]
What is Peace? There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. So, allow Peace to bring peace. To understand this, we first need to understand what Peace is. Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is something different. We all dwelled in a state of beingness which was prominent till the time […]
Hope is an infallible power given to mankind. It is the pivot that transforms seemingly bleak situations into opportunities for a better life. It is hope that makes the bird chirp, welcoming daylight when the dawn is still dark. As long as we have hope, we can recover from anything—any setback, disaster, loss, or even […]
Five lamps were burning inside a house. The first lamp was that of Enthusiasm. One day, it said, “I am getting bored and tired. I think it is better to die. Nobody cares for me. To keep burning is futile.” Thinking so, it got extinguished. Seeing the lamp of enthusiasm go out, the second lamp—that […]
The day of Magh Poornima on the 9th of February was celebrated as Saint Ravidas Jayanti. Saint Ravidas is known for his devotion for Lord Krishna. He is also known as the Guru of Saint Meerabai – the well-known devotee of Lord Krishna from Rajasthan. Saint Ravidas personified the line – Work is Worship. The […]
An Extract from the New Year Message Delivered by Sirshree Happy New Year! Welcome to GOA! The message for 2020 is simple… Get to GOA! You may wonder why you are being asked to get to Goa. But wherever you are – at home, at your workplace, at your school or college, or at the […]
24th November is being commemorated as the anniversary of Sanjeevan Samadhi taken up by Sant Dnyaneshwar at the tender age of 21. Samadhi is the state of being established in pure consciousness. A wave rises in the ocean, falls back and becomes one with the ocean. When it rises again, it now does so with […]
Happy Diwali! The Festival of Lights is being celebrated all over with joy and zeal. Goddess Laxmi is venerated on the main day of Diwali. She is the harbinger of wealth and prosperity. Hence, we perform pooja (worship ritual) to seek the Goddess’ blessings and please Her. When we look at wealthy people around us, […]
Dnyaneshwari Jayanti is being observed this year on the 20th of September. This commemorates the completion of Dnyaneshwari – the profound work of practical wisdom – rendered by Sant Dnyaneshwar during the spiritual renaissance in the 13th century. Society in those times was in a state of upheaval, rampant with discrimination based on caste and […]
Happy Independence Day. India would be celebrating its 73rd Independence day on 15th August 2019. But have we truly achieved freedom? Let us understand this with the help of a short story. There was a prison where several inmates were serving their sentences and were assigned rigorous jobs. Being in prison was a struggle, but […]
Wasn’t it a beautiful celebration of Guru Poornima. I am sure you too must have made the most of this auspicious day by offering your heartfelt wishes to your Guru who has brought transformation in our lives. Coming back to our Devotion series, as in our previous article, let us read further about the other […]
FORGIVENESS: The One Practice That Liberates you from Everything In our previous article, we read about how and why Jesus forgave those who crucified him. Forgiveness is the highest virtue given to mankind. It’s no wonder that history is replete with stories of great saints, who practiced forgiveness, be it Jesus or Saint Meera. In […]
Happy Thoughts! This earth was once treaded upon by a Messiah, who not only forgave people, but also embraced a painful death to absolve their sins. He embraced death for the upliftment of mankind. He even forgave those who betrayed him and those who crucified him. It is the greatest form of forgiveness and sacrifice […]
There is a happy natural state of peace within us. This state is always present. This happy natural state is the feeling of consciousness within. It is the existential experience of being. It is our natural higher self. Peace in simple words means being connected to the consciousness that encompasses us all. Peace is when […]
We just celebrated one of the biggest festival of the year, Diwali. Crackers, sweets, gifts and a joyful experience all around. It’s common to give and receive gifts during this festive season. As eager we are to open the gifts we received and so are we excited to know the feedback for the gifts we […]
In the last article we read about emotional maturity, the value that we give to every incident or situation happening in our life. Now let’s go a step further and understand emotions and how to get rid of negative emotions. Feelings like stress, anxiety, fear and anger have a debilitating effect on health. Researchers have […]
We all face negative incidents in our life. Our happiness or sorrow is not determined by the incident as it is, but rather by how we perceive it. At some point we really need to think and decide how much value we should give to the incidents happening in our life. Here’s a small example […]
In today’s world we find people suffering from stress and many more such issues due to the problems and situations which they face. While we are in such situations, the typical thought that runs in our mind: ‘How I wish I had a solution to all my problems and they all could just vanish away’. […]
Let’s read through the next part of the article on recognizing the true spiritual guru. (click here to read the first part.) We understood the claims that people make to be known as a guru. Let’s look at some more claims to gain complete clarity and identifying the right guru for ourselves. Seeker A: I have […]
As we focus on articles on Guru this month, let’s discuss yet another important and related topic. In the previous article ‘True Guru: Importance and Role‘, we discussed who is a true guru and his role in our lives. In this article, we shall focus on how one can identify the right Guru and recognize […]
July is a very special month as we celebrate Guru Purnima this month. Guru Purnima is a day that symbolizes the giving of eternal wisdom. It is a day to celebrate the wisdom that the guru has blessed us with and express our gratitude for it. It’s also a full moon night, symbolizing the guru leading […]
No matter how successful we are in our professional life, no matter how many friends we have, no matter how prosperous our family is, and no matter how loving our relationships are, we always yearn for ‘something else’ to give a sense of completion to our quests as human beings. Knowingly or unknowingly, we are […]
The primary hurdle in the experience of the Self is the assumed individual identity, which you refer to as ‘I’. When an individual identity is assumed, it gives birth to the illusion of a separate ‘I’, confined within the boundaries of your body. With the birth of this illusory separate ‘I’, whatever happens with your […]
We’ve discussed the primary aim of human life and why we tend to get entangled in the worldly illusion (in article Why do we tend to be entangled in this illusory world?). We also discussed about how the mind is one of the reasons why we get entangled. Hence, in this article we shall discuss […]
In our previous article, we discussed that the ultimate aim of human life is to awaken to the experience of Self, to abide in it, and cause others to awaken to the magnificent wellspring of Self within them. Anything that serves this purpose alone is worth engaging in. Yet we are so lured by the […]
In the last article, we understood what faith is and also about Ultimate Faith. Everybody thinks that God created man, and everybody lives with this belief. But it is very difficult to understand the truth that God did not create man, but God became man. Faith in this truth is the ultimate form of faith […]
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. How true is this line from Martin Luther King, Jr. Everyone possesses faith. It’s just that it is expressed in varying degrees in various people. When in difficult times, we often hear these words, “Just have […]
Has the thought ever occurred to you as to who is actually seeing or witnessing all this that is going around? Or have you felt that something just happened even before you could just realize that it happened. Who is the one who is aware of all that is happening while it is happening? Where […]
Self-realization is the direct experience of Self. Self-stabilization comes when one abides permanently in the experience of Self. It is necessary to internalize the understanding completely to be stabilized in Self. When the wattage of a bulb is low, it cannot handle the electric current. If the bulb has to receive electricity, it is necessary […]
Imagine a double screen television having a front screen, as well as a screen at the rear side. You would never see such a television practically, but just imagine this for the purpose of this analogy. You may call this a dual-sided or double-screen television. Imagine that there is a torch placed behind this dual-sided […]
To attain freedom from anything, we will have to first understand what it exactly is. So let us first understand Maya––the cosmic illusion––before we consider being free from it. The popular concept of Maya brings forth pictures of materialism involving the acquisition and preservation of material pleasures and conveniences like comforts, luxuries, money, swanky cars, […]
You cannot borrow the Truth from outside; it cannot be obtained. This is because it is already available within you. When a true master points at the truth within you, it is by this grace that true wisdom awakens within you. Truth is subjective experience, not objective knowledge. It cannot be known as you would […]
Spirituality is all about knowing the true Self through direct experience. The Self cannot be understood as one would understand any other subject, as it is beyond concepts, beyond the comprehension of the intellect. While it may defy explanation for many, there is no denying of its existence – for it is existence itself! While […]
On the path to Enlightenment, the method of enquiry can be divided into two distinct categories for simplicity and effectiveness: Enquiry of the Self and Enquiry of the mind. Otherwise, seekers would stray in wrong directions by misunderstanding enquiry of the Self and enquiry of the mind to be the same. There are many spiritual […]
While the practice of Self Enquiry (asking the question Who am I?) is gaining credence, there is another form of enquiry that is helpful in spiritual growth too. Called the Enquiry of the Mind, it is a precursor to the Enquiry of the Self. In this article let us understand the Enquiry of the Mind. […]
There are many paths that lead to enlightenment – the state of stabilization in Self-experience. These are Gyana (Wisdom), Dhyana (Meditation), Karma (Action), Japa (Chanting), Self-Enquiry, Bhakti (Devotion), etc. But they can broadly be divided into just two – the Path of Wisdom and the Path of Devotion. The Path of Devotion is that of […]
When a nightingale sings, would you ask why it ‘needs’ to sing? No. Singing is not the nightingale’s need; it is its nature. It’s only man who assesses everything in terms of needs and benefits. Just as a bird sings, the world too is the song of God! There is no need for the word […]
On Self-realization, one comes to know the very first announcement with which the game of this world began. The one who forgets the first announcement gets entangled in the announcements that came later. But the day he remembers the first announcement, he remembers the purpose of life in this world. He realizes the temporary nature […]
Seeker 1: I’ve been hearing and reading about the Law of Karma in various forums and literature. What exactly is the Law of Karma? Sirshree: Let us look at some situations to understand the Law of Karma. Let us suppose a young boy by the name of Sam stole 100 rupees from his father’s wallet. […]
The question, “who am I?” has been globally recognized as a first step to self-enquiry, the pathway that leads us from our outer world to the inner world. However, with so many activities and distractions of the modern times and social media era, people are deeply entangled in those external distractions that keep the mind […]
A mother has three sons. They are all seated in a room. The first son wants to watch the television, the second one wants to listen to the radio and the third wants to paint a picture. All three are fighting with each other. The first son says, “You stop painting.” The third one says, […]
I want the ultimate truth. But, is it really necessary to make so much effort, put the body through so much pain? Isn’t there someone somewhere who can answer all my questions? Something is wrong in all the spiritual practices that are being promoted throughout the world, somewhere there is a missing link. The primary […]
It is common for man today, to focus more on external achievements and material comfort, ignoring the inner calling for spiritual growth. The desire to be peaceful, to be in harmony with one and all, to live a life in the service of others, is often subdued. Pursuit of worldly desires seems more practical. Spirituality […]
Seeker: In society, we live and deal with many relations. Sometimes we feel relationships are for our good, but why do we get entangled in difficult relationships? Sometimes we just drag the relationship with our partners. Sirshree: Have you ever thought over the meaning and nature of a relationship? How many of us have ever […]
Are you aware of the greatest corruption of all? This is a corruption that goes on throughout the day. This is a corruption that almost all people indulge in. This is the costliest corruption of all. So, what is the greatest and all-pervasive corruption going on from time immemorial? The greatest corruption of all is […]
Seeker: What is the definition of spirituality and how far is it required in life? Sirshree: Spirituality means knowing our self and understanding our true nature. Many people think that spirituality is not really required to that extent. Let us understand this through an example. There are some people who live in a jungle. They […]
Seeker: Is self-realization the ultimate goal of life or is there anything beyond? Sirshree: Before answering the question, it is important to know your understanding of self-realization. One day a seeker experiences a deeply profound meditative state. He is in a no-mind state for quite some time. It is an experience of self-realization. Somebody experiences […]
