Babaji’s Message in Mumbai on 4th January 2009

Babaji came to my town this week-end and I am reminded of those days when the satsang used to take place in Bandra and my whole lane, of 36th road, used to be filled with satsangis who would come from different parts of the world to attend the satsang and there would be so much cheer in my town. I was too young to understand the significance of Hazur Maharaji’s visit to my town but there used to be lot of excitement in my house. For me it was like Hazur Maharaji has come to Bombay and there will be Langar in my lane and I will enjoy the meals and drinks that can be purchased with coupons. The meals had special flavor and were enjoyed by non-satsangis as well. There would be many families in my lane who would not cook during the whole week. There were many guests in my house too, who would talk about the satsangs and about Hazur Maharaji’s life styles, which was normally after attending the discourse. They would meet with family and friends in my house and discuss the teachings and I would listen to them, not understanding a word. My family and my guests talked about meditating on Naam, about abstaining from meat and about adopting a simple and pure life style. Over the years, the venue for Satsang has changed. It now takes more than an hour (depending on traffic) to reach Bayander and listen to the satsang and get a glimpse of Babaji. Although the sangat has multiplied ten fold, the message has not changed over the years Babaji had same message to convey that Hazur Maharaji had repeated for forty years. Babaji preached the significance of Naam and our ignorance on understanding the true path of reaching God, and that path resides within us. And Babaji conveyed the same message, once more, this week-end. He began his satsang by saying: “Which spiritual route can be taken so that we are able to accomplish our goal of reaching God?” He stressed the importance of meditating on ‘Naam’ which is the true path and not to get discouraged easily. Every deed is recorded and according to the law of karma, we come back to this world again and again and built up more Karma and getting entangled in this vicious circle of birth and death. To be released from this cycle, we have to find the right path of truth. Our thoughts are scattered in the external world. By collecting all our scattered thoughts from nine apertures of our body and converging it to the eye centre, concentrating on ‘Naam’ we are able to connect the ‘Word’ with the ‘Sound’ which is within us and get the strength in liberating our self from this cycle of birth and death. ‘Naam’ is strength which is inside us and without which we cannot be alive, without ‘Naam’ there is no life. Shabd is the strength which has made the creation and without shabd everything is scattered. If we look outside in the world, we will never find it, the strength is inside. Although externally, it is known by many words, we cannot understand its strength unless we experience it our self. It is not connected to any one particular religion because it ihas stretched over centuries; it is this strength which is the basis of creation. Gurus and spiritual guides are just physical human being who show us the path and help us to recognize and connect the ‘Word’ with the ‘Light’ and ‘Sound’ which is within us. They are not Gods. We cannot get salvation by touching their feet or their clothes. To get salvation, we have to understand their message, absorb it and work hard on meditation to find its’ strength inside us. He cited the example of a child who is admitted in school. The child cannot pass his exam merely by touching his teachers’ feet and bowing down, he has to listen to what his teachers has taught him, understand it well and absorb it. He cited another example of a chef, who cannot fill his stomach by merely reading the cook books. Understanding and absorbing the method and then actually cooking it and eating the food will fill his stomach eventually. Similarly, we have to concentrate on the message of God. If there is no improvement in your behavior; if you cannot absorb the message and make your own life meaningful then, it is of no use of attending endless satsangs. The true value of satsang is maintained only when you understand the real purpose of attending it. Therefore it is important to understand the true meaning of ‘Naam’ which is the strength within us, a life supporting system, without which, our life is useless. We are so engrossed in ‘me’ and ‘Myself’ that we lose contact with the real thing and forget to concentrate on ‘Naam’ to reach the supreme goal. If you have true love for your Guru, then you should understand and follow his true message. He ended with a shabd that said, “Naam ki ghat Niyari….Gur prasadi karm karo….Bin satguru, Naam nahi jagge…. Radha Soami

Can College Students Work Without A Crown?

Doctors have advised me to take walks to stay healthy. The best place to have long walks is by the sea shore. I often go to Bandstand or Carter road for my evening walks. But there are times when I am too lazy to go to a sea shore, and the next best option is to go to a park on the linking road. That means walking on our Mumbai road. And it is a night mare walking on those Bandra streets. The uneven roads and open gutters are eye-sore. The road outside National College is in pitiful state. There is no proper footpath. Broken tiles and uneven roads make it too dangerous for walking. One false step and I could land in hospital with broken bones. Is our Bandra ward so poor that they cannot mend the roads? They use cheap materials that last only a week. Small pebbles and dust is scattered on the streets. This road is just outside National College but it does not affect even the young college students who use these roads everyday. Many years ago, during my short visit to Holland, I had seen young college students helping with the civil work of repairing and restoring the government buildings. It is the part of the curriculum in college to contribute to the community with their services and care. But would our college students in Mumbai do that? They would consider this too lowly a job to undertake. The college students in Mumbai take more active part in organizing noisy parties and having social entertainments. Are they capable to giving anything back to society? Everybody plays a blame game and pointer is always outward. After the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, we saw many college students start a temporary uprising, shouting slogans, lighting candles and organizing loud street plays to divert the TV camera on their ego, but how many of them are really disturbed by the poor state of our Mumbai streets? Will somebody work without a proper crown to show off their credentials? Light off. Action Shoot.

I don't go to any beach in Mumbai......

I cannot..... because they are so dirty..... Mumbai civic authorities want to spend Rupees six crore for cleaning the Versova, Madh, Marve, Manori and Gorai beaches Will our Mumbai beaches be as clean as this? No? Then why do they want to waste the tax payer’s money. Don’t they know that people in Mumbai are not used to cleanliness and it takes them only half a minute to mess things up. Don’t they learn from their earlier mistakes? Their earlier contract to clean the Girguam, Dadar and Juhu Chowpatty is in operation since 2005, but are they are clean?. During early morning, when we go for walk, we still see bare buttock doing their morning work, during evening hours there are people eating bhel puri and ground nuts and throwing the garbage on the beach. There are many plastic bags floating near the shores. There are no garbage cans on the beach. Before we can even think of cleaning the beaches, it is important to spread the message of cleanliness.(not that any attempts have not been made to educate the public, but some people don't register) And that is the difficult task. Nobody has succeeded in teaching civic sense to Mumbaites. I am guilty too. I, too, have no courage to confront a person who is messing up the streets. I see auto rickshaw drivers spitting on the road, children shitting on foot paths and commuters throwing bus ticket as soon as they alight from bus. But do I say anything? I can’t. Like the other day, I was traveling by bus and I saw a woman, sitting next to me, eating batatawada in the bus, after she finishes, she stretches her hand and throws the paper through the window, (her hand brushed against my nose, but still I did not say anything) I am afraid to stop her. I just plug my ears, close my eyes and listen to music. I am not ready to risk the embarrassment of a squabble. I am told that they will hire contractors and hold them responsible, Nah! it will still not work. They may have best of machinery and manpower, but they can not instill civic sense where there is nil. Will our beaches be ever clean? Forget it. We will enjoy clean beaches on our holidays in some distant land.

Sorry Ma'am, I am 'On Time'

It was on the dot of 3pm that I reached the venue at Nerul for a convention and nobody was there. I looked around and saw one girl working on her computer. “Excuse me? Is there some meeting here today or am I in the wrong place?” I asked the receptionist. “Yes, there is a meeting, please be seated.” And I waited for next twenty minutes before I saw the familiar face. Coming late for any gathering is the norm in India. Actually, punctuality is the art of guessing how late the other person is going to be. I am learning to be unpunctual, because coming on time gets very embarrassing for me. Few months ago, I was invited for wedding anniversary of the friend. I was given the invitation card which specified the time of the occasion as 7pm. When I arrived at 7pm I had to apologize for being on time, the venue was still getting its finishing touches, the host and the family members were busy giving orders to the volunteers, I wanted to move forward to congratulate my friend but I was asked to wait for their magnificent entry. I looked around to find some comfortable seat for me, but my movement was the distraction for the organizers. I hid behind the pillar, on a low seat and waited patiently for party to begin, maybe I needed to change my this bad habit of being ‘on time’ Late comers don’t care nor respect other people’s time. One of the parents of the autistic child was mentioning to me about the plight of her child outside the doctor’s clinic. The doctors give the appointment at certain hour, but they are still made to wait for more than two hours. During those two hours, the child gets restless and starts throwing temper tantrums which is quite frustrating for the parents. Over the years, our society seems to have lost its sense of urgency when it comes to being on time for anything. The most punctual people I have ever seen are in government offices. Sharp at one o’clock, during the lunch hour and at five o’clock, the closing hour, the office window will close, although at other hours of the day they might be punctuality challenged. I know it is going to be hard to change my habits. Poor time-keeping might make me sloppy, lazy, selfish and unorganized. But don’t blame me. I am forced to change to keep my nerves cool at all times of the day.

Are our airports safe?

After26/11, there is security concerns everywhere in Mumbai. They check your purse at the theatres and shopping malls. The lifts in the 5-star hotels cannot operate without your room key. The schools are installing cameras in their school premises. The building societies have hired two extra securities guards after the terror. Even the senior citizens are hiring a personal security guard. Every node of Mumbai may be safe now, except, our Airports, where we see thousands of people waiting and whiling away their time, out on the streets,