Rishika Ratnamanjari

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

On the spiritual path, many people still hold the mentality that they want to eat their cake and have it too.
‘I want to be close, but also not do the compassionate moral work that will allow me to be close to God and Guru.’ ‘I don’t want to be in the pure transformation of closeness to God, but God and Guru should be close to me in every way.’ But you cannot have it both ways. The two are opposite to each other. You either walk the spiritual path, or you don’t. Either you do the compassionate moral work and become an exemplary human being full of love and kindness - thus becoming a truly spiritual person. Or, you do not do the work, do not become an exemplary human being, and do not walk on the spiritual path. One cannot pretend to walk on the spiritual path and not be loving and kind. Spirituality goes hand in hand with your behavior, words, thoughts, and intentions. Whatever one chooses in life, the consequences are wholly one’s own. But most of the time people want the freedom to choose whatever they like, but the consequences they don’t want to shoulder. The consequences they push to God and Guru. ‘God and Guru are to blame if they don’t magically change the consequences after I have chosen poorly.’ For example, one speaks very poorly about the spiritual path but also says that one is walking strongly on it. No. You are not walking on the spiritual path if you are finding it so impossible to experience love, joy, and freedom in your life. It is much, much better that one leaves and does something else, to experience that missing love, joy, and freedom. If the words that one is using to speak of the spiritual path are so sarcastic or full of veiled negativity, one should ask oneself what’s the point of staying in a place or on a path that is not helping one get to true divine love and joy of God. The SatGuru does not want anything from anyone. His life is fully dedicated to God from the beginning to end. It is because one felt within one’s own life and heart to walk the spiritual path with the SatGuru, that one is walking. Please remember the freedom one always has to either walk the path or not. One should never forget that. One does need to go through any kind of force, intellectual gymnastics, or cognitive dissonance to stay on a path of misery. And if one really wishes to stay because one is finding true value, true love, true joy, true closeness to God - then one needs to analyze oneself. Is one behaving how spirituality shows or not; because they go together. If not, then one also has infinite other things to do in life. It is so simple yet people complicate things very much by jumping through so many hoops in their minds. If you feel a certain way, then speak and act the same way. If you feel a different way, then speak and act that way. It will make your own life easy and beautiful to be aligned within and outside. Let go of this mentality of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

On this day of Raksha Bandhan, let us keep in mind the connections of love that make this entire world one family.
So many places are facing crisis situations. Floods, earthquakes, wildfires, war, to mention a few. On the spiritual path, it is essential to see oneness everywhere. When any part is suffering, the Whole cannot be at ease. This entire creation is one family. It is time to truly learn the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and start to grow this energy of unconditional love for all. On this day, we celebrate Raksha Bandhan, the divine connection between a brother and sister. The Rakhi is a symbol of love and protection worn on the wrist, a constant reminder to keep love for others as the priority of life, and transform any self-centeredness. To see the same self shining in all and work hard to uplift the world with one’s light and compassion. This Raksha Bandhan, as Shreeman Narayan and Devi Parvati helped each other in their most difficult times, let us remember to offer that same hope, help, and love to everyone. Not just today, but every day. Let us hold a moment of silence remembering all those affected by the floods in Nepal and many other places that are facing an hour of darkness. We dedicate our prayers to them today, asking Bhagavan to help the light to shine through this very tough time for them. May He help everyone to come through this with His strength and grace. Shubh Raksha Bandhan. Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu, Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi, Shri Gurubhyo Namah Hari Om.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

As long as one has a ‘rescue fantasy’, one’s experience of SatGuru and God will be very limited.
A being who can rescue you from misery. Who can protect you when you feel unsafe. Someone who will love when you can’t love yourself. God and Satguru is and constantly gives all these things and infinite more. But He will first teach one to become so strong to be one’s own savior. So loving to rescue oneself from misery. So humble to protect oneself from all harm. So confident to be one’s own best friend. Become so truly loving to yourself that you can correct your mistakes without harsh self-criticism or arrogant ego. Simply with wonder at Bhagavan’s immense love and SatGuru Grace . This is the experience of God in your heart. He will free you fully from inside. And hold onto that experience, the values, qualities, and traits that led you to experiencing His unshakeable peace in your heart. Don’t let go of the inner qualities to now start experiencing God externally. The One who is everywhere infinite in quantity, who is the soul of your soul, who is present with form, name, and personality of His own. That One will also reveal Himself externally fully. Don’t ever doubt that. But don’t let go of the inner experience to hunt for the external, that will not work. Without the inner loving qualities, Bhagavan cannot reveal Himself in any way.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

In the moments before departing from this world, the atma is aware of all the secrets that were hidden inside itself.
The reason for coming to this world. The way it has lived its life. Who it has hurt. Who it has loved selflessly. Whose heart it has crushed. Whose heart was infused with comfort and warmth because of it. The atma becomes aware of the presence of the Antaryami fully. For a few moments. It has complete awareness. Those who have lived as true bhaktas, they carry this same state forward into their journey to Sri Hari’s lotus feet. But those who haven’t tried to walk the path of sincere and selfless love, this awareness brings them great regret and pain. The regret of not having lived well. The pain of having wasted such a beautiful opportunity to be born as a human in this world and yet having missed the opportunity to reach true freedom. Such an atma feels great sorrow knowing that that supreme awareness and knowledge will once again become dormant in a few moments. Because of its lack of ability to handle it. And it will have to start over again in a new life. The lotus feet of Shriman Narayan are extremely difficult to reach. Don’t think that the simple label of a bhakta, wearing a tilak or mala for some years, can bring you to Him. Not at all. The arduous process of removing everything except for endless love from one’s inner state is the most difficult thing. One is not guaranteed a place at the lotus feet of Bhagavan without one’s effort. Grace is always there. Especially when one has the great fortune to meet the SatGuru. But how you take that grace, how you handle its radiant beauty in your life, how you grow it and make it shine on all. That is what will change everything. The SatGuru’s grace, His love and mercy are everflowing and overflowing to all. But only those who have polished themselves to perfection through constant inner work and true positive change will reach that most exalted place. Allowing the SatGuru to lift you up towards Bhagavan is the greatest gift you can give Him. But this deep inner willingness to be humble and surrendered, and keeping that willingness always alive, is the choice of the jeevatma. The world cannot understand how much the SatGuru yearns to bring everyone to Bhagavan’s feet, where one can find everything one has ever longed for. And how much it hurts His heart to see that most are unwilling. So He just waits, seeing valuable time passing by, opportunities being wasted. And the jeevatma hurtling towards its own greatest misery; further disconnection from Bhagavan. Yet He cannot do anything because that is the jeevatma’s free choice to make. This is what the atma sees fully in the moments of its departure from this world. And for an atma that has made itself fully golden through its endless love and kindness, those final moments are filled with the most exquisite peace and joy. Blessed are the true bhaktas who have allowed their hearts to become endless fountains of selfless love to all

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

With the SatGuru, one realizes the heart of the Sanatan Dharma.
That there is one focus, to love all unconditionally as a part of God’s eternal self - whether it is a small atom or the cosmic planets, a rock, a river, piece of dust, a tree, an animal, a human, oneself, a situation, a feeling, a thought, a direct vision of God, anything and everything - at all times. All bhaktas should learn this simple yet powerful truth of the path with the SatGuru. Unconditional love. Take a deep breath and let it sink in. As one holds onto this truth with stronger and stronger deep inner knowing, the external rituals start to make sense as well. Atma Kriya Yoga. Puja. The Deities. One develops a genuine relationship with all the seemingly external things. Because one doesn’t see them only outside anymore. They become fully internalized. One realizes the joy and deepness of God in the external rituals, without making them a thing to become dogmatic about. The inner transformation is the foundation, the path, and the destination. The external is a temporary play which also reveals God in His full glory. He hides and appears in His creation. It’s just that most lack the eyes to see Him in the exterior world. When love cleans the eyes with humility and selflessness, it makes them capable to see Bhagavan. Start feeling the joy in the external rituals. Your every action in this world, from the simplest to the most complex, can become an act of worship that finds Bhagavan everywhere.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

🌎 🌍 🌏

*Who is saving whom?*

You are standing on a living organism that has been breathing for 4.5 billion years.

And it is trying to tell you something.

In 1970s, an American evolutionary biologist, Lynn Margulis and a British chemist named James Lovelock proposed an idea that seemed very radical at that time yet it is so extraordinarily real.

They called it “The Gaia Hypothesis.”

They said the Earth is not a dead rock with life on top of it.

They said the Earth IS life.

The atmosphere, the oceans, the soil, the temperature.

None of it is accidental.

The planet actively regulates itself the way your body regulates its own temperature.

When you get hot, you sweat.

When you get cold, you shiver.

Your body doesn’t wait for you to decide.

It corrects automatically.

Margulis and Lovelock said the Earth does the same thing.

When CO2 rises, forests expand to absorb it.

When the ocean gets too acidic, shell-building organisms pull calcium from the water and lock it into limestone.

When the surface gets too hot, clouds form to reflect sunlight.

The planet has been running its own thermostat for 4.5 billion years.

Without a manual.

Without an engineer.

Without permission from anyone.

It survived five mass extinctions.

It recovered from asteroid impacts that vaporized entire oceans.

It turned a ball of molten lava into a system that grows rainforests and coral reefs.

And then we showed up.

In the last 200 years, we decided the Earth was a resource, not a relative.

We extracted its blood and called it “oil.”

We tore open its skin and called it “mining.”

We filled its lungs with chemicals and called it “progress.”

And when the planet started running a fever, we debated whether the fever was real.

You would never look at a person with a 102 degree temperature and say “I don’t believe in your fever.”

But we did that to our own home, an entire planet.

Here is what they understood which most people still don’t.

The Earth does not need saving.

The Earth has survived things that would make a nuclear bomb look like a firecracker.

It survived the Great Oxygenation Event, when a new organism called cyanobacteria flooded the atmosphere with a gas so toxic it killed nearly every living thing on the planet.

That toxic gas was oxygen.

The thing you are breathing right now was once the deadliest pollution event in Earth’s history.

The planet adapted.

Life rebuilt.

New species emerged that could breathe in the poison and thrive.

The Earth will do this again.

It will survive us.

The question never was, “Can the Earth survive what we are doing?”

The question always has been, “Can we survive how the Earth will respond to our exploitation?”

Because the planet does not negotiate.

When a system is pushed too far, it corrects.

It doesn’t correct gently. It doesn’t send a warning letter.

It sends ice ages.

It sends floods.

It sends extinction events.

And then it starts over.

The planet is not fragile.

We are.

We are the species that built glass towers on fault lines and cities below sea level and then acted surprised when the ground shook and the water rose.

We are not the owners of this planet.

We are the tenants.

And the landlord is losing patience.

The Earth doesn’t need a movement.

It needs us to remember something we forgot the moment we paved over the first meadow.

We are not separate from nature.

We are nature.

And the war we declared on the planet is a war we declared on ourselves.

You cannot poison the water and keep your blood clean.

You cannot burn the forest and keep your lungs clear.

You cannot strip the soil and keep your food alive.

Everything you do to the Earth, you do to your own body.

You are not on the Earth.

You ARE the Earth.

And it is running out of ways to talk to you.

Period.

(author unknown)

Please raise this awareness. For EARTH is what we all have in common.

🌎 🌍 🌏

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Shubh Varalakshmi Vratham to everyone.
This day celebrates the utmost love of Mahalakshmi for Bhagavan Narayan and His complete dedication to Her. Keeping continuous vigil for Her beloved today, Mahalakshmi manifested her eternal form and married Shreeman Narayan for all eternity. This Vrat, or vow, of Mahadevi is an example for all. Her love and devotion to Him doesn’t make her weak or less than Him. In today’s world, people have forgotten this. She is the all-powerful Shakti. The One who completes Bhagavan. They are two sides of the same divinity. Eternally together, eternally loving and serving each other. This is the example for the world that they always set forward. But one must learn from these highest states of being. Don’t let them simply remain stories. Make it a reality of your life. This Vrat is also connected to Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati. Lord Shiva personally narrated the importance of this Vrat to Devi Parvati, explaining that sincere observance brings peace, health, and harmony. Encouraging all to follow the highest example of Mahalakshmi and Shreeman Narayan. The ways that people perform this Vrat are beautiful and varied, but the underlying lesson is the same: love and prosperity is something you build with intention, not something that just arrives.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

What is your effort today?
To reach somewhere, to get to the goal, to find your genuine place on the spiritual path, you have to move. You have to make your efforts. To expect that something of the outside will change or that someone will come to rescue you are useless desires. Because such desires will disempower you and keep you stuck in one place. To truly make progress, to truly find the great peace of the inside that everyone longs for, you have to become your own champion firstly. You have to learn to get up when life has knocked you down. Again and again and again you have to get up. And never give up until the end. And how you get back up. Is it through bitterness? Is it through anger? Is it through despair? Or. Is it through immense faith in your innermost strength? Is it through a deep connection of the inside which remains even when everything else is lost? How you get back up matters. It matters a lot. In fact, that is what makes all the difference in the world. Because when you’re stuck in your own negative space, you can’t even see Bhagavan’s, the SatGuru’s, help entering your life. You can’t see how much He wishes to be your champion. You won’t see that He is helping you through the various opportunities that life presents. And everyone gets opportunities. Everyone gets endless opportunities. Day after day after day Bhagavan sends help. But one doesn’t see it. One doesn’t grab it. What has been your effort today to see God’s grace in your life? What has been your effort today to make life more beautiful, more loving, more peaceful for yourself and others? What has been your effort today to move closer to the SatGuru’s unconditionally loving heart? Be sincere with your answers to these questions every day and change what needs to change to keep growing in life and love.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Many people know about love, very few people behave with love.
This is very similar to what Duryodhan says in the Mahabharat. “I know what is dharma but I do not act accordingly. I know what is adharma but I cannot stop myself from acting that way.” People always think that they are the best and others are the problem. But how many people can truly look in the mirror and meet their own eyes without feeling guilty, ashamed, or regretful of the way they have behaved, spoken, or thought? Not many. Because most people allow the negative qualities to grow within them. They feed the wolf within that likes to take one away from love, not the one who takes one to love. Whichever wolf you feed will become powerful and active within you. But does one truly behave with love? This is a question to be asked and answered within yourself every day. “Am I genuinely behaving with love or am I only thinking about love while my actions, words, and thoughts are still stuck in my own greatness?” Sometimes the ones who are acting the most loving on the outside, are also the ones who are most hypocritical inside. They preach to others and point out their faults, but never turn the scalpel of their judgement on themselves. The SatGuru has never given anyone the work of correcting others. He has always given everyone the work of correcting themselves. If you wish to be a leader then lead by example, not by words. And if you wish simply to love, then stop worrying about anything else. Just behave with love in every moment of your life. Such a life will be its own greatest reward, without even counting the infinite closeness one will achieve with Bhagavan through this. Bhagavan is only won over by those who love humbly all the time and serve all joyfully without judgement.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The human birth is for enlightenment.
You are equipped with all the grace to reach there. Every atma, when it takes birth as a human on planet earth, comes here with the full potential of complete enlightenment. The self recognizing the Self. The atma being awakened in its entirety. In fact, enlightenment is the easiest thing to reach for a human being. It is already there. The process of birth simply makes the memory of enlightenment hide. The memory is temporarily lost so that one can take part in God’s endless play of unconditional love. It is simple. Imagine your dearest friend, your most beloved companion. Wouldn’t you wish to spend time with them endlessly exploring and doing new things? Wouldn’t you wish to experience new adventures to enjoy, learn, and grow with them? Wouldn’t you wish to watch movies that are sometimes tragic, sometimes full of humour, sometimes filled with action or anger, sometimes filled with care and love, or sometimes very confusing? You know deep inside all along that it is just a movie which will end and has no impact on you who is watching. But you allow yourself to get immersed in the movie while it’s going on because you want to have infinite experiences with your dearest one who is next to you. This is the play of God. Atma and Paramatma in eternal company. Therefore enlightenment isn’t something far away. It isn’t something difficult. It is something you already are. But you have to release your death grip on the temporary identities and roles of this world. Surrender that mind which is currently trained to look only at the temporary movies of the world. And remind it to focus completely on who is exploring the path with you since eternity. Who is watching the infinite movies with you. Surrender to the One who has always been standing next to you. Your beloved eternal companion who is waiting for you to turn and engage with Him. God walks with everyone. But only few cherish His company. Because they are too busy engaging with the temporary drama of the outside.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Not everything has to be manifest on the outside to be real.
Sometimes love can remain and grow within the heart without being spoken. But it can be felt. It can be experienced by the one you give that love to. They will feel your love for them within their own heart. This is the nature of the atma. It knows love. Sometimes the greatest love cannot be expressed in words. Like Radha and Krishna. When they would meet, they didn’t talk about how much they loved each other. They often made the play of fighting with each other. Playing pranks on each other. Even ignoring each other and hiding. But their love was known fully to each other. Sometimes silence is greater than outward expression. There are times when one should let the love explode within and yet let the outside go on as it has to. Leaving the outside fully in Bhagavan’s hands. No matter how your life looks externally, within your heart you can be with God fully. But this type of love which is a part of how God Himself loves everyone, you have to dedicate yourself to it completely. Then He will give you constant companionship with Him. You will know and feel His loving presence in a very real and grounded way. Often the SatGuru keeps the outside and inside in tension with each other. What is felt within isn’t seen on the outside. What is experienced outside doesn’t feel the same as the inside. But this is the churning of the mind. Where love is purified. Where one learns to be fully grounded despite any storm. Don’t let the churning make you doubt or lose your way. He is always with you.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

If one does not understand the urgency with which to move when the SatGuru is here, then one has truly missed the point.
Surprisingly many people think, “It’s ok, I’ll just meet Him again since we have heard that the Master or Bhagavan comes again and again”. Or, “There are so many gurus in the world, i will simply meet another Master to help me on my path.” Do you genuinely believe it is so easy? So random? So indifferent? Do you believe this is the attitude with which one can secure the eternal place at Bhagavan’s lotus feet? You have to be filled with a burning with passion for your spiritual path. It should steal the sleep from your eyes and make your heart tremble to lose even one moment to grow nearer to Him. How many days do you think are left in this short mortal life? So few. And yet most people are still fast asleep. Your atma is constantly straining to wake you up. But one is ignoring its call again and again and again. Do you know what a struggle it is for the atma to depart after living a mediocre life where love and God weren’t a priority? It regrets and repents the poor decisions made by the jeevatma so strenuously. If you could glimpse this struggle during your life, you would never waste even the blink of an eye. But usually people choose not to wake up. They want to remain asleep. And they wake up only when the atma no longer has time in this world. If one feels it is so easy to meet the SatGuru again and again, then one is truly deluded. It doesn’t matter who you were in your last life or lives, it doesn’t matter at all. What matters is what one is doing now. This present moment is so important. Wake up and walk with utmost dedication and focus upon your spiritual path before your atma has to lament in misery for a life wasted doing useless things.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The SatGuru always reminds that the external rituals are for growing in love, but does one behave like that?
After some time of meeting the SatGuru, many people reverse their thinking. What do they do? To perform the ritual, one gives up on love. To be in front, one forgets humility and kindness. To get glory, one forgets their initial unconditional decision to follow the SatGuru. One lets go of love to receive a chance to do the external ritual. But this is the opposite of what one should do. It becomes more important as time passes on the spiritual path to be more loving, more kind, more self-sacrificing, more joyful towards all. Do not let go of the beautiful inner qualities to get to perform the outside rituals. Hold onto the positive qualities that helped you meet the SatGuru and see His loving divine self. But the mind doesn’t cooperate if you don’t constantly train it and then even calling oneself a bhakta, one lets oneself fall. But by acting in this way, one may receive the outer glory, but one would have lost the SatGuru’s heartfelt closeness. Holding onto love may not get you in front. It may not make you look impressive. It may not make others like you. But you will have everything because the SatGuru will delight in love being your first, your only priority. And the world will slowly change its ways towards you also. But only if you hold onto love that fiercely. Like a tiger holds its newborn baby in its mouth, when protecting it from predators. That’s how to hold onto Love. Constantly on guard. Using your full strength but with utmost carefulness. Infinitely aware of danger but with single-pointed concentration on the baby. That is the behavior of a bhakta towards their love for God. Only love can get you to Him. You may have performed thousands of external rituals for Him, but that doesn’t matter to Him at all if you don’t value love within them. One single instance of genuine love keeping everything else aside, that will make you His. He will stop at nothing to pull such a bhakta into His heart, never letting go.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Your sangha, the people, all beings, they are the dearest gift from God.
When you truly love, you will know. Know that opportunities to give genuine and unconditional love are so few. Where you will receive nothing from the other person or being. Where it may cost you a lot to be kind, but you do it anyway. The sangha is one such great teacher. It will become your divine mirror if you truly wish to know unconditional love and heartfelt kindness. The SatGuru gives Adesh sometimes which may seem like it is contradictory between people. But He never says to let go of your love and kindness to follow His Adesh. To follow His Adesh is of utmost importance, but if you try to do so when becoming hard of heart and mind, you have failed anyway. How you follow His Adesh can lead you to either break hearts or to become a part of His love that heals hearts. The sangha shows you that. It shows you which qualities cause pain and which comfort the soul. Which cause suffering and which cause healing. You cannot blame the sangha for being the perfect mirror. You have to learn what is the lesson for you hiding in the reflection you are seeing. No matter who one thinks oneself to be, in reality no one is greater than the other. Only the SatGuru. Only Bhagavan. He is greater. Greater than all. Everyone else is on the same level. Keep your eyes on His lotus feet always. Never doubt or be sad. Never lose hope or drop your faith in Him. He will deliver you from every pain and free you forever. But only if you hold onto the qualities that made the saints extraordinary. Those who have done wrong, trust that the SatGuru sees it. Trust in Him that He will heal the hurt and make things better than you can ever pray for. But faith only works with patience. Deep and enduring patience that allows His will to manifest in divine right time.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Often after a time of closeness with someone, one starts to divert one’s attention or there is a low feeling where one feels far from them.
Both feelings are two sides of the same coin. One starts to divert one’s attention because one takes the person for granted. Or, one feels distant or low after a big celebration or deep closeness with someone because one feels that now those sweet moments are over. With the world this push and pull, low and high, close and far, feelings will always happen. There is no changing that. Because that’s the nature of duality which the world exists with. But as a bhakta of the SatGuru, one should know that He is never far and the sweet moments are never over. He is always coming closer and closer to the atma. When one is low, the SatGuru picks one up and brings one close. And when one is flying high, He pricks the unreliable bubble of ego so that one doesn’t hurt oneself by falling hard. He catches one on the way down when the pride and arrogance have been cleared by Him. Never go into the feeling of distance from Him. Always search for how He is showing His closeness to you in the present moment. The outside is a temporary game, don’t give it so much importance that you ruin the relationship of the heart which is eternal. Always one is close to the SatGuru, just keep yourself close to His feet in your mind and all will forever remain well.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

It is an enormous grace from the SatGuru if you can remember Him.
People think, “Oh, it is just a thought, what’s the big deal? He isn’t really there, I’m just making everything up in my mind.” But it is the Lord Himself who can allow you to think about Him. You cannot do so otherwise. Not a single thought of Him is random. Not a single longing to love Him is random. People waste their time feeling that remembering Bhagavan is just a thought like any other. But it is the single most incredible thing in the universe; being able to think of Bhagavan. Everything starts from there. All gyaan, all dhyaan, all karma yoga, all bhakti. Everything starts with a thought about the most beloved Lord. He is the Lord of Love. He is the Lord of All. Yet one spends so much time thinking about the ego, thinking about what keeps us separate from Him. But one needs to start thinking about what one wants, not about what one doesn’t want. Think of the Lord. Think about what will bring you to Him. Think about how to love Him more and more freely, happily, and sincerely. Just love; this is so difficult for people to focus on, for their mind to make it their only goal. But just love holds the essence of everything in it. The SatGuru’s word is simple. Yet He sometimes needs to complicate it for people to appreciate ‘the depth of knowledge’. But this is not wisdom. The wise are always simple. Always loving. Always happy. Always in action and surrender to Bhagavan at the same time. They are never complicated in their mind. Give love everything you have and it will return everything million times better than before, all that you can never even dream of. Your thoughts are extremely powerful, make them positive. Give them a good direction to flow, let them keep running to God. To think of Him with love a single time is such a special grace. If only the jeevatmas knew how much the cosmic realm desperately yearns to be given that grace. The grace to think of Him. Not everyone is able to keep their mind centered on God. Just observe and you shall see. Focus your mind on Him. And just love.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

On the spiritual path, the mind is often washed like a cloth by the SatGuru.
The mind takes on the colors that you most feed it. So it becomes a certain way after you have fed it the same stories, the same emotions, the same opinions again and again. And often then one looks outward and blames the world, blames God and Guru. “God, why do you send me so much pain? Guruji, why do you test me all the time?” But that has simply become your mind’s way of thinking, hence you see things that way. If you change the pattern of your thoughts, if you change your perspective, if you change the way you look at things, everything changes. How you take things, how you handle things matters the most to Bhagavan. But the SatGuru is the kindest of kind. He doesn’t just wait for you to keep falling and learn in your own time over many lifetimes. He takes the dirty cloth of the bhakta’s mind and with all His energy washes it and makes it clean. The process may seem like a heavy beating. But is it really? Not at all. Is the mind, is the person losing anything really? No. The pain is a lower illusory reality. In actuality, one is being cleaned thoroughly. All the negativity is getting washed away. One is being made new. On the path, many times it may seem like the mind is spinning out of control. But as a bhakta one should never fear or worry. In such moments, offer the mind more strongly into the SatGuru’s capable hands. Offer the mind Bhagavan’s name to calm it down. Don’t let go of who is helping you. Only God and Guru have the permanent answer to the problem, only they have endless unconditional love which is the true solution to every problem. Feed the mind with Vitthal Giridhari’s name more and more lovingly when the mind feels like it is spiraling. Then you can experience the flow of Bhagavan’s sweet mercy within your heart once again.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The beautiful Rath Yatra of Bhagavan Sri Hari Jagannath has started and will continue for nine days.
Despite heavy rain, lakhs of bhaktas have gathered at Jaganannth Puri Dham. To celebrate their beloved Lord coming out of the Mandir and giving Darshan to all on the street itself. Not a small utsav murti like with most other processions, but the main murtis themselves are brought out. The bhaktas are not shortchanged in anyway. This is Bhagavan’s grace. This is His love for all. This is the way He yearns to be close to everyone. Every year during Rath Yatra, Bhagavan Jagannath's Rath halts for sometime at the samadhi of His dear devotee Bhakta Kavi (poet) Sant Salabega. Salabega was born to a muslim father but his devotion to Bhagavan Sri Hari Jagannath came from his brahmin mother. He was immersed in love for Bhagavan. Once Salabega was injured in battle but he accepted it all as grace and love from Bhagavan. And unable to stay away from such pure prem, Bhagavan miraculously healed Salabega within a single night. After that, Salabega gave up everything to devote his life to Bhagavan completely. One year, he was stuck in heavy rains and couldn’t reach Puri in time. He begged and prayed to the Lord to wait for him. And the most merciful beloved Lord, stopped His Rath from moving. No matter how much effort was exerted by those pulling it, the Rath wouldn’t move at all. Salabega arrived and in great ecstasy saw the Rath of the Lord that had stopped in the middle of the street for no apparent reason. Salabega ran forward with great joy and took Darshan in tears. In that moment, the Rath started moving again. The Lord keeps His promise to everyone. To love. To always be there. Mata Gundicha, Raja Indradumna, the residents of Vraj, Sant Salabega, everyone. But the saints believed in His promises with all their heart. They devoted themselves to Him when there was all kinds of opposition from society as well as from their own mind. Even when there was no external reason to love, they loved endlessly, unconditionally. And that great God of Love, Bhagavan Sri Hari Jagannath can never keep Himself away from such strong faith and laser-focused love. May this day inspire the devotees to grow their love for Bhagavan, to embrace His lotus feet in their heart and devote themselves to Him fully. Shubh Rath Yatra to all.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

What is truly worth treasuring?
Money? But no amount of it can bring true peace and happiness if there isn’t any love in your heart. Position, fame, power? But they are so fleeting, here one day and snatched away the next day. Life? But one day this body will pass away, go back to the earth from where it was born. What is truly worth treasuring and giving one’s everything to is the spiritual path. The path itself. Life and death are but adventures on the path. The path is eternal. Whether it is life or death, it is the path that is winning. The kriya of bringing the atma to Paramatma fully. Whether in this life or in another life, the spiritual path is picked up again and again. The jeevatma works on it for some time and lets go, either because of personal unwillingness to continue in that moment or because it is time to move on from that body. The second is very beautiful, because if the jeevatma has remained true to the path till departure from the body, the path amplifies its power thousand times and pushes the atma very high into the eternal realm. Either the atma resides at Bhagavan’s lotus feet never to come back again, or it comes back to work on very specific things to brighten the steps leading to the spiritual path for the world. To widen that very narrow path which becomes subtle and hides the moment one’s willingness to walk on it reduces. The spiritual path itself is energy. Pure, divine, energy. It is within itself the experience of satchitananda. The SatGuru holds this complete experience within Himself, able to freely share that energy to others. This energy knows who can walk on the path and who is not ready for the next step. It does not show up just like that in one’s life. If it has, then it is because the atma has done tremendous work in humility to attract the pure divinity of the spiritual path to itself. Letting go of the spiritual path because of unwillingness due to difficulties is the most foolish thing to do. The spiritual path is in itself one’s eternity. The eternal existence of the atma is the spiritual path. The endlessly loving relationship with Bhagavan. It is impossible to let the spiritual path go. It will be picked up when the time is right again to take the next step. But is one truly willing to wait for thousands upon thousands of years in abject misery, waiting for the spiritual path to open for oneself again?

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Everyone is fighting a fight that no one knows about.
Never cast your opinion on a person or situation, because the pain behind their actions will also be attracted to you. When you judge or are jealous of someone, the suffering that brought them to the place they are at comes to you amplified. Everyone is fighting a fight that no one sees. What may seem so small to someone may be the result of backbreaking effort for someone else. Yet they are doing it. Pushing themselves internally. Forcing themselves to stand up when it would be so easy to just crumble. This is what amazes the SatGuru about the bhaktas. The true lovers of Bhagavan stand up when there is no outside motivation or reason to stand up. But they do it anyway. Bringing forth the enormous strength from Bhagavan’s presence in their hearts. The SatGuru’s greatest work and joy is to see someone blossoming in that way. Some pain is seen on the outside. But some hide their pain completely. They never show it to anyone. Don’t assume because someone is very positive or always looks successful that they have no fights that they are fighting. You don’t know how much their ankles might be weighed down, but they are giving it their every breath to fight to the surface of that muddy swamp and radiate joy, love, and peace to the world. Learn from the stories of the devotees. Learn from their amazing lives. Be inspired and walk with full force on your own unique path to Bhagavan. Know that the SatGuru’s entire love is with you. He loves each one as though they are His only child. The saints were also regular people. They also faced hard choices, karma, pain, and sorrow. The difference between a saint and a regular person is simply in how they take life. How they handle everything. How they react to things. How they keep themselves inside. How they treat everyone even when in deep pain themselves. It is the attitude that makes a saint or a sinner or a worldly person. When you transform your attitude, all can transform. All can become holy. All can be divinized while here in this world itself.