Everyone needs spirituality. Spirituality is uplifting the spirit. When the spirit is uplifted, we achieve much more. Realising that everything is happening on its own and yet being in activity fully is a delicate balance. The weekend was spent reading, exercising, spending time with family, rejoicing in existence. Ananya made considerable progress in here skating and swimming skills. I pounded the streets for around 21 kms of running over the weekend.

True intelligence is a combination of intellect and openness. The hallmarks are surrender, devotion and innocence.

To sense that we are much more than the body consciously comes with the ability to let go. When I read the verses literally I get the meaning. But Guruji evokes wonder in the mind. The foundation for the mind to evoke wonder is faith and innocence. So if we can get a glimpse of this wonder, it has to be because the person has faith and innocence, a newness to explore like a little child.

On the surface we all seem different, but we are all made of the same substance. When the world doesn’t seem to belong to you, you find duality. Feeling the belongingness with everything and everyone is non-duality.

Sometimes we praise others. When this praise happens without belongingness, this lowers self-esteem. When it comes out of total belongingness, it uplifts the spirit.

The Guru is one who shows there is nothing you need to worry about. It may seem counter-intuitive and even controversial. The intellect comes in the way. In fact Faith is putting 100% effort and yet knowing that everything is happening on its own. The focus on material pursuits in mainstream education makes it very difficult to even fathom letting go. Years of conditioning make it very difficult to overcome mis-trust. Without faith it is impossible to even come near the Ashtavakara Gita. He or she is likely to get totally confused. Ashtavakara Gita shows how Janaka the epitome of material success as a king, leader was able to effortlessly realise what Ashtavakara was saying and feel it. This came from his humility.

The root of all duality is ‘I’ness. I have been on this journey for 10 years now and have grown to appreciate how my own concepts hold me from realising the depth of this wisdom. What I feel I need to work on is compassion when people resist the wisdom. Sometimes people attend a session or a talk and say ‘It didn’t work for me’. Of course such people are very few. Most people feel profoundly impacted. For those who are sceptical, it is because of mental concepts of how the session should have been, the doubts. If you already think you know how things should be, then what hope do you have of learning anything new? What would you gain out of an experience which matches your expectation?Stay with what you know and where you are! All I am saying is that to know the unknown, be open and go through any initial discomfort, it there is any. If there isn’t and everything is making sense wonderfully, consider yourself blessed.

What we know is a curse that prevents us from getting to the unknown. The smarter we think we are in the world, the more difficult to open ourselves up to real wisdom. The really smart and intelligent bridge the gap between the known and the unknown beautifully.

After the Yoga and Meditation session this morning, I reflected on the sort of information we are stuffing our minds with everyday. If one is in finance and business like I am we are consumed by a new theme every few days. (e.g. Brexit). If one is politically engaged, there is the US election, the UK political chaos or the successes/failures of the government in India to follow. There is a deluge of shocking news from all over the world. We are trying to make sense of life through events. It is like a soap opera. I used to watch the The Bold & The Beautiful when I was in school/college. Even after a gap of many months, the story would have not moved at all. All this information we process daily leaves us where we are, unable to really make right decisions for our own lives. Realising this allows us to grasp the depth of the wisdom of existence, the cycles that repeat and how there is nothing to gain through attention on the outside and the key is to take the attention within.