TOUGH TIMES AND TOUGH DECISIONS

The Epics teach us with clarity and conviction that suffering is a part of life just as happiness is.
It is the mind and intellect that gives  different analysis in defining suffering.
Many life coaches have suggested different skills in teaching us how to handle suffering.
Seldom do these life coaches speak of taking tough decisions in life at the cost of hurting oneself.
Arjuna is the best example of a person who had to take the tough decision of fighting his own grand father who he loved more than his own life. 

The choice was between feeling good about the relationship or taking a decision on behalf of dharma and causing physical harm to Bhisma and emotional harm to himself.

It is easier to be harsh when some one is angry but it is difficult to take tough decisions when dealing with loved ones. Many soldiers leave their beloved to go to battle causing huge pain.   So Arjuna was in great dilemma, in fact moving towards giving up everything in favor of feeling good in relationship with his grand father. But Sri Krishna, logically proposed the hard choice for the sake of dharma he had to make. Arjuna accepted, but without giving up his love but resolved to fight for dharma.

In Ramayana we see Sri Rama,it was an ordeal to abandon mother Sita. It was not out of choice rather it was the surrounding that pushed him in chosing what he did. No husband is as respectful and loving to Sita as Sri Rama was but he had to take the tough decision. He loved her but he was forced to make a tough decision for the higher principle as the King.

Tough decisions are harder than tough times, because tough times come on their own and the other the tough decision has to be taken by the individual.  

Does it make sense? 

KRSNA AND OTHERS PART 2

God's definition is interesting for he is defined by the imagination of some, innovation of others, intellectual logical rigour of a few,  and most define God based on an imposed legacy coming through generations. 

But what is He? 

What is the real and the substantial? 

Before we get into the details, let us see how the over all explanation of the above experiences can be summed up in defining God.

God is powerful, God is a supreme autocrat, He is jealous and wants your undivided attention, in other words can't stand some one not loving him exclusively. He is force but without form. He is mass energy without figure. God is time, God is death, God is love, God is destructive.

Creation is supreme beyond the so called fighting of the higher beings who are superior to men.

He is the dominator and is beyond any one dominating for any reason including love. He is nameless, colourless, loveless, hence imagining Him in a form is blasphemy.

Dharma has defined God in its own unique way through the various writings of sages. He is unique and different, diverse and uniform.

The underlying principle of God in the Vedas is that he is one with his energy.

He is localised as a person but as his energy he is every where .

He is the dominator and is powerful but he can be dominated by love.

He is beyond the realm of sensory experience but at the same time one can experience him here in this sensual world through the senses by the power of his grace.

He is abstract and hence can be seen in the Upanishad and he is specific with name, form, pastimes in the Puranas and both are complementary to each other.

All the devas are his limbs, worshiping them does not hurt him, does not make him jealous because they are Him as his  energy and they are the extended limbs of Himself.

Seeing Him in the sky, mountains, rivers and in amazing human attributes is applauded. For God this itself is perfection, hence  the Gita extols, " one who sees me in everything and everything in me is never lost to me and I am never lost to them."

Therefore if some do not worship him directly, he does not condemn them rather he encourages them to see him in good action. He is willing to step aside if that hurts but He says do not step aside from doing good to others, He says even that is seen by himself as serving Him.

He does not mind you worshipping him in his energy as devatas, devis, shaktis, energies, he does not spite at them or spit fire at them nor  does he send deadly storms at them.

If you fail in doing any of the above, his creation which functions as an independent operator gives opportunities by sending us  to many species of life. He never condems anyone for ever in one specie or in hell forever. The so called punishment from our perspective is nothing but compassionate reformation from his perspective.

He is eager that we have him in our life but not at the cost of taking away our freedom as freedom is the only thing that gives us the choice of loving.

He is sensitive to our needs, hence through the process of destiny fulfils our needs in different lives.

The Upanishads define him by  his attributes but without a name.

The Puranas define him by name and attributes through the  many fold stories of incarnation as Sri Krishna, Sri Rama, Narsimha. God the unattainable moves  easily with ordinary folks playing and frolicking. He is there in the hearts of all entities as paramarma.  See him, feel him and eventually love him and  by that conquer him. Being his dominating beloved, affectionate mother, father and beating him in wrestling matches boasting about one's own strength and feeling superior to him in friendly interaction. This unique concept of God is not only the contribution of the Vedas but also the experiences of sages and Gurus.  Joining that legacy needs no membership , the only qualification needed is to be willing to walk that journey.

Choice is ours and that is his greatest gift.

KRISHNA AND OTHERS PART 1

"Why  do you worship Krishna, why not others?" A boy asked this question to a Sri Krishna worshiper.
The aspiring devotee answered as follows :
" People worship based on their liking, some like cricket heroes, others like footballers, still others like political heroes. Those who are interested in philosophy worship Buddha, Socrates. And many  others who want special favours worship kings and Gods...."
But all of them are attracted to particular traits of these personalities. Buddha for non violence;
Jesus for compassion;
Shiva for power of destruction and meditational power;
Mahavir for his power of tapas; Socrates for his idealistic wisdom; Gandhi for non violence and simplicity;
Warriors like Arjuna for their valour; Sportsmen for their excellent performance on the field ;
Young people get attracted to each for romance ;
But Krishna? "
Sri Krishna, does not have any of the above qualities as resolutions so he exhibits none of these qualities permanently for the sake of showing.  Krishna's greatness is that he is not bound by any of these qualities.
Sometimes these qualities when over stressed cause pain and violence and become weaknesses .
For example the non violence propagator can be exploited by a violent party who knows that the opposing party is bound by that quality.
Some who are bound by truth experience contrary results as they impose their values with stubbornness on others .
Hence all qualities have a flip side at times ,even if they are good qualities. Hence Sri Krishna as Nirguna having no qualities and more precisely he is not bound by any qualities.
He can display all the qualities in abundance when they are needed for the cause of dharma.
He is kind to his friends, but to Kamsa he is cruelty personified, but is he cruel?
He is full of joy when he is with his friends, joking and frolicking but is he only joking and merry making?
He also spoke the immortal Gita, which is very sobering and illuminating.
Is he speaking only immortal philosophy?
Is he not strategizing to kill the demoniac kurus and their allies?
So in which qualities can one catch him?
and at the same time which qualities do we not see in him?
He is like an expert mother who takes care of many children and who knows what and which quality needs to  exhibited to different children at different times  and acts accordingly.   Krishna is mother supreme and uses qualities that help to elevate all.  Therefore he is the emporium of all qualities and is not bound by them.
Hence he never becomes redundant and his relevance becomes more and more prominent over time.
Sri Krishna as the name suggests remains ever attractive in spite of the time factor which has  the power to make every one an event in history,
If Sri Krishna can hold  the time factor on  sway then what to speak of others?   Hence we adore him, worship him and learn life lessons from him.
We eventually learn the lesson of freedom from him the lesson to achieve the greatest of all achievements--- mukti.

RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

We aspire for the right surrounding in life but if it is unavailable then it is better to have the right perspective  in any surrounding.

Arjuna was overwhelmed By the external surrounding of his life where he was to kill his relatives as a part if his duty He developed intense indifference towards his duty. 

He wanted to escape from doing his duty by taking  the shelter of philosophy.
Many would consider Arjuna's decision to not fight as noble and elevating for the soul.This decision of not fighting is similar to Buddha 's decision of walking away from life to seek enlightenment in lifelessness.
Right perspective gives rise to right inner surrounding where outer surrounding is missing.
In fact the entire war was fought to create a coherent outer surrounding. To usurp the adharmik Duryodhana and re instate the dharmik Yudhsthira was the purpose of kurukshetra .
One may question as to why would Sri Krishna ask Arjuna to develop an inner surrounding while he was trying  avoid war and why would Sri Krishna insist on war?  
Life in this world is about trying to create a balance between a better inner perspective  and the right outer surrounding .
Dharma is coherent both inside and outside. It's a fantasy for most people to live happy internally in the face of conflicting externals or have great externals at the cost of a turmoil within.
The Gita is a book of giving a right perspective so that one can work for the right surrounding.

Sri Krishna being sensitive to life's reality reasoned with Arjuna to deal with whatever surrounding he had in his situation with the right perspective.

The clash between practical people and the idealist is the clash of extremes. But Sri Krishna who is very pragmatic does not allow one without the other, his philosophy is to build a bridge between the two ---inner perspective and an outer surrounding

Good perspective can give rise to good surrounding and good surrounding can give rise to good perspective. We want both for good legacy but in an emergency it is better to have a good perspective over good surroundings. Because that good perspective will help us to struggle in establishing good surroundings.

Eventually Arjuna agreed to fight on behalf of Sri Krishna having the right perspective so that he could create the right surroundings.

NOT FACT, NOT FICTION, BUT IMPACT

Since ages people have raised questions and some have even concluded that " Ramayana and Mahabharata are fiction hence do not have relevance in our life."

But the faithful have said and challenged the faithless by assertively stating "that these scriptures are true and factual. ". 

The Ramayana and Mahabharata are not only events of the past. Events are also facts and the relevant question is what is the impact of these facts. 
Facts without impact are nothing but  fiction for the present. Chronological events without impact have occurred and forgotten over generations.

But the great Ramayana and Mahabharata are beyond fiction and these facts have created impact since time  immemorial because  they not only deal with the past, they deal with life. Since life exists in all time zones,  these great literatures stand the test of time and go on creating impact for one and all.

They are heart churning , intellect stirring, mind absorbing and senses stunning. These literatures have created revolution in the society  by building it and not breaking it. When the Rama Lila and the stories of the Pandavas are enacted all over Bharata in festivals no one questions whether they are facts or fiction.
The literatures are soaked with impact. The atheist and theist both cry, laugh and are completely absorbed.    

A great justice once remarked , " my dad divided our property, my brother  received wealth and I received education, confidence and the Ramayana." 
The followers of Ramayana do not bother too much to prove the events of the past they  just go on experiencing, Sri Rama and His fascinating stories. They become  a part of the essence of those stories .

Choice is ours---  Fact, Fiction or Impact?