"Maya Ki Kahani.....The Story Of Maya"

Just like Divine Consciousness Maya too pervades everything in the entire Universe and spares no one. Everything is under its clutches as it lives in every household and every nook and cranny of this world. Its main job is to maintain our distance from Him and loves to break relationships. After all it has been there ever since this Universe was created. The following story illustrates how subtly and deeply entrenched it is. There was a young boy who was very attached to his little sister and loved her no end. He always made it a point to keep her happy by whatever means possible. One day while coming back from School he remembered that his little sister had mentioned that she had not eaten ‘gulab jamuns” for a long time. He felt a surge of love for her and decided to buy some for her. He searched far and wide but could not find them anywhere. The young boy felt disappointed when suddenly his prayers seemed to be getting answered as he saw a new shop which he had not seen before. He bought some very tasty looking ‘gulab jamuns’ and headed for home to present her with her favourite sweet and longed to see her happy face. When he met her he gave her the box of sweets with love in his heart and waited for his loving sister to hug him with affection but what he saw and heard stopped him in his tracks. His little sister looked very happy no doubt, looked at the sweets he had brought for her but waived another box of sweets which she clutched in her little hand and said excitedly “Bhaiya, look what I got from your friend!” Before the boy could say anything she went inside and came out with another box and said ‘Bhaiya…..these are some more sweets i got from another fried of yours!” The boy felt very disappointed and hurt. The little boy inside him had expected to be appreciated for his efforts with which his little sister had spoiled him with. Without stopping to think he said ‘had i known you had so many sweets i would not have taken the pains to buy these “gulab jamuns” for you!” The little girl felt very hurt at her loving brother’s reaction and burst out crying and said “Bhaiya, i was showing those sweets to you so that we could add the gulab jamuns to the ones i already have and have a feast together. The ones i have with me are your favourite ‘barfis”…..i was waiting to show them to you!’ The boy realized his mistake. ….he had reacted without thinking as his hurt had been paramount in his mind. He wondered with great regret as to what had made him doubt his little sister’s intention and cried …..then they both cried and hugged each other. This is how maya acts…it can poison our mind and make us do things which are detrimental to us. It has created an ugly counterpart for every beautiful creation of God……takes us towards duality in place of unity with Him. Its sole purpose is to keep us attracted to the outside world with our sense pleasures and prevent us from connecting to the One Reality within since that is the only way it can survive. It is not possible to beat it at its own game. We, therefore need Divine intervention to see through its evil machinations. Let us all listen to our inner voice ….seek Him in all earnest and try our best to merge with Him.

"I Too Can Fly"

Many of us talk of spirituality and aspire to become spiritual but very few actually take even the first step forward on this path…..just sit on the fence afraid to take the plunge as we feel that we do not have it in us and that those who have evolved are very different from us or are blessed’ differently”! The fact of the matter is that God has given each one of us the wings to fly and reach Him, but we are not aware of it! It is illusion or maya which makes us think like that since Maya does not want us to succeed and keeps us tied down to material and sense pleasures. i would like to share a beautiful story in this connection as told by my Guruji but slightly modified by me. There was a man who had been seeking God and trying to meditate for many years but had not achieved any success. One day he was sitting under a tree feeling sorry for himself as he felt that he had not been blessed with what was needed for spiritual progress. It was then that he saw a pair of birds, sitting on a branch of the tree below which he was trying to meditate. Soon they started collecting little twigs and made a beautiful and small little nest. He continued to watch them build their nest. Something prompted him to see what happened after that which made him come there every day. A few days later he noticed that the birds had laid a few eggs. Very soon a few lovely little chicks were hatched. They started cooing like their parents and started emulating them in trying to fly. In a very short span of time all of them were flying successfully, though a little gingerly at first. But one of them was far too scared and was shying away, as it believed that it did not have wings at all…so how could it fly? The parent birds tried very hard to coax and cajole it but to no avail. They finally did the unthinkable…they pushed the little one off the branch of the tree in the hope that it would ‘find’ its wings and fly! The little one gasped with fright but found that it had spread its wings and had managed to come back to its nest and safety! It then realized that it did have wings after all! The man sitting under the tree got the message …….he understood that The Almighty had shown him that spectacle for a purpose. He had also been shown that each one of us is a bird fully equipped to fly! The man also understood that one needs to stay in the company of ‘gurmukhs’ and connect with those who have ‘flown’ themselves or have traversed the entire spiritual path and seek their guidance. Let us not feel helpless and incapable of achieving the true goal of our lives, that of merging with Him …let us believe in ourselves, seek, connect and hold the hands of those evolved beings who have take birth to show us the Divine Light.