Blog site of Chandra Gadre

       Trying to understand what is going to happen in the future is human nature. Some people use scientific methods to predict the future events and some people use unscientific methods. Look at the weather forecast. Looking at the Jet Streams and various computerized models, meteorologist forecast the weather. Most of the time they are right on the money but occasionally they are completely wrong. Some 'experts' look at the statistical records and try to extrapolate what is going to happen. Look at the Superbowl event. The Statisticians say if the NFC wins, Stock market goes up in the year and if AFC wins, it goes down. In summary, everyone wants to know the future events.

      If we could predict the future all the time, it would mean everything is pre-destined. Sometimes our aimless actions define our future, and we say, now I understand how it all came together. Joyce Meyer says, "We live the life forward and understand it backward". This is what happens to us and it happened to Steve Jobs. Listen to his speech at Stanford. He dropped out of college because it was too expensive, and he did not want his parents retirement money to be spent on his education. Instead, he took the Calligraphy classes because he liked it, but he did not know when and how he is going to use it to develop his career. He says, Calligraphy classes helped him to design the fonts of Apple computer. His design skills further helped him in PIXAR. He said, now I am able to connect the dots. The dots or aimless events in his college days formed his career, his future. In his speech he said, you may call it destiny.

      When the Corona-19 virus spread all over the world and U.S. was in lockdown, people searched if this event was predicted by anyone in the past and they found the book, "End of Days" by Sylvia Brown. It was published in 2008 and it warned, "In around 2020 a severe pneumonia -like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes, and resisting all known treatments. Almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived, attack again ten years later, and then disappears completely.". Human nature is such that we do not want uncertainty and unanswered questions. We want to know the future!

      Saints and Sages know the future. Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mountain for prayer. Prophet Elijah and Moses appears in-front of Jesus and speak to him. As Jesus descends down the mountain, he tells Peter, James, John not to tell anyone what happened on the mountain until his Resurrection. Jesus was telling them the upcoming events, he will be crucified and he will resurrect. From this event onwards, on many occasions, Jesus predicts the betrayal by Judas, crucifixion thereafter and the resurrection. This is all described by disciples of Jesus in their writings. Well before the War, Krishna tells Arjuna (Gita 11:34) that He has killed everyone and Arjuna is going to act as an instrument.

       All of us experience the happiness when our desires are fulfilled and sad when they are not. That happiness and joy is dependent on material life gains. But what is causeless Joy? There was a 14-year-old boy named Poorna living in Calcutta. He used to come to Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa in 1884. He had written a letter to Sri Ramakrishna that, "I am not able to sleep because my mind is constantly immersed in Joy". He said I do not find any reason. This was causeless Joy. Sometimes we may think that we are experiencing Joy and I do not find reason. Think again and again. There would be a reason, most likely something related to material life. If you are in devotion and singing glories of the Lord, you may experience Joy. Even then it is not causeless. Though God is Joy, the direct experience of God dwells in Causeless Joy! God reveals itself through Causeless Joy, Causeless Peace of Mind and Love.

       Creation of Universe has always been the fascination of human kind. When we look through the scriptures, we find some details. John 1:1 says, \ "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God". Genesis 1:2 says, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters". The "Word" and the "earth was formless and empty" indicates there was only Space! Vedic scriptures also tells us the Space was created first and its attribute is "word" or "speech sound". We cant figure out the size of the Space and therefore, it is considered as Infinite. In fact, scripture calls it "kha: brahma", means Space is as good as "brahma" or ultimate truth which is limitless, infinite. After the Space, "Vaayu" or Air was created and its attributes are "word" and "touch" (felt by skin). Then the "fire" was created with attributes of "word", "touch" and "form". Then came Water and its attributes are "word", "touch", "form" and "taste". Followed by Earth (solid part of earth) and its attributes are "word", "touch", "form", "taste" and "smell". All these five attributes are associated with our sense organs which are; Ear, Skin, Eye, Tongue and Nose. The physical body is created with these five attributes and the physical creation was completed.

       Our experiences are felt by our mind, not by physical body. Everyone knows this. Our desires created from past impressions also appear in the mind and the intellect takes the decision to fulfill the desires. Followed by the decision, mind & physical body jumps into action. If the desire is fulfilled; joy, satisfaction is felt by the mind. It creates an impression which again stays deep into our mind. If the desire is unfulfilled, combination of mind, intellect and physical body may try it another time. Ultimately the pain or joy is experienced by the Mind not by Physical body. So, does it matter if we have a human body or animal body? That is where the concept of rebirth takes shape. After the death, our physical body disintegrates into soil or ashes if cremated, but the Mind moves on to take another form of body. Mind of a Cow or Deer finds joy and satisfaction in eating fresh grass! That joy, satisfaction is same as that of human body which finds joy in eating ice-cream or burger. The joy is not different, only the physical body is different. Therefore, the theory of "rebirth" says, if your desires are not satisfied in human body, you may take birth again, not necessarily as human being if your desires can be satisfied in animal body. Human desires are born out of gratitude, hatred, competition and so on. Unlike humans, Animal desires are born out of instinct and therefore, they are not creating the seeds of karma. They are not bondage. Unfortunately, throughout our life, we make so many desires and many of those can be satisfied in the form of animal body! But there are certain desires which cannot be fulfilled in animal body. The best example given is the desire to stay on the path of spirituality. If the desire is strong to make progress on the path of spirituality and if it is unfulfilled, only human body can satisfy such desire.

       Person with strong faith, an unwavering faith in the Lord knows that My Lord will never abandon me and whatever He does, is for my benefit! Both, the Bible and SriMud Bhagawatam tells us the same thing. Joseph arose from pit to the palace with unwavering faith in the Lord. Child Prahlad had an unwavering faith in the Lord! This faith helped him to go through many life threatening incidents and he came out unscathed. That unwavering faith has built-in subtle expectation that the Lord is putting me through the test and it is for my benefit. This unwavering faith in the Lord with built-in expectation that everything is going to turn out for good made the life very joyful for Joseph and Prahlad!

       Whether it's a Bible or Bhagavad-Gita, both scriptures give utmost importance to the Mind. Here are couple of verses in Bible: 1-Corinthians 2:16 says, "....But we have the Mind of Christ.". Romans 8:6 says, "For to set the Mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is Life and Peace.". Here Flesh means wordly things including body and Spirit means the God. Isaiah 26:3 says, "O Lord, You will keep in perfect peace whose Minds are steadfast in You, because they trusts in You.".

      In Bhagvad-Gita 10:22, God says, "....Amongst the senses, I am the Mind and amongst the living beings, I am the Consciousness.". Because the God is Mind, God knows our Thoughts!! Here is what Psalm 139:1-2 says, "..O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You understand my Thoughts from afar.". Therefore, in Bhagvad-Gita 8:7, God says, "....With the Mind and Intellect surrendered to Me, you will definitely attain Me!"

       There was a boy named Richard lived in Highland Park of Chicago suburbs. He was in Jewish family. From his very young age, he used to like to sit on the floor for meals. His Mom used to scold him and ask him to sit with other family members, his brother and Mom & Dad at the table. He used to like to eat vegetarian food. Again, Mom used to force him to eat meat and eggs. He used to try but throw-up. Since Mom was insisting, he slowly developed the taste to eat but as he turned 20s, he gave up and turned permanently vegetarian. After schooling he went for a college in Miami. As he was growing up, he had a thirst for God's love. He was spiritual and wanted to experience that ultimate Love of God. In search of right path of spirituality he went to London and from there to India. It's a long story but very fascinating. This Richard Slavin is today's Radhanath Swami of ISKCON and he is in Governing Body of ISKCON. He is staunch devotee of Sri Krishna, the Hindu God. He has several speeches recorded and available on YouTube. He spoke at UK Parliament, at Google, Harvard and Princeton Universities and at several other places. How this happened? How a Jewish boy becomes a Hindu Monk? How he became spiritual and got attracted to Krishna Devotion? It has been said, in two ways the thought appears in our mind. First, due to circumstances / incidents in this life and second due to past life impressions. Clearly, Richard Slavin had no situations, circumstances or incidents in his early childhood, teenage years which will attract him to Krishna Devotion. I see a trace of past life impressions. The past life impressions force us to take actions, take us to different places, people, communities to fulfill our desires. So, do we reborn again and again? Hindu scripture says, yes, we do reborn to fulfill our desires!

      Many times we hear, 'these days will also pass!', the simple advise given by the motivational speakers to the person going through hard times in his life. This advise tells him to have a hope. One day the things will turn-around and you will see good days.

      Someone asked the Wise person, 'what advise would you give to the person who is having good days and sees everything is favourable in his life?'. The Wise said, advise is same, 'these days will also pass!'. Why? The Wise says, the advise is, don't be rude and don't show-off. Don't let it go to your head. Just keep in mind, life is always changing. Nothing is constant except the change. Joyce Meyer says, you experience spiritual growth only during the time of trials and tribulations!

      One of the incidents in Jesus's life attracts my attention. There are minimum two lessons for us to learn from it. Here is this very well known story.

      Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha is ill and dying. Sisters sent a message to Jesus for help who is far away. Jesus doesn't start right away. He stays in his place for 2 more days. He comes to the place of Mary & Martha after a few days. Lazarus has been dead for 4 days and buried in a cave with a stone infront of its opening. Sisters are lamenting his death. Jesus comes to the place where Lazarus is buried and asks people to remove the stone. He says a prayer and asks Lazarus to come out of death. Lazarus walks out still wrapped in grave-cloth.

      It teaches us that God has his own timing to deliver the results. Until then, God wants us to go through the phase (pain, distress, mourning) we are required to go through but keep praying and be Thankful to Him for all good things happened in our life! This experience of pain, distress would strengthen our faith in Him further once we receive the miraculous results we are looking for. It also teaches us to do what is Possible to us. If it was possible for Jesus to make Lazarus alive, it was much easier for Him to remove the stone from the cave but he asks people to remove it because that was the only thing possible for them in this incident. Jesus does what is Impossible to a common man which is making Lazarus alive.

God Speaks to Everyone: In one of the sermons on Sunday, Dr. Charles Stanley of Intouch Ministry said, 'God often speaks to our hearts through His Holy Spirit in an inaudible but compelling way.'. I understood what Charles Stanley said because I got the experience right away, while watching the sermon. All of us, all the time hear an inaudible voice inside our heart which tells us what is right and what is wrong. Even in small incidents we hear that voice and many times we just ignore it. Here is one example. There is an ethical rule of not to use workplace facilities such as Printer, for personal use. Holy Spirit will talk to us not to use it. Take another example. When we get upset or angry and hurt someone's feelings knowingly, we know inside our heart that we have done something wrong but we ignore it. We hear the inner voice asking us to apologize to other person but we ignore that voice. If we start listening to the voice of Holy Spirit, we will get messages from God in all the incidents. I think, as we develop this practice of listening to the God all the time, our mind will purify. We will realize that God is helping us everyday in every step we are taking in our life.

Vibhishan, the brother of King Raavana was a staunch devotee of Lord Rama. After the King Raavana was killed, Lord Rama asked Vibhishan to be the King of Sri Lanka. It has been said, once the love for the Lord is developed in the heart & mind, it does not go after the worldly things. Vibhishan said, "My Lord, I have received your love, I do not need anything else". On this Lord Rama said, "Vibhishan, you become the King for the sake of ignorant, otherwise they will ask what did you get by siding with Lord Rama". It is true. Most people pray to Lord for the material life. So it is obvious that ignorant are going to think, what did Vibhishan receive in return when he sided with Lord Rama? Their thought can not go beyond material life but someone when receives the love of Lord, he/she can’t love material life. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa says, “you can not receive the love of the Lord unless your mind has completely detached from the material life”. Similar sentiments are expressed in John 2:15. It says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”. So how is it possible that who have received the love of Lord, still live in material life ? Saints say, it is possible for them because their mind is constantly attached to the Lord. Their mind is merged with the Lord and hence, the Lord himself lives through them!

"Circumstances arise in our life to teach us lessons"; says Swami Mukundananda in his spiritual series "Art of Mind Management" on YouTube.

We hear from every Pastor not to listen to Devil. He is a lier. Devil asks us to do the things we are not supposed to do. We shouldn't listen to him, instead stick to the Word of God! I have always wondered who is this Devil. Is he as strong as God. How can he make us do the things which are wrong? Why God doesn't stop him from harming us? I have heard hundreds of sermons from many many pastors for many many years. For the first time in 2017, I have heard one Pastor saying, Devil is not independent. He has to take permission from the God. In other words, Devil is a servant of God. God uses him to test his devotees and those who are successful in completing the tests, get closer to the God.

Joyce Meyer tweeted on Mar 1st 2015: God's not nearly as interested in changing your circumstances as He is in changing you!

The Mercy of God: Joyce Meyer says, when we want to purchase Sofa, we would test it by sitting in that Sofa. If the Sofa is not comfortable we would test another one. Same thing is true with the Mattress. We would lie down on the Mattress before purchasing it. Similarly, the difficult times in life are "testing" times for God. I would go one step further and say, those are the exact times when God is testing His "temple". God is testing the "seat" inside this temple, which is Heart & Mind and making sure it is comfortable for Him to sit. God chastise his dearest ones. Not every person understands this. 99.99 percent of God believers, would ask God for more and more Material life comforts. Some of them may not ask for more but they would atleast ask God to maintain what they have. They are not asking for just God's love. Those who are atheists, would think, good times and tough times in life are just part of life, God has nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, People who think in this way are having their back towards God. When God thinks someone is ready for His Love, He puts them through the test. God is Mercyful to those people who understands that it's a 'testing time' when they are going through tough times. In fact, they are able to see the Mercy of God in difficult times only because God is Mercyful. Many Saints have been thankful to God for tough times and tough situations in their Lives. Those are the times, they were more humble. Their hearts and minds were purified and they got closer to God.

Whatever happens in our life, so called good or bad, is a part of big picture God is sketching to help us grow spiritually and to bring us closer to Him.

Many religious people think that human being was not evolved from Ape. They do not agree with scientists and the evolution theory. They think human being was directly sent by God to this earth. Let us take a look at how the universe was evolved. It is now proved that our galaxy was born about 13 billion years ago. Since our Milky way galaxy rotates around itself in the anti-clock direction, Sun born out of the Milky way cloud also rotates in anti-clock direction. Since earth is born out of Sun, earth also rotates in anti-clock direction around itself and around the Sun. Earth exists for about 4.5 billion years and the first time life appeared on earth was 3.5 billion years ago. It took almost another 3 billion years before animals evolved on earth. Today's human has evolved only 200K years ago. It takes time for anything to evolve and become perfect. If God took 10 billion years to create life on earth after the big-bang, how can anyone think that human being was directly sent by God to the earth. I can only smell ego when someone says that. God is taking different forms and trying to be perfect in that form. Evolution is nothing but an improvement from previous version, just like the computers evolved from Apple-I in 1976 to today's Apple iPad. It is foolishness to say Human being didn't evolve.

Don't take the things for granted, accept them with grateful heart!

Everything in our life should involve God. Don't just give Him 5 minutes in the morning, live for Him!