MIND AND BODY-

The Mind is the internal Organ, and "Mind is surely made of food, vital force is made of water, and speech is made of fire"- "Of curd when it is churned, that which is its subtle part rises upward. That becomes clarified butter. In this very way, of food when it is eaten, those which is the subtle part, that rises upward, and that becomes mind" The mind and body is the fastest growing fields in medical research today. That there is a strong link has been firmly established.

Today we have two distinct branches of medical science. Doctors and Physicians tend to our body’s illness and organic defects by means of medicines and surgery and the second group, comprising Unavoidable mental stress causes the Body’s immune system to falter. Immunologists, Physiologists and Neuro-biologists now are sure that emotion and mental stress causes an abnormal imbalance in our bodies cardiovascular disorders, asthma, migraine headaches and kidney ailments and some of the other diseases are due to mental stress or runway emotions. Even certain forms of cancer may have their roots in the mind.

Cardiologists are now absolutely sure that a positive nexus exists between cardiovascular disorders and hypertension (High Blood Pressure) in the case of people having the so-called type-A personality. These individuals are aggressive, ambitious extremely goal-oriented and restless. They are always in a hurry and pressed for time. Psychologists have noted that type-A people are frequent visits cardiologists chambers much more than type-B people who are more relaxed and cheerful. Hormones released by the endocrine glands account for the increased rate of heart disorders.

Stress is something that only high ranking executives suffer from. Nothing could be more incorrect, we all suffer from it. However, in spite of the enormous amount of research done on it, the concept itself remains far from clear and different authorities continue to use the term to mean different things.

The mechanism by which the mind exerts its influence on bodily activities is not entirely clear but it is certain that it lies in the brain. Two glands situated there the Hypothalamus and the Pituitary act in close co-ordination to control the endocrine and the nervous system of the body.

Problems in life arise mainly due to lack of discipline. Our words should be measured. Our food habits clean and our senses kept under control. Some people question the statement of saints and the wise that life, which is the precious gift of God, ought to be utilized only to realize God. Their argument, based on the Hinduism is that life should be enjoyed to the brim and one should not close his eyes to worldly activities. These people do not realize that the pleasure they dream of are but purely fleeting in nature leading to misery. Their mind will be filled with filthy and base thoughts. But one who is ever vigilant, keeping the mind pure and impervious to evil thoughts can experience real happiness.

The penance that scriptures speak of is only intended to achiever discipline of the mind and the body. Virtuous men with properly attuned mind will experience Bliss with in. Mere offering of flowers and display of extravagance during worship or ostentatious ness in prayers are not the indices of sincere devotion. For one who checks his senses and mind there is no need for “ Mantras and Tantras” ( मंत्र और तंत्र ).

The mind is a largely uncharted world a system of unimaginable complexity and extraordinary powers. Despite the Neurologists and the Psychologists, it remains as much of a mystery today as ever. The Scientist themselves confess to be groping in the dark in this field of human knowledge.

But the way to Gyan ज्ञान is really simple. A child doesn’t know his mother, he just loves her completely. Fall in love with all Shrishti श्रृष्टि , Gyan ज्ञान will come itself.”

“The Fidayeen फिदायीन /Terrorist are brainwashed into believing the only way to attain heaven was to kill other people. But one of the terrorist who attained the knowledge through meditation in jail, he says he has attained heaven right here on earth, through meditation. He has written that given a chance, he would like to help others attain this knowledge.” “Now he finds it very hard to see god in his enemy despite his best efforts”.

Because Meditation is simple and inexpensive; it is well a healthy body, mind and soul. Meditation polishes the tarnished mind and helps it to think positively. Pursuing one’s professional commitment with sincerity while at the same time taking care not to give in to greed, corruption and exploitation will elevate one’s consciousness. Work then becomes worship. Healing therefore has to begin from within.

“Don’t cry to see God”. “Just see a human. We may not have devotion, but at least we can have compassion.” Inevitably, someone wants to know what he feels about disbelievers, as well as about followers who relapse into doubt, “all good things are doubted”. “Negativism is so inbuilt that if I say I have great affection for you, you will ask ‘really’? But if I say I hate you, you will immediately accept it.”

Can someone actually change his or her nature? Suppressing one’s Individuality is not changes. Without and awareness ad understanding of the needs of body, mind and soul, the concept of changes is no more than a hallucination. Every individual is like a deep, fathomless ocean with prince less treasures hidden within. These treasures may be likened to basic human qualities, which everyone possesses. But, bad experiences, unhealthy habits, negative thought processes, diverse conditioning, neglect and misconceptions born of misinformation are like previous sea weeds that tend to stifle and choke emotional areas, jeoparding the possibility of manifesting these basic qualities in a wholesome and fulfilling manner. Buried treasure becomes tarnished over time; the basic substance may become eroded, depending upon how much tamas तामस or regulation and indiscrimination, and rajas राजस or imbalanced hyperactivity are prevalent over sattva सात्विक or regulation and sanity. Under such circumstances, the change will be aware of this.

Only a qualified counselor can act as a deep sea diver, swimming expertly through all lurking dangers, to help retrieve lost treasure, bring it to the surface, and polish and restore to it its pristine, sparkling condition so that the owner might realise its true utility. Though this might be termed as change, it is not really change. Rather, it is a burnishing process or a catharsis. Purity in thought, word and deep is the potent forced that insulates one from disease. In short, change may be termed as purging oneself of all mental misconceptions and their corresponding physical activity. The spiritual counselor’s catalytic presence stimulates and speeds up the process. This kind of therapy, when combined with diet and exercise, has more enduring results and positive benefits than even psychiatric treatment which tends to make a patient dependent upon drugs that could encourage depression and pessimism in the long run.

The mind is the crucial conduit between body and soul. In fact experiencing a tangible rapport with the invisible spirit soul is utterly dependent upon the alert, subtle mind aided by analytical intelligence. The ten senses of information and action can, at the most, execute the mind’s instructions. Emotion is the external display of one’s mental status. From inner purification and change to external well being, the key is holistic healing and caring. Spirituality has, since time immemorial, provided answers to the most complex questions. So it has several tips to offer to tend to body, mind and soul. By carefully studying one’s diet, sleep and work schedules and recreational indulgences, the discerning counselor can safely detect what even sophisticated bio-medical gadgets and technicians may, at the most, merely suspect. Quality eating combined with reason and restraint cures; whereas quantity consumption just for gratification can prove to be eventually harmful to vital bodily organs. There’s truth in the saying, “you are what you eat”.


The nature of the mind is to accumulate. A gross mind wants to accumulate things; an evolved mind wants to accumulate knowledge. When emotion becomes dominant, it wants to accumulate people. The mind’s basic nature is to accumulate. The mind is a gatherer – always wanting to gather something. The mind of a person on the spiritual path starts accumulating ‘spiritual’ wisdom. May be it starts gathering the guru’s words but until one goes beyond the need to accumulate – whether it is food, things, people, knowledge or wisdom – it does not matter what we accumulate. The need to accumulate indicates a feeling of insufficiency, because somewhere, we got identified with limited things that we are not.

If we bring awareness and sadhana साधना into our life, slowly, the vessel becomes empty. Awareness empties the vessel. Sadhana साधना cleanses the vessel. When these two are sustained for a long period, then our vessel becomes empty and only then, grace descends upon us. Without grace nobody really gets anywhere. If we need to experience the grace, our vessel has to become totally empty. If we are living with a guru just to gather his words. Our life has been wasteful.

If we do not experience the grace, if we do not empty our self to bear the grace, then the spiritual path needs to be pursued for many life times to come. But if we become empty enough for the grace to descend, then, the ultimate nature is not far away. It is here to be experienced, to be realized, going beyond all dimensions of existence, into the exalted state. It becomes a living reality.

The Attitude that wherever we go, we must gather as much as we can, that has become part of our life. Our education gas always taught you how to gather more and more things in order to make a living. With this gathering, may be we can enhance the physical quality of life around us to some extent. But all this gathering is incapable take us even an inch closer to the ultimate nature. Only sadhana साधना or inner work can bring the awareness necessary to constantly cleanse our vessel. Innocence, too, enables absolute surrender. But surrendering is not something that we do; it happens when we are not. When we lose all will, when we have become absolutely willing, when there is nothing in our self, then also, grace descends upon but I would be advisable, stick to the path of awareness and sadhana साधना .

The web of bondage is constantly being created only by the way we think and feel. Whatever we are calling, as awareness is just to start creating a distance between it that we think, feel and our self. What we are referring to as sadhana साधना is an opportunity to raise our energies so that we can tide over these limitations or these mechanisms through which we have entangled our self to our thought and emotion.


Mind always has the tendency to waver and to be unsteady. As often as it inclines like a horse, to roam unrestrained over the pastureland of sense-objects, so often should be careful to bridle it down and bring it under control.

There are many solutions for a man to realize truth, has included in them the vital message pinpointing that mind is a person’s best friend. Equally true is the statement that it is also his worst enemy. Hence to be always happy it is necessary to “be friend” it by taming it. If the mind remains “stagnant” and “Empty” worldly desires will rush to fill it up and then keep agitating, till its demand are met. A mind with no such desires will not be in need of anything. On the other hand, it will always seek the grace of God. A spiritual soul will never relish material pleasures.

The soul, which has fallen into the foul sink of object worldliness, should be redeemed by a mind, which is absolutely free from all affinities. The mind will be friend of the soul that has full control over the “Self.”

A man who keeps check over the mind will not be perturbed by the mundane opposite love and hatred, heat & cold, happiness & misery honor and dishonor. He will be respected by all. Such control can be achieved by assiduous practice, when he will be steady and even while he faces worldly sufferings, he will not be impatient when there is delay of his success. He relinquishes his desires, regulates his sense, and attains complete dispassion. Being volatile, it is difficult to have pin-pointed ness of the mind.

What are our pleasure-centers?

We know them very well. The greatest fortress of our pleasure is our own personality-consciousness, our egoism. We have many other pleasure-centers, no doubt; but the greatest among all of them is what we call, in common parlance, Izzat, dignity of personality, self-respect. This self-respect was unknown to great masters and saints. They respected God and so they were humiliated in the eyes of people, put down as 'no-ones' in the eyes of the world. What torture and what suffering they underwent-it is something terrifying, if you think over it. We have only to read the lives of a few saints of the past. We can read even the life of recent personality. While it is easy to think that we believe in God, it is really difficult to be true to the salt.

Hence, may we take these auspicious occasions as occasions for honest Sadhana of our own conscience and spirit also, and not the Sadhana of the hands, the limbs and the feet alone. We have the Sadhana of the limbs of the body, in the form of ritualistic worship with waving the lights in the temple, opening a scripture and reading it loudly through the vocal organ and paying obeisance physically by Sashtanga Namaskara through the body. All these are beautiful, wonderful and very necessary. But they become null and void, if the conscience is set at naught and is opposed in its spirit to all our outer performances of rituals and religious observances. God is within us, in the deepest root of our being, and to turn to Him would be to turn to ourselves, in our essence, finally.

This should be the spirit of Sadhana and devotion to God and nothing can be more difficult, because it is the death of the individual personality. 'Die to live'. If you want to live in the Eternity, you have to die to the temporal, which means to say that you should die to all that you regard as beautiful, meaningful and valuable in this world. Who can do this! No ordinary man is prepared for this. No ordinary mortal can have the courage, the power and the strength to face the weaknesses of flesh, the foibles of human nature and the impetuosity of the human ego.

Who can face these powerful demons! Who can face Ravana? No one, not all the gods, not even Indra could face him. And who are we! It is not a joke to face and overcome these great negative forces. They are awful-this is the only word we can use here. They are so terrifying that even a mere thought of them is enough to make one run away. Such is the terror that one has to meet with before one becomes fit for God-realisation. "The fear of the Absolute", said Plotinus, a great saint of the West.

Entering the Absolute is like entering a lion's den, from which you cannot come back. Fierce is the ocean, fierce is the lion, fierce is the conflagration of fire, and fierce is love of God. No one can love God, unless one is prepared to die, wholly and totally, to the so-called good, beautiful and pleasant in this world, to this body and to the ego. Hard is the job! Difficult is the task! God's grace is the only saving factor.

So, may we pray to Him, the Almighty, that He may bless us with this uncanny courage, knowledge and strength, that we may realise Him in all His Glory in this very birth.

LORD DATTATREYA - MASTER PAR EXCELLENCE

Lord Dattatreya is regarded as the visible incarnation of the Supreme Being himself in his aspects as Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, which we know as Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, respectively. The creative, the preservative and the disintegrating powers of God are supposed to be manifest in the personality of Lord Dattatreya. The name or word 'Dattatreya' is constituted of two terms, 'Datta' and 'Atreya'. In Sanskrit, 'Datta' means one who is bestowed as a gift, and 'Atreya' is an honorific which is derived from the name of a great sage called Atri. The son of Atri is Atreya. A descendent of Atri also is Atreya. One who is bestowed as a divine child on the great sage Atri, by the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva themselves, is Dattatreya. Tradition holds that he was the divine child of sage Atri born to his famous consort Anasuya. He is also, therefore, known as Anasuyanandana, the darling of the great queen of chastity, Anasuya Devi. The Name of Dattatreya, the great sage, is a by-word in all religious circles in India. In certain parts of Gujarat and in Maharashtra, the worship of Dattatreya is pre-eminent. It is believed by the followers of the tradition that Dattatreya is in flesh and blood even today. He is not merely a dead-and-gone saint and sage of ancient pre-historic times. Devotees believe honestly that he is physically alive even today and he is supposed to be having his abode in those holy places in the western part of India such as Gangapur in Maharashtra. There is a famous hill in Saurashtra, Mount Girnar, which is dedicated to the adoration and worship of Lord Dattatreya.

The Dattatreya Jayanti falls on the full-moon day in the month of Margasirsha (November-December).

Lord Dattatreya is not merely a divine incarnation like Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Sri Rama, but, unlike them, He is held in high esteem as a visible personality, physically available to us for our Darsan, if only we would have the honesty of belief and devotion at his sacred feet. There are wonderful sidelights given to us of the personality Bhagavan Dattatreya.

One of the symbolic and very significant features of his life is depicted in certain painted portraits which many of us might have seen. In such portraits we will see Dattatreya with a bag hung on his shoulder, leaning almost against a cow behind him, with four dogs following him wherever he goes. Four dogs and a cow we will see always with Dattatreya in all portraits and paintings.

What are these dogs? Why does he take the dogs with him, wherever he goes? What is this cow and what is this bag?

The tradition is this: Dattatreya is perhaps the most powerful of conceivable sages, almost identical with God himself. For all practical purposes we may say that he has all the powers of God, viz., creation, preservation and destruction, being an embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva themselves. But, he lives as a Fakir. The term Fakir means a beggar owning nothing, except a bag (a Jhola, as we call it), and a stick in his hand, which is sometimes identified with the trident. He goes for Bhiksha or alms, for he lives on alms. The master of all the forces of Nature at whose command are the sun and the moon and the stars, goes begging for his Bhiksha! The spiritual reading of this Bhiksha or alms-begging by Lord Dattatreya is that he is asking us, 'Give me all your sins.' He does not beg for rice, wheat and dhal from us. He asks for the sins of our past lives and of our present life, and this is the Bhiksha that he wants. He will collect the sins of all people. How many sins have we committed in our earlier lives and up to this time in this life! He can swallow and digest all the sins of all the people. So he goes from door to door asking for alms. We can imagine the power of the man who asks for the sins of all people. He does not want our virtues and good conduct. We always ask for good things, merits, Punyam. But, He asks for our sins, Papam only and not the merits or Punyam. He wants only all the evil propensities that are in us. He puts them in His jhola or bag and walks off and digests the whole thing. These sages are terrible and their powers are inconceivable.

Incidentally, there is a humorous story, to give us an idea of the power of sages.

The story is like this. There was a time when the demons were a terror to people. There were two demon-brothers. The younger brother's name was Vatapi. They were carnivorous. Their only profession was to eat human beings. They used to kill them, cook them and eat. But, there was an ambiguity. That how to get human beings everyday? You cannot get people to eat everyday. So these demon-brothers hatched out a plan. They pretended to be very humble devotees of Brahmins and everyday they invited a Brahmin for lunch. The younger brother of the two demons was master in black-magic. He would allow himself to be cut into pieces and cooked. He had the power to regain his life afterwards. The elder brother would cut and cook his younger brother and feed the invited Brahmin who would not know what he had eaten. After the eating is over, the elder brother would call out his younger brother saying: 'O Vatapi, please come.' That man, through the power of his black-magic, would regain life, burst the stomach of the Brahmin and come out. And the poor Brahmin would then be the meal for both. Everyday this used to happen. Most of the Brahmins were finished, one by one. One day, it so happened, they had a very bad bargain. There was a very powerful sage by name Agastya Rishi.

He was a Brahmin. He was invited for lunch. He was like Lord Dattatreya. He was not; therefore, an ordinary Brahmin as the two brothers took him to be. As usual the younger brother was cooked and given to Agastya for his lunch. Agastya knew this. He thought: "These demons want to kill me and eat me! I will teach them a lesson today." He ate the meal. As soon as he finished his meal, the elder brother said, 'O Vatapi, please come.' Agastya, the sage, rubbed his belly, muttering, 'Vatapi Jirno Bhava-Let Vatapi be digested.' Turning to the elder brother, the sage said: "Sir, your brother has been digested; he cannot come out and he will not come out." Oh! The elder brother was shocked. He thought there was some special power with this Brahmin and he ran for his life. But Agastya would not let him escape. He simply uttered Hum (a mystical sound) which reduced that elder brother to ashes.

This is an example on the power of spiritual masters.

Lord Dattatreya was the greatest among such sages. His power to protect was such that Mother Earth herself took the form of a cow and pleaded for succor. She said: "O great sage, thou art the only refuge." And she, in the form of a cow, is supposed to be under the protection of Lord Dattatreya. The four dogs which we see around him are the forms taken by the four Vedas-Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda. The Vedas knew the predicament that is going to come upon them in Kali Yuga; they knew that they would be disregarded, insulted and cast aside by people. They, therefore, took the form of dogs, and went to this Sage-Protector for protection from destruction. To Mother Earth and the four Vedas, who thus took shelter under him, Lord Dattatreya gave 'Abhayam'. He bestowed fearlessness upon them. When we go to Lord Dattatreya for protection, not all the three worlds can shake a hair of our body. This is the spiritual meaning of this beautiful symbol that we see portrayed in the pictures of Lord Dattatreya with a cow and four dogs.

It is also given in a famous scripture of our land, the Srimad Bhagavata, that one day Lord Dattatreya was walking along a street like a mendicant, very happy in his mood and lustrous in his face. His joy was such that he seemed to be bursting with happiness. But he had nothing with him except a bag and a staff. The king of that land, known as Yadu, met him on the way. The king did not know that it was sage Dattatreya. He took him to be a beggar and wondered within himself: 'How is this person so happy, even though he has nothing with him! I am an emperor of this vast kingdom, but I have got so much grief on my head. What is this mystery? How it is that, being a king, I am so unhappy; and this beggar is so happy.'

He went and humbly prostrated himself before Dattatreya and asked him: "Sir, may I know how is it that you seem to be so happy? What is the source of your happiness, though you seem to be a beggar? Who are you? May I know your whereabouts and a little of your history?" Dattatreya did not say who he was. He merely said: "I am happy because of what I am, not because of what I have."

Here is the secret of happiness. We are happy in proportion to what we are and not in proportion to what we have. While the king had many things, he was an empty shell inside; on the other hand, Dattatreya had nothing to possess and call his own, but he was everything himself.

The long conversation which Dattatreya and the King Yadu had is recorded in the eleventh book of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. Dattatreya, such a great master, humbly said: "I am a student of Nature." He did not say that he is a Guru. Nowadays, nobody says he is a student; everybody says he is a Yoga-teacher! You never find a Yoga-student anywhere, for all are Yoga-teachers! But such a great master as Dattatreya says that he is a student of the forces of Nature.

If he is a student, then who are his Gurus? Oh wonderful! We must read this particular chapter in the Srimad Bhagavata. We will find that he was a student of everything. He says: "I am a student of Mother Earth; I am a student of the waters of the ocean; I am a student of the air that blows; I am a student of the sun that shines; I am a student of the moon that is luminous in the sky; I am a student of the honey-bees that collect the pollen-nectar from various flowers; I am a student of the fish; I am a student of the vulture." The king was astonished and said: "O God! You are a student of all these things! What does it mean? How are you a student of all these? What lessons did you learn from them?" Dattatreya then gives surprising answers to King Yadu, as follows:

"Earth is my Guru, because I learn the lesson of immense, unlimited and unsurpassed patience from the earth. You may spit on the earth, you may defecate or maturate, you may walk with shoes over her or you may kick her. Still, Mother Earth does not complain. How patient is this earth! All the dirt we throw on her face. Still Mother Earth does not complain. How stable she is! I have learnt patience and stability from earth. So earth is my Guru and I am her student.

"Now hear what I have learnt from the waters of the ocean. Whatever be the quantity of water that is poured into or removed from the ocean. Neither does it increase nor decrease. The ocean maintains its dignity, fixity and content. Likewise whether people praise me or censure me, whether they talk for me or against me, whatever it be, it makes no difference to me. And, further, I maintain purity of character like the water which is a symbol of purity.

"Fire also is my Guru. Fire burns anything that you may offer. If you offer ghee, it burns; if you offer milk that also it burns; if you offer dirt that too it burns. When it burns anything, that burnt-stuff becomes pure. Dung becomes pure when it is burnt by fire. It may be a pure or an impure thing that is offered, it makes no difference to the fire; it turns that thing pure. Likewise, whatever enters me through the sense-organs is converted by me into the residue which remains after it is burnt by the fire of knowledge.

"I will tell you what I have learnt from air. I roam about wherever I like, like air. Freedom is my nature. Air cannot be controlled by anybody. You cannot tell the air to stop here or to stop there. Further, purity is the character of air. Wherever air blows, it purifies everything there. Pavana is a Sanskrit word which means 'one who purifies'. Pavana is also the term used for air. All infection in the atmosphere is removed by the movement of air. Stuffiness, insanitation and impurity of every kind are removed and the whole atmosphere is turned pure by the movement of air. Similarly, wherever I go I spread the atmosphere of purity, goodness, compassion and mercy, and I am free like air in motion and I do not stick to a particular place. I am not bound by the atmosphere around me.

"I will now tell you what I have learnt from space, which is one of my Gurus. Vast is my kingdom like space. Everything is mine and everything is not mine also. Everything is contained in space and yet space cannot be contained by anybody. I do not depend on anything, even as space does not depend on anything. Everything depends upon space for its existence.

"I learnt a lesson from the honey-bee. The bee moves from place to place and from flower to flower, collects sweet pollen from flowers and mixes them into a jelly, blends all these beautiful essences into what you call honey. Likewise I go from place to place, meet different persons and things, get what is good in them, collect the knowledge that is in them and blend all of them into the wisdom of my life.

"A bird also is my Guru. Do you know how that bird is my Guru? It so happened that I saw a bird carrying a piece of flesh in its beak. It was flying, high up in the sky, and a vulture pursued it. Why did the vulture pursue this small bird? Because there was some eatable in its mouth. O, the bird went here and there in search of some place of safety, but the vulture pursued the bird wherever it went. At last the bird dropped the piece of meat, and went away free, because the vulture also left pursuing it. The vulture was interested only in the flesh. This bird taught me the lesson that possession is the cause of bondage and suffering. So I do not possess anything. If you possess anything, you are always pursued by someone. I have nothing with me and I go free.

"I learnt a lesson from a poor girl, in a village. Please hear what lesson I learnt from that girl. That girl belonged to a very poor family. They had barely something to eat a single meal a day. She was to be betrothed to some gentleman. That gentleman with his father and mother came to the house of this poor girl to see her. They wanted to know how she looked and what she was like and all that. People do not settle a marriage without properly investigating into the background of the girl. So they were talking to the girl's parents. And the hospitality of the country is such that whenever guests come they have to be fed first. And there was nothing to feed them with, except a little unhusked paddy-grains which had to be husked for obtaining rice. They were too poor to have any servant in the house. So, she herself started pounding the paddy inside the ‘Okhaly’ in her house, for the sake of getting rice which had to be cooked for feeding the guests. You know, these ladies wear bangles. This girl also was wearing a number of bangles in both the hands, of course all cheap glass-bangles. So when she started pounding the paddy with a pestle, the bangles started making sound, Kanu, Kunu. She thought: 'Now what will the guests think? They will think that since I am myself doing the work, our family must be very poor and therefore I am not a suitable match for them. O, these bangles are causing the trouble! I will remove them.' So she removed all the bangles, leaving only two bangles in each hand. And still they made a sound, tung, tung, tung. Then she removed one more and kept only one. Then there was no sound. So, I have learnt from this girl that I must be alone. Even two persons are not good. There is a saying: 'Ek niranjan; Do ghad-bad; Theen lath-path.' If one person is there, he is happy; if two are there, there is quarrel; and three means fighting. And in the Narada Parivrajaka Upanishad also it is said 'Ekah Sadhu suprayuktah, dvitiyam gramamuchyate, tritiyam nagaram smritam'. This means that one person is good, two persons make a village and three make a city. I have learnt this lesson from that poor girl, who is therefore one of my Gurus."

Likewise, Dattatreya gives a list of twenty-four Gurus, regarding himself as a humble student of the whole of creation. He also teaches us the lesson that the higher is one's knowledge, the humbler is that person. The larger is our wisdom, the smaller we look in the eyes of people. The nearer we are to God, the farther we appear from people's eyes. So Lord Dattatreya is here before us as a spiritual magnet and a magnificent embodiment of divine power - the powers even of creation, preservation and destruction. This three-faced God, Lord Dattatreya, is regarded as an embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. He is regarded as the Guru of Gurus and he is specially worshipped on Brihaspativara or Guruvara, which is the sacred Thursday. Thursday is supposed to be the Guru's day and we worship the great Guru Lord Dattatreya on every Thursday. May we all become fit instruments for the reception of the unbounded grace of Lord Dattatreya by following his example.

10 Principles for Peace of Mind


1. Do not interfere in Others’ business Unless Asked:


Most of us create our own problems by interfering too often in others' affairs. We do so because somehow we have convinced ourselves that our way is the best way, our logic is the perfect logic and those who do not conform to our thinking must be criticized and steered to the right direction, our direction. This thinking denies the existence of individuality and consequently the existence of God... God has created each one of us in a unique way. No two human beings can think or act in exactly the same way. All men or women act the way they do because God within them prompts them that way. Mind your own business and you will keep your peace.

2. Forgive and forget

This is the most powerful aid to peace of mind. We often develop ill feelings inside our heart for the person who insults us or harms us. We nurture grievances. This in turn insult or injury was done once, but nourishing of grievance goes on forever by constantly remembering it. Get over this bad habit. Life is too short to waste in such trifles. Forgive, forget, and march on. Love flourishes in giving and forgiving.

3. Do not Crave for Recognition;

This world is full of selfish people. They seldom praise anybody without selfish motives. They may praise you to-day because you are in power, but no sooner than you are powerless; they will forget your achievement and will start finding faults in you. Why do you wish to kill yourself in striving for their recognition? Their recognition is not worth the aggravation. Do your duties ethically and sincerely.

4. Do not be Jealous:

We all have experienced how jealousy can disturb our peace of mind. You know that you work harder than your colleagues in the office, but sometimes they get promotions; you do not. You started a business several years ago, but you are not successful as your neighbour whose business is only one year old. There are several examples like these in everyday life. Should you be jealous ? No. Remember everybody’s life is shaped by his/her destiny, which has now become his/her, reality. If you are destined to be rich, nothing in the world can stop you. If you are not so destined, no one can help you either. Nothing will be gained by blaming others for your misfortune. Jealousy will not get you anywhere; it will only take away your peace of mind.

5. Change Yourself According To The Environment:

If you try to change the environment single-handedly, the chances are you will fail. Instead, change yourself to suit your environment. As you do this, even the environment, which has been unfriendly to you, will mysteriously change and seem congenial and harmonious.

6. Endure What Cannot Be Cured:

This is the best way to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Every day we face numerous inconveniences, ailments, irritations, and accidents that are beyond our control. If we cannot control them or change them, we must learn to put up with these things. We must learn to endure them cheerfully. Believe in yourself and you will gain in terms of patience, inner strength and will power.

7. Do Not Bite Off More Than You Can Chew:

This maxim needs to be remembered constantly. We often tend to take more responsibilities than we are capable of carrying out. This is done to satisfy our ego. Know your limitations. . Why take on additional loads that may create more worries? You cannot gain peace of mind by expanding your external activities. Reduce your material engagements and spend time in prayer, introspection and meditation. This will reduce those thoughts in your mind that make you restless. Uncluttered mind will produce greater peace of mind.

8. Meditate Regularly:

Meditation calms the mind and gets rid of disturbing thoughts. This is the highest state of peace of mind. Try and experience it yourself. If you meditate earnestly for half an hour every day, your mind will tend to become peaceful during the remaining twenty-three and half-hours. Your mind will not be easily disturbed as it was before. You would benefit by gradually increasing the period of daily meditation. You may think that this will interfere with your daily work. On the contrary, this will increase your efficiency and you will be able to produce better results in less time.

9. NEVER Leave the Mind Vacant.

An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. All evil actions start in the vacant mind. Keep your mind occupied in something positive, something worthwhile. Actively follow a hobby. Do something that holds your interest. You must decide what you value more: money or peace of mind. Our hobby, like social work or religious work, may not always earn you more money, but you will have a sense of fulfilment and achievement. Even when you are resting physically, occupy yourself in healthy reading or mental chanting of God’s name.

10. Do Not Procrastinate And Never Regret:

Do not waste time in protracted wondering " Should I or shouldn't I?" Days, weeks, months, and years may be wasted in that futile mental debating. You can never plan enough because you can never anticipate all future happenings. Value your time and do the things that need to be done.

It does not matter if you fail the first time. You can learn from your mistakes and succeed the next time. Sitting back and worrying will lead to nothing. Learn from your mistakes, but do not brood over the past. DO NOT REGRET. Whatever happened was destined to happen only that way. Why cry over spilt milk?