Rachna Khemchandani's Blog, page 5

39. Spiritual growth

People who are on the spiritual path must meditate for atleast half an hour or one hour everyday and they must apply & practice spiritual teaching in their day to day life if they really want to grow spiritually.The only way to grow spiritually is by purifying your inner being ( your mind and heart ). There is no other way. The more pure you will become from within, the more you will grow. Pure means releasing all the negativity from within ….all your sadness, pain, anger, fear, hatred, etc. This will give you peace, happiness and positive strength.

38. You can experience your higher consciousness/soul or supreme consciousness/god in moments of inner silence

You can experience your higher consciousness/soul or supreme consciousness/god in moments of inner silence. When you go beyond all the logic and emotions of your mind, when all your thoughts and emotions disappear….even if it happens for few seconds or few minutes or few hours ….in those moments of inner silence you can experience your real self …your true self …your soul ….even god….which is nothing but supreme and pure consciousness and supreme and pure energy….which is infinite and formless. I am saying this from my personal experience. I dont know about others but this is what i have experienced personally.

37. Inner guru is sufficient or do we need an outside guru or guru in the physical body ?

Well the answer is, that the infinite, subtle formless guru element or guru tattva is present within all of us but how many of us can really listen to the voice of the inner guru. A lot of times you may listen to the voice of your ego or mind and think that it is the voice of your inner guru or your soul. How many of you are 100 % sure that it is really the voice of the inner guru that you are listening to and not the voice of the ego or mind ? I know most of you will agree with the fact that only very few are really capable of listening to the voice of the inner guru or the soul. So most of us need an outside guru in the physical body who can give us the right guidance, who can make us realize our mistakes and see our impurities & make us more aware and conscious about everything.

Guru in the physical body can initiate us into different meditative processes or techniques through which we can reach the same peaceful state that he has reached. Through this initiation he connects us to the divine energy or divine consciousness. Your inner guru can also do the same provided you are able to truly connect with your inner guru. So until you are able to connect to your inner guru , you need an outside guru. Outside guru will only be able to help you when you have complete surrender and faith towards him. But before giving your complete surrender and faith you need to find a right guru for yourself.

36. By acquiring siddhies and powers through any form of tantra or shakti sadhna/meditation does not mean that you are spiritually evolved

There are lot of spiritual seekers or sadhaks who feel that the more powers or siddhies you have , the more spiritually evolved you are. They always try to seek and find those gurus or saints who can show miracles through their acquired powers and siddhies. But the actual truth is that powers or siddhies has nothing to do with real spiritual growth. You may have lot of powers and siddhies but your spiritual growth can be absolutely zero. I have come across many tantriks who can perform miracles and have lot of siddhies and powers but are not at all spiritually evolved , infact they have a spiritual downfall. If you are truly spiritually evolved then you might not have any powers or siddhies but you will have lot of inner peace, contentment, detachment, desirelessness, egolessness and inner freedom. So ask yourself what are you seeking ….powers, siddhies, miracles or inner peace and freedom.

35. Few facts and precautions before doing any kind of shakti sadhna or devi sadhna/meditation

There are lot of meditations for inner purification which do not involve any particular form of god or goddess, but there are sadhnas/meditations which involve different forms of god and goddesses or devi and devtas. When you do any shakti or devi sadhna then you need to understand that shakti sadhna at times can be very fierce and it can make a lot of your karma come out on the surface very quickly. As long as they are good karma, it will be good for you, but if lot of bad karma comes out on the surface then it might become very difficult for you to handle. So you need to be mentally prepared to handle everything that comes on the surface before you do any shakti or devi sadhna, because i have seen many sadhaks facing lot of financial and family difficulties, mental and physical disbalance & disturbance after doing shakti sadhna. At any point of time if this happens then my advice to all those sadhaks is to ask for forgiveness from the devi and stop shakti sadhna. Instead do mahamrityunjaya sadhna or shiv sadhna. Along with it you can do release sadhna & forgiveness, gratitude and unconditional love sadhna which is given in my book.

Shakti or devi can get fierce and to teach you a lesson it can go to any extent which you might not be able to handle but with shiv sadhna or meditation , shiv will raise your consciousness first and make you realize your mistakes. So the difference that i have understood is that shakti will teach you a lesson first then your consciousness is raised whereas shiv will raise your consciousness first and then you will realize your mistake and learn your lesson. With shakti sadhna your good and bad karma can come out very quickly on the surface which you may not be mentally prepared to handle but in shiv sadhna things happen more smoothly and gently and you are mentally prepared.

At any point of time when you are doing any devi or shakti sadhna and you feel lot of anger or irritation or fights happening or feel any mental disbalance, then my advice to you is to ask for forgiveness from the devi and stop devi sadhna and start shiv or mahamrityunjaya sadhna. I have written this article because lot of sadhaks in the past have come to me and asked me that why things and situations have become worse in their lives after doing shakti sadhna or devi sadhna. I hope through this article i was able to give an explanation and answer to all those sadhaks facing similar difficulties and seeking answers.

34. A spiritual point of view towards committing suicide

Any person who thinks of committing suicide is definitely not in the right state of mind. Only a very unstable mind can think like this. Everybody goes through ups and downs and there are many who face lot of challenges and difficulties in life but that does not mean that you loose your mind stability and try to end your life. First of all we have to understand this fact that by committing suicide our problems will not end. These problems or karma will be carried forward in our next life and we will have to face those problems or karma again in next life and this will continue for life times till we face it and end the cycle of our karma through our meditation/sadhna , by learning spiritual lessons , by accepting & realizing our mistakes , by bringing changes within ourself and within our mind, by emptying our mind from all negativity. So we cannot escape our karma, but we can face it and work out our prarabhdha karma, dissolve our sanchit karma and move on. We can release our negative thoughts and feelings ( our sanchit karma) through release meditation and by meditation of forgiveness, gratitude & love . I have mentioned the detail process of these two meditations in my book. This can end the cycle or chain of negative karma which has been going on for many life times.

It is true from the spiritual point of view that we should not interfere with the free will of the person but in case of suicide we have to do whatever we can to stop the person from committing suicide because we know that the person is mentally sick and unstable and cannot make right decision for itself. After doing everything that we can , if still that person commits suicide then we have to simply accept it and pray that god gives him the strength to face his karma in next life and not make the same mistake again.

To face your negative prarabhdha karma you need courage & strength and also need to accept and realize your mistakes and learn the lessons that you need to learn in this life. To understand all this you need spiritual knowledge and understanding, you may need a spiritual guide who can give you clarity and understanding and of course you need meditation techniques and tools to release all negative sanchit karma ( negative thoughts and emotions ) and end this cycle of negative karma.

33. Can a truly enlightened person call his path the best path and judge & criticize others gurus or enlightened beings ?

In last 3 – 4 years i have met many gurus who have a huge following ( lakhs  of followers ) and are at the level of sadhguru s. These are the people who have talked about their enlightenment in books or interviews. A few of these gurus openly criticized and judged other enlightened gurus (who also have a huge following) in a very negative way , compared their path to their paths and said that their path is the best path and they know better than anyone else.

Now my question to all of you is that if someone is truly enlightened then can he say that his path is the best path and criticize and judge others and say that he knows better than others or he is the only one who knows about meditation and spirituality and kundalini shakti and no one else knows anything. All others are fake and he is only true guru.

I remember reading in Ekhart Tolle books that comparison , trying to prove yourself right and others wrong, judging and criticizing others is all an act of ego and i also agree with him. We are taught from the very beginning in the spiritual path that dont judge others ….look within yourself and work on your own faults.

The moment you say that your path is the best path , you know better than others and try to prove others wrong and yourself right then your ego has come in the picture. If you are not aware of your own ego and if you cannot see your own ego then are you truly enlightened ?

32. If you are a double faced person and a hypocrite then it will be very difficult for you to grow spiritually.

In my life i have come across lot of people who are double faced and hypocrites. Usually these kind of people are different from inside and different from outside, meaning they pretend to be someone they are not. These kind of people also try to create a different image of themselves in the society so that they can be liked by everyone but the fact is that they are not showing what they truly are because they dont have the courage to do so. They are so protective about their image and have lot of fear of showing their real sides which might have lot of weaknesses and faults according to the society. They only show their real selves to their families and friends because it is not possible to pretend all the time & hide their true nature with family and close friends. When you have two faces and two different behaviours ….one for the society & outside world and one for the family and friends then you are a double faced person and a hypocrite. When you try to be what you are not in front of people then you are an imposter, not an honest person. Honest and straightforward people are disliked by society because society prefers people who are diplomatic and nice all the time , who never tell the bitter truth on their face.

When we are on the spiritual path we dont care about our image because image is only an aspect of ego within us. When we go beyond our good and bad image , when  we go beyond what people think about us , then we also go beyond our ego to a great extent. We are not on the spiritual path to please people and society , we are on the spiritual path to grow spiritually which needs lot of honesty, straightforwardness and courage. Only fearless people have the courage to be what they truly are in the outside world without any pretense and hypocrisy.

Rather than talking ill behind the back and gossiping , you should have the courage to say whatever you wish to say on the face of the person. If  you dont have the courage to say what you wish to on the face of the person then dont say anything bad also behind the back of the person and keep quite till you find your courage. Talking ill behind the back will create more negative energy. Talking ill or bad will create bad karma and will create even more bad karma if you talk ill or bad about spiritually evolved people. You should have the courage to confront the person and tell him or her what you feel or think. Or you can simply release those thoughts and energy.

Dont be double faced and hypocritical which society wants you to become but be what you truly are whether in the inside world or outside world and genuinely make efforts to become someone who is positive, loving without expectations and conditions, fearless, courageous, forgiving , grateful & honest.

31. Is it ok to drink alcohol and smoke when you are on the spiritual path?

If you are on a spiritual path and if you truly want spiritual growth then it would be better to avoid smoking and drinking alcohol because smoking and drinking will hinder your spiritual progress. It would be good if you gradually reduce it and then stop it completely.

When you smoke and drink alcohol , your level of consciousness and awareness reduces and your energy becomes more gross and dense. So if you dont smoke and drink alcohol then it will be easier for your energy to purify and become subtle and it will be easier to raise your level of consciousness which is important for your spiritual growth.

Smoking and drinking alcohol will also cause hindrance in your meditation and sadhna also and will make it more difficult for you to get good results from your meditation or sadhna.

It is also true that alcohol and smoking will attract more of negative and lower, dense entities towards you because at the time when you are drinking or smoking , your energy and consciousness also becomes dense and low.

You can take alcohol occasionally on special events and occasions but avoid taking it too frequently or regularly.

30. How to bring peace and happiness in all your relationships from a spiritual point of view?

Be it any relationship whether it is brother – sister, children – parents, wife – husband, friends , colleagues, etc , the most important thing is unconditional love. If your love is based on expectations then all the happiness and peace will go away in one instant the moment your expectations are not met. So it is important to love unconditionally without any expectations, and this has to happen from both ends. Even if it is not happening from the other end , you should keep doing it from your end.

The second most important aspect in any relationship is forgiveness and acceptance. Nobody is perfect , everyone will have their own set of faults and weaknesses. We have to accept it and forgive them. If you will not forgive and keep holding negativity and anger in your heart then you will never find any happiness and peace in your relationships. It should happen at both the ends but if it is not happening at the other end,  atleast you keep doing it at your end. This will give you peace.

Third most important thing in any relationship is space and freedom. If you dont give each other enough space and freedom and try to control each other then you will never find peace and happiness in your relationships. Never do anything which is against the free will of any individual. Never force anyone to do anything against their wish. By doing this you will acquire lot of bad karma. You can always give a loving advice to each other but not force that advice on anyone. Dont try to control each others life , rather live and let live !  Even in the guru disciple relationship , disciple surrenders himself to the guru and accepts to be guided by the guru with his free will ….no guru can force him to do it . Once the disciple has surrendered to the guru, only then the guru has the right to guide him, teach him, advice him and even for that matter scold him if required.

Fourth most important thing is  respect and understanding. You need to understand that everyone is at a different consciousness plane , meaning their consciousness level can be low or high and they are all coming with all kinds of good and bad karma of the past. This is the reason they are behaving differently . You need to understand them. It is usually difficult for the people on the lower consciousness plane to understand people on the higher consciousness plane. If they cant understand, then they need to simply accept them with unconditional love. But people on the higher consciousness plane can easily understand people on the lower consciousness plane because they have gone through those stages or planes before. Usually for such people understanding and acceptance and forgiveness comes naturally. For example a person who is behaving like an animal , is a person who is at a consciousness level of an animal. Till his consciousness grows , he will act like an animal  only,  so you  need to accept that and forgive them. You can pray for such people so that their consciousness level rises. You can try to help them to raise their level of consciousness but cannot force it to happen. It will happen when it is meant to be so dont get frustrated.

I am not saying that you allow  people to do wrong to you in your relationships . No,  instead you have to make sure that nobody in your relationships takes undue advantage of you or do anything wrong towards you physically , mentally, emotionally or spiritually.  Only you are blamed if you allow people to do wrong to you, you can always stop that once you are an adult and grown up. Even as a child you have to ask someone to help you if someone is doing wrong to you.

Also dont take anyone for granted in your relationship. Be always grateful for whatever you are receiving from the other person whether it is physical, material, emotional, mental or spiritual. All the unresolved issues in relationships can be resolved through understanding and forgiveness from your end even if it is not possible to happen from the other end. This will help to end the karmic cycle between you and the other person.

Last but not the least please communicate and express your feeling openly. Dont suppress or hide it because it will cause lot of problems in the long run. The more open you are about how you feel or think about a certain thing , the easier it becomes for the other person to understand you. If you will not do that then people in your relationship will not be able to understand you correctly and it will cause lot of misunderstandings and lot of assumptions will be made about you and your behaviour which may not be true at all. You might also be doing the same thing by assuming things about people which may not be true at all.

Dont get too much ego in relationships because that will definitely destroy the relationship completely. Have self respect but not ego. Self respect only means not allowing anybody to do wrong to you. Beyond that everything else is only ego. The more the acceptance, understanding , unconditional love and forgiveness, the less the ego and vice versa.