A medical student whose goal is to become a fine doctor, he or she stays focussed on this target and puts in the required effort unceasingly for five to six years. He or she works hard, day and night as their eyes are set on the day they are awarded the coveted degree. The same is true for every worldly achievement-be it sports, arts, science, commerce, theatre and so on…success comes only with strong conviction and hard work.

A gyani (enlightened being) knows his true, ever-blissful ‘Self’. Thus, although he performs all actions, he is not dependent on the world for anything. He is blissfully content in his own ‘Self’. And only such a being can be the non-doer of actions and thus the non-bearer of its consequences. He is ever content with whatever that comes to him of its own accord, being equanimous in success and failure, and thus he is not bound despite performing actions....

When you chant Shiva mantra, your body should be still. Your spine, neck and head should be erect and your body should not be moving at all. You can begin by whispering the chant. Mantra is a sound vibration which will bring alterations in your brain and in the energy field of your body. By chanting Om Namaha Shivaya, you are not pleasing Lord Shiva but you are using this particular sound wave to create a state of mind...

India is a land with a long tradition of great masters and great yogis. And there are countless stories depicting their amazing lives and teachings. One such story is about a yogi from Maharashtra (in central India) called Changdev Maharaj. He entered a state of samadhi and stayed in that state for almost three hundred years. When he came out of samadhi, his age was almost four hundred years. Emerging from the cave, he asked the locals what year...

Meditation is the gateway to inner awakening. It is the door that opens up the possibility of self-realisation. It is the sword that destroys all ignorance forever. Imagine being free of all bondages and sufferings, not enslaved to anyone or anything, supremely happy and content, mind in perennial peace, having complete clarity of one’s real identity and the meaning of life being crystal clear…can there be anything more precious than this achievement in life? Can any worldly...

Mantra should be the focus; and once the mantra is done then that is your time to sit as long as mind wishes to. It is like those old hand pumps which used to pump water, if you have ever seen one. When it dried up one would just put some water into it and pump until it brought out the water. Once the water started coming then you pumped just once and there was lots of water. Pumping...

Meditation is not about doing but being. Thus all that is done in the name of meditation is not meditation at all! It is not something which can be handed over to you on a platter, it is not something that can be bestowed upon you. Meditation is an effortless effort. The effort is required only in the beginning to create the right inner milieu for meditation to happen effortlessly. Thus, you take effort to sit properly and practise...

‘That which stretches the mind’ – this is the root meaning of the word ‘mantra’. Mind in Sanskrit is ‘mann’. Both, mann and mantra, originate from the same root. Mind is the reason of all human suffering and sorrows. That is why we need to give the mind a right direction. Mind can be a powerful tool if we know how to harness its power. A weak mind is the source of depression, anger, helplessness and diseases. On the contrary,...