(Below is a continuation of the post Facing Criticism)
Why do you want to learn? Why do you want to take all the trouble? Hold on to your grudge, and when you cannot then you have already forgiven (the person).
Itβs not easy to hold on to a grudge against somebody. If you are wise youβd say, 'I am tired of this grudgeful feeling'. The moment the grudge falls, you have already forgiven.
Forgiving is not an active engagement, βOh, I forgive you from nowβ. If it is an action of that sort, then that forgiveness has only boosted the ego. Forgiveness happens as a result of being unable to hold on to the grudge, to bear the pain of hatred, and to sustain that anger.
Youβre angry with somebody, but at some point you say, βLet me give up. I donβt care.β Then you have forgiven them.
How long can you hold on to a grudge? It wears you down. You feel so tired, exhausted, and sick. At some point you say, 'I donβt want to be sick anymore', then you have automatically forgiven.
That forgiveness is the one without ego. You donβt even know that youβre forgiving. You say, βNever mind, letβs move onβ.
When you think, βI have forgiven you today consciouslyβ, you have not forgiven! Still you are holding on to something and you expect them to behave in a certain manner. It is very subtle.
See, if you are not sleeping well at night, then this could be a possible reason.
If you have time, then after kriya just lie down. You may take a short nap of 10-15 minutes, or you must meditate. If you donβt do this, then it could happen that you feel sleepy.
After kriya just sit and meditate for some time. Kriya should always be followed by meditation.
When you come back home in the evening, do your kriya then, if feeling sleepy is bothering you at work.Β If you donβt do this, then it could happen that you feel sleepy.
Β
That is called intelligence. There is some intelligence that is making you ask this question; that is holding your brain together.
That which is keeping the brain together is the same intelligence which is keeping the furniture together also! Brain is also a furniture for consciousness to sit on. Got it? If you have one, you have got it!
I am sure you have one, otherwise you couldnβt have asked this brilliant question.
Usually ordinary people take things for granted. It needs that extraordinary brain to get intrigued by the realities of life. Question these things in the universe and don't just be satisfied with what comes in the so called science books because they keep changing. New theories come up every day. It is really the intelligent ones who want to see beyond science also; who are not satisfied with scientific research also. They want to prove more and more.
So give a big pat on your head and to the thing that sits inside it. And give a big pat to your back and to the thing that sits on your back. And it is intact I tell you!
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These imbalances are not permanent. You call it imbalance because it is impermanent. It canβt be there for too long.
If vatta imbalance is there, it is going to go away. A little rest, an ayurvedic massage, a little attention on food, and some good sleep, it will be gone.
You shouldnβt sit and worry about it too much. It is the nature of the body, sometimes it gets very stiff, sometimes it becomes very loose. Same thing with the head! What do you do? That is how the nature is.
Do what you can, and do what is to be done, and just move on.
When you are not doing the right thing, something pinches you, something irritates you; something inside tells you that you are not doing the right thing. This is how you know you are not doing the right thing.
When you are doing the right thing, sometimes doubts also come. So, if doubts come then you can think that it is the right thing. But if irritation comes then it is wrong.
Our doubt is always about something that is right. Also, when your prana is low then doubt comes. Raise your prana with more meditation. Then you will see that these doubts donβt rise up in the mind.
Even I felt, we have done so much work in Iraq; from 2003 we have been in Iraq. We have made efforts to bring communities together. We have brought smiles to the faces of thousands of Iraqi women. After the war we brought hope and light into the lives of thousands of people. There are about 10,000 people whose lives have been touched, whose lives were changed, and they became agents of change in the rest of the society.
Now, suddenly you turn and see, you feel all our work has gone down the drain. All that work has gone waste. This thought does come to our mind. But never the less, we have done something.
If we thought on the lines, that anyway it is not going to work, why should we do? Then even those few years of peace that these 10,000 people have enjoyed would have not been there.
We have done our level best and I feel we should keep doing. We should not lose heart. We should keep doing.
There has never been a time in history where there was no violence at all in the whole world. There has been intermittent time of peace, prosperity in many parts of the world.
I think there is no reason for us to stop doing what we have been doing. We should continue doing that though the situation is very grave, though the circumstances are not so encouraging. But nothing can put us down or stray us from our mission.