Destiny, Fate or Just Random Events?

This morning I read a very sad tale in the newspapers about a maid who was not paid by her Singaporean employer for six years! She was not allowed to go out or call back home so much so that her relatives thought that she had gone missing. Thankfully that employer was charged in court and the maid was paid $20K in back pay. When asked why she did not report her plight, the maid simply said that she was afraid of her employer and that she believed that not being paid WAS JUST HER FATE.

FATE
I believe this notion of FATE is what keeps many people from changing their lives for the better and turning their fortunes around. By saying FATE, it removes all sense of control, power and responsibility from yourself as it is not your fault but just meant to be. When you believe in fate, it means that you have absolutely no control over the outcomes in your life. It is just meant to be. If you are fated to be rich, then no matter how lazy you are and whatever you do, you will end up rich. If you are fated to be poor, then you are damned, no matter what you do. No matter how hard you work, it will all be taken away. This is why some people remain in abusive relationships, remain poor, remain depressed etc…

DESTINY
I don’t know about you, but I believe in DESTINY,which is entirely different. I believe that God loves all of his creations (this is true in almost any religion) and created every individual with unique gifts, talents and interests to make a huge contribution to the world. I believe within all of us lies a power to be great, its just that many people never make full use of their amazing potential. Some people are destined to be great singers, some people destined to be great communicators, some people destined to be great inventors…all of us are destined to be great in something.

The difference between destiny and fate is that in fate, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. In destiny, you HAVE A CHOICE. You can CHOOSE to make full use of your God given talents or CHOOSE to walk away and give up. Like Frodo (in Lord of the Rings) was destined to destroy the Ring of Power, but always had a choice to give up at any time or to fulfill his destiny.

The trouble is that many people never find their path (i.e. destiny). They make decisions based on other people’s expectations (e.g. parents or teachers tell them to be lawyers, doctors, engineers when they have absolutely no interest, whereas their passion and gifts lie in drawing or sports). Like I said, all of us are destined to be magnificent in a particular area. And God has given us clues based on our interests, talents and passions.

I believe that I was destined to do what I am doing now, to be put on earth and inspire and change the lives of millions. In other words, by destiny is to be a TEACHER OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. It is this belief in a spiritual plan that has gotten me through my most painful times and is what is guiding me everyday today. For example, I used to ask myself why I did so badly earlier in my life and went through some hardships. Why did I get expelled in Primary 3? Why did my parents divorce? Why did I screw up my Primary 6 PSLE exams? Why was I bullied in school? Why did my interior design business go bankrupt? Why did my ex-partner play me out? Why did I lose $30,000 in the stock market when I was in the university? Now, looking back, it is clear that all HAPPENED FOR A REASON. It was to teach me the lessons I need to walk my path. If I did not screw up my school life, I would never have read about NLP and accelerated learning that I now used to change my own life and other people’s lives.

If I did not fail in my business and lose money in stocks, I would never have had the hunger and drive to master these wealth building tools and create Wealth Academy and all these best selling books. If I did not go to a neighborhood school and mix around with the avengers and gangsters, I would not understand and be able to help some of these tough and wayward kids that come to my program today. Yes, it was destiny. But , it is NOT FATE. I could have chosen to NOT to read all the NLP books, I could have chosen to blame the world, I could have chosen to become an Avenger myself and I could have chosen to give up.

I hope by reading this, you will begin to find your path and your destiny of greatness .

Quote: “You were meant for greatness. When you play small with your life, you dishonor not only yourself but God who created you”. I read this in a book, forgot which one, but sums up what I was MEANT to say

Ways To Remove Negative Thoughts

Aum Sai Ram

What are negative thoughts and if I at any time should I be affected with pessimistic thinking should I be concerned. Yes is the answer. The more positive you are in thought will certainly help dampen any off-putting hold me back negatives which restrict you from living a decent life, Negative thinking has seen man or woman, who, ideal for a job post lose it before having had chance to secure it, because they believed they were not worthy enough.

Any negative thoughts you have about your self have to be dealt with sooner than later for health and happiness to prevail and more importantly prosper. Negative thinking can affect a relationship.

Cognitive restructuring can help a person identify and challenge overly simplistic, negative thoughts that cause pointless distress. Not a healthy combination, negativity and stress, in fact both very destructive factors. To lead what one would call a normal life will entail you change your way of thinking. What is a normal, normal is having belief in your self which in return will help you to venture forth and cope with the wicked ways of the world and the people in it? To help cure your way of thinking is easier when the thoughts are clearly untrue: e.g. “I never do anything right,” It’s harder when there’s an element of truth mixed in with naive lies: “At my age, it’s to late its over; there is nothing out there for me now.” You can stop there right now; the pope is proof, candidates for this position – 65 years and over. If you have a dream or goals then do something about it

You can follow two Principles to prevent stress caused from negative thoughts:

1.Stop and take time out to think positive (mental time-out).

2.Control your breathing. Breathe in taking deep breaths slowly
to help release growing tension.

Allah Malik

Of Equal Worth Humility

The notion of humility as a virtue brings numerous images to mind. We tend to envision those rare individuals who humbly bear life’s struggles while downplaying their own strengths. Yet humility is also associated with people whose insecurities compel them to judge themselves unfavorably as a matter of course. The true definition of humility, however, does not correspond precisely with either of these images. Humility is not passivity. Rather, it is an utter lack of self-importance. The individuals who embody the concept of humility appreciate that each human being on the planet occupies a unique place on an infinite spectrum of development. Though they can take pride in their own accomplishments, they also understand that the people they interact with each day are as valuable and have as much to offer the world as they themselves do.

To be humble is to accept that while there will always be individuals more and less advanced than yourself, those on all parts of the spectrum of development can provide you with insights that further your personal evolution. Recognizing these insights is a matter of opening yourself to the fact that not only do others think and feel differently than you, but their life experiences have shaped them in a very different way than yours have shaped you. This means that while you may have a greater understanding in some areas, others will always be able to teach you something. When you cultivate a genuine yearning to know what skills and talents those you encounter have been blessed with, you cannot help but learn humility. You instinctively understand that emotions like envy breed resistance that prevents you from growing, and that being flexible in your interactions with others will help you connect with unexpected mentors.

When you practice humility, you want to become as accomplished and evolved as you can possibly be, yet you are willing to submit to the expertise of others to do so. You understand the scope of your aptitudes yet you choose to eradicate arrogance from your attitude, and you can distinguish the value you possess as an individual while still acting in the interests of your fellow human beings.

Humility, simply put, is a form of balance in which you can celebrate your own worth while sincerely believing that every other person on the planet is just as worthy as you.

Grief

Aum Sairam

Grief is the feet and joy the head; both are part of the same entity. You cannot welcome joy and reject grief at the same time. You cannot have the obverse without the reverse. The diamond is at first just a dull piece of stone, a hard pebble. Only when it is cut by a skilled artisan does it shine brilliantly like a flame. Allow yourselves to be treated by the Master so that all your dullness will disappear and you will emerge effulgent as a resplendent diamond.

Allah Malik

The significance of 'Shri Sai Satcharitra'

* This is the first and foremost book based on the life-story of Shri Sai Baba, which was originally composed in Marathi verse form. The writing of the book started in the lifetime of Baba with his blessings.

* The Hindi translation of this book is in simple Hindi language, which can be understood even by a common man.

* The divine truth imparted by this book is even greater than the knowledge contained in the Vedas and Geeta, because all the characters and events in it are real and authentic as also recorded in details by many devotees.

* Because of the expression in simple Hindi it is easy even for every one to comprehend it. Today there are very few people who can understand Sanskrit language properly and absorb the meaning and substance easily.

* The spiritual essence contained in all the religious scriptures like Vedas, Geeta, Yoga Vashisht is found in the life-story of Shri Sainath.

* The concepts on God and spirituality are explained in such a simple yet comprehensive manner in 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' that no additional book, or commentary etc. is required to understand it. It has a natural flow of which the readers starts feeling as if they had been closely associated with its events in their past life.

* I may mention here that the glory of Shri Sai is spreading in the world, far and wide, in such an amazing way that detailed information at the web sites on Internet about Shri Sai and 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' is available for interested readers.

* The foremost duty of a Sai devotee is therefore to read 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' and absorb it by heart if possible. The more they read this book, the more it will bring them closer to Baba and all their doubts and apprehensions will be cleared.

* It also has been experienced that during crisis if any devotee is searching for an answer, if he randomly opens of 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' praying Baba sincerely and with faith his answer can be found in that open page.

* Many people have got their desired benefits after reading 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' for a week in a parayana form.

Therefore, 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' should be utilized by all Sai devotees in the following manner:

1. Get the book, 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' in whatever language one chooses to read. Neatly wrap it up in a piece of new cloth, and place it near Baba's photograph or idol with due sanctity.

2. Whether at home or elsewhere, one should always read a few pages of the book every night before going to sleep. Every devotee should try to keep Baba as the last thought before sleep.

3. During crisis it should be read devotionally for a week, as is mentioned in 'Shri Sai Satcharitra'. If possible, reading should begin on a Thursday or on some other special day, such as Ramnavami, Dussehra, Gurupurnima, Janmashtmi, Mahashivratri, Navratri, etc. After it's completion on the seventh day one should feed the poor and destitute either in the temple/home or wherever possible.

4. One should read it sitting in some isolated corner in the temple or in front of Baba's statue or Photograph/painting. If other people are present, then it should be read to them or with them as well. Group reading should always be encouraged.

5. Wherever and whenever possible, it should be read continuously from sunrise to sunset in the temples on auspicious days. Devotees may be asked to read it by turn as is done in chanting the holy name i.e. Naamjap. Encourage children to read this book. Question answer competition from the "Shri Sai Satcharitra" can be organized in temples.

6. 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' should be read to the devotees - sick, old aged and those nearing death as much as possible. All of them will get peace.

7. 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' is a reasonably priced book and is easily available at Shirdi. Therefore, any devotee visiting Shirdi must bring a few copies with him to distribute among the deserving people free of cost.

8. At times, of distress and agony if one sincerely searches for the answers from 'Shri Sai Satcharitra' he will not only find the answers but also solace. His faith will grown in Baba. I pray Shri Sainath to reveal the divine knowledge and mysteries contained in this book to the devotees in the same manner in which he had inspired Hemandpant to write this book sitting in his heart. Shri Sai Satcharitra should be taken by all Sai devotees as Geeta and Bible.

SERVICE: THE BEST MANTRA

Time and again, we have judged others, others have judged us and so on – on the prayer factor. “She is so amazing, she prays so much” or “He is so awful, he does not even take the name of God”. All statements we can hear so easily, say so easily, without even realising that we are making the biggest error, today, of making prayer a measuring tool for good or bad.

Furthermore, it gets worse. So many people project themselves as ‘prayerful’ people, only to be accepted socially. If it is not that, then everyone is praying for a desired goal to achieve. Mantras that were taught in schools and other institutions were for bettering people, but unfortunately, today, they are used for achievement of health, wealth and everything else. The actual essence of what the Gita or the Vedas were trying to teach us got lost in the wild maze of desires. So one must have desires, in fact, but one must use the mind to achieve them and use prayers and mantras to focus the mind.

Contrary to this, however, things have changed today. We all make it a ritual that we must sit to pray for the desires of the day or we all must feed some hungry person out there so that the gods are pleased and abundance will fall in our laps. The whole concept is lost; to find it, one should start with the essence – what is the meaning of prayer? In a nutshell, it means devotion. All our sacred books tried to teach us that the highest form of devotion is first to oneself. A very powerful phrase said by a master was, ‘Hands that help are holier than lips that pray.’

A point to be noted here is, how many of us are actually doing this? It is very easy to feed thousands of people and feel great about it, but the question is, was it done out of an ulterior motive, to achieve something else, or was it done because somewhere, there is a great urge to help? The philosophies do say that it is good to feed and clothe the hungry, but the best service rendered is when one can teach another enough to earn a livelihood on their own strength, instead of always making them rely on other people’s help, which slowly becomes a bad habit. Service to others is a very good way to transform each one of us into a better person, as with service, the compassionate self within us takes birth.

That is what prayer is. Pray to tap your own good qualities and to source your inner strengths to achieve things, and pass it on to others so that they can achieve too. This is what devotion is. As the Gita suggests, the highest prayer is to oneself. Just correcting our wrongs, establishing the good through our own conduct and spreading it to others is the best mantra. There’s no point in reciting mantras the whole day when every action that follows is nowhere near goodness, nowhere near kindness. So many of us pose as great donors to charities, so many of us want to be awarded for our undying faith and the good work we’ve done, but this is all trivial. What one needs to do is find one’s own self and help others find themselves, and the world will change into a better place. So instead of wasting time sitting and praying, why not get up, go out there and change the world in whatever small way you can? This is the best mantra.

Peace

Aum Sairam

Today, you do not find peace anywhere in the world. You see only pieces! In fact, people are breaking their heart into pieces. How then can peace be acquired? There is only one solution to this problem. Love Sri Sai. Have faith in Him. Surrender unto Him. Dedicate your whole life to Him and carry on every activity of yours as an offering to Him. Let all your activities be helpful to others. Help ever, hurt never. If you wish to be always happy, pray for the welfare of others. This is the real spiritual exercise that you should undertake. Spirituality does not mean simply doing Bhajans and performing some acts of worship. Cultivate noble qualities. Always pray for the welfare of all. It is in this context, the prayer of Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu [May all the beings of the world be happy].

Allah Malik