Every meal is part of a bheeksha. Be humble. 14 February 2009

Every meal is part of a bheeksha. Be humble. Be happy that you got some food at least.
Bharat Bhushan - 14 February 2009

We get angry when we do not get food on time. We get angry when we do not get food to our liking. We get upset and irritated when the taste is just not right, the food is not warm, the colours are not correct or the arrangements are not up to our liking. What we do not realise is that at least, we ARE getting food, brought to us, and all we need to do is to eat it. I am not referring to the millions of poor starving people around the world who do not get food to eat. That is the obvious fact.

I am referring to the time that is to come in our own lives, when we cannot eat the food we would like to eat. We would not be allowed to eat sugar. Not allowed to eat deep fried food. Not allowed to eat sour, sweet, hot, tangy, spicy, salty, oily or gluten food. We will not be allowed to eat white bread, because it is bad for you, or not allowed to eat brown bread, because all wheat is bad for you. We cannot eat rice, because it is just not right, and we cannot eat fermented food because it is simply not the correct food for us.

So, be happy when you do get food, and someone has cooked it for you, even if it is cooked yesterday, or in the morning, and it comprises of just leftovers. Be happy and stuff your anger and cook in inside of you, and dump it somewhere. Forget your ego. You are nobody. You are of no value in this world, and getting angry about it all is of no worth at all. Who cares about your anger or your ego and if you did get food or did not get food in time? Who is upset in this world if the food that you got is tasty or not. You are an absolutely good for nothing human being in this world, and you should be grateful to the gods that you are at least being given some food to eat.

Sai Baba of Shirdi on his bheeksha rounds

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The best of humans have been bheekshus. They have become famous and have been followed for their values because they achieved victory over their temptation for food and became humble with the food that they received. Shirdi Sai Baba is certainly one of them. He went about from house to house with a bheekshu's bowl and gladly accepted whatever was given to him. In his earlier years at Shirdi, he was not given much, but later, most Shirdi dwellers were counting their blessings that they had been allowed to give bheeksha to Sai Baba.

He was a simple fakir and he was accepted by one and all because of his minimalist values and his ethics. He lived in a simple manner and yet, brought about a simple revolution by creating the langar at Shirdi. This common kitchen brought everyone together. Recently, an innovative forest officer told me of how he had established a successful common kitchen, only for his successor to have closed it upon his transfer. Imagine, what if Sai Baba's langar would have been closed down by his chosen disciples.

Sai Baba of Shirdi on his bheeksha route.

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We live by our ego and we live by our inability to fight over our hunger. Would we accept what would be given to us in a bheekshu's bowl? Would we gladly have eaten up the unknown food? We cannot. Because, we think we have arrived. We think we have achieved so many good levels in life and that we deserve to eat good food, all our lives. There may come a time, when we would be drip-fed with liquid medicines and food juices. What would be the usefulness of all our achievements at that time in life? It would be best for us to conquer hunger and anger at this time, in our lives, than to lose all that we have at that moment when we think that we have become victorious.

There are several tales of inspiration in this regard. There is one famous tale of the Most Enlightened One explaining that he would not hesitate to eat non-vegetarian food, including stale meat, if it were to be part of the mixed food that he would get as bheeksha, for that is what was meant to come to him in his Circle of Life, and so be it. And, it is said that it was thus that he moved on to the greater temples above, for it was stale and contaminated food that brought him to that pass. Should I hesitate or refuse if I am given stale food? Do I have that right? Is it not biological matter that comprised of life at some earlier moment and that it was part of the living universe? Do I have the right to refuse to eat the food, even if it were to be stale or contaminated?

Lord Shiva receiving bheeksha from Goddess Annapurna

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It is said that the very act of having any amount of cooked or uncooked food is to be able to count your own blessings. The gods above are happy that I could purchase food items, and the gods are glad with us, that our family could cook our food and be able to eat. This is the very aspect of Goddess Annapurna in Hindu thought, that to be able to have food in one's house, is to be blessed by the deity. Even Lord Shiva had to go to her, with his bheekshu's bowl and seek food as alms from Goddess Annapurna. There is that famous mythological tale of Lord Krishna walking in to a distraught Draupadi's cottage during their exile in the forests, when she did not have any food items or cooked food to satisfy the hunger of Sage Durvasa and his hundreds of disciples.

Let us be humble with the food that we get. We are but only bheekshus in our lives. We should accept the food that we get and say a prayer, and say thanks, and eat our share.

The aspect of Time - would it have been different at some point of time? - 10 October 2008

On the aspect of TIME - Would it have been different at some point of time?
Bharat Bhushan - 10 October 2008

How do we know time? By looking at the wristwatch or the wall-clock, of course. And, nowadays, by looking at our cellphones or at the TV. I mean, who continues to carry a wristwatch? It's passe. The wristwatch is no longer a style statement. Most certainly, it is not a user accessory. But, that's another topic and another post. So, How DO we know 'time'?

We know 'time' as a factor of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. The 'seconds' are a factor of 'minutes' which are in turn, a factor of 'hours'. So, how do we know that 24 hours make up a single day? Because of the day and night, the sun and moon, of course. That's how. It takes the revolution and rotation of the earth around the Sun, and the revolution of the moon around the earth to make up our day and night.

Similarly, 365 days or thereabouts make up a year. And so on. And there lies our dependence on this aspect of certainty that day follows night and night follows day, and so it shall be that each day will consist of exactly 24 hours, and each year shall consist of 365 days, the leap year notwithstanding. We have factored in the 'leap year' in the Roman Calendar, and similarly, in the Hindu Calendar, we have factored in the additional month to help do the jump in four years. We know everything there is to be known about 'Time'.

Or, do we? Do we know everything that there is, to be known about 'Time'? We do know that the 'Time' that is gone by, will never return. We also know that the 'Time' that is yet to come, will come only when it would, and not earlier or later. If that is so, then why is our wristwatch designed to be circular? Why do we have our months return to the beginning, i.e., December is followed by January? Why not keep naming new months, as we go on, and keep naming them with new names, forever. If we are not to return to the time that has gone by, then why do we return to months and days of the week with the same name?

We do know that 'time' has duration, and that 'time'-intervals such as days, weeks and months have the very same finite 'intervals' between them. How can we be sure? How can we be sure that the month that is to come will not have more than 28-29-30 or 31 days to it? Because we have never seen that happen. We have never seen the day become shorter or longer, and we have never seen the month become shorter or longer.

Is that true? Yes. Because we know the length of day and the length of the year for hundreds and thousands of years before us. We have ancient planetariums that have been used to record the synchronicity of days and nights and of months and years. We have ancient knowledge systems of astronomy and astrology, of star-gazers and the sky-wanderers, who have delved into the deep unknowns of the universe, and have established precise calculations of the movement of stars, planets and their moons. Long before the first telescope was made, the human mind has journeyed into space and delved into the amazing symmetry and precision of the universe.

No school of ancient knowledge has ever been able to define 'time' without ascribing circular perspectives to calculating it. Every aspect of time helps bring the design of understanding 'time' to the same point of origin. And thus, Saturday meets Sunday, but Monday never meets Thursday. Similarly, December meets January, but March never meets November. What would happen if we name them differently? Would 'time' behave differently? No.

We know that 'time' behaves in cyclical manner because we have defined it to be so. We have been able to go back in time to measure the duration of time between solar eclipses on each side of the world, and we have also measured and identified the exact location of the umbra of the lunar eclipses, going back across thousands of years. We are able to calculate all these exactitudes because we compare the orbit and the duration of the year and day with reference to the day, month and year of modern times.

What if we are wrong? What if, at one point in time, the day-length and the year-length were different? What if, they were shorter or longer? How would we know? By what measure of knowledge would we know? Would we ever know if it was so? This is an aspect of knowledge that modern science can never study or even explore.

Does time and the past contribute to fear in life? - 22 September 2008

Does TIME and the PAST contribute to FEAR in one's own life? 
Bharat Bhushan 22 September 2008

Time generally contributes greatly to fear. In this regard, some truths need to be accepted -

• The past no longer exists.
• The past is made of bits of memory. 
• The future is not here, as of now, i.e., today.
• The only truth of existence is that of the present moment.

The mind is aware of its own thoughts. The mind is not helpless. Rather, it actively controls what we perceive as involuntary responses and functions. The mind creates defense mechanisms. The mind creates EGO, to help itself. The EGO is the defensive system of the mind to help it against fear. The EGO produces thought, through the mind, with cognitive memory.

The ego begins to believe in itself, and thereby creates untold damage to the world of the person and family. It thereafter and therefore begins to defend itself. A verbal assault is a mental threat, and are seen as a direct threat by EGO as an attack. In response, the mind and EGO can create hostility.

Ego believes in itself. --> Direct threat to mind --> thereby creates damage --> begins defense

Verbal assaults --> Direct threat to mind --> mental threats --> begins defense --> hostility in response

What is the real damage by verbal attacks on an human organism? NONE. There is no real damage.

We inflict such damage on to ourselves by help of our vivid imagination. Verbal assault is an imagined threat. But, EGO does not differentiate between the real and the imagined. And therefore, EGO feels threatened. So, EGO goes into a loop and stays alert. EGO now searches for more and more stimuli as possible threats. 

The body and mind is now trained by the EGO to do, what can be merely seen as defense. Some are ready to take offence. There are levels of dysfunction. EGO can make your react at the lowest levels. It can lead to a form of mental paranoia. It is EGO's reaction that is more harmful than what is said, felt or thought about. 

EGO is in a constant state of self-enhancement to become more and more secure. It thus seeks more material goods, power, prestige and so on. It begins to search for - contentment, happiness and fulfillment from its acquisitions. This pushes the EGO to seek more. This becomes addictive and insatiable.

There are no intellectual solutions to tackling one's EGO. The mind is not properly equipped to do so. It requires training and persistent practice and most importantly, it requires a teacher. We need to always examine ourselves, especially our mind and EGO. We need to adopt a higher level of forgiveness. This is indeed very difficult. Forgiveness does not intend or imply 'forgiving' a wrongful action or hateful or hurtful situation. The act of "forgiveness" requires one to 'forgive' the hurt and hate within oneself, in order that the burden of memory is removed. 

Do not be judgmental on EGO. The EGO is a segregationist. Higher self sees itself as a part. One has to establish and absorb the essence of compassion. Ego causes most of the problems. One needs to dispense with ones' ego. 

Reference - John Bendix, spiritual writer.