Joel Osteen - Say 'NO' To Your Feelings

Pastor Joel Osteen. Read his first book " Your best life now " 7yrs back. Me and my husband Satyajeet are both his fans, we have been inspired and motivated to by him. Even though we follow different faith, his teachings resonates with us so much , it has helped us have stronger faith, be more spiritual and has guided us in living our best life. Some people live, some make a difference. He is one who has made big difference in the lives of many all around the world. He is very simple yet very bold in his faith, he has great following , yet he has no sign of arrogance,since he sets an example of a great follower. Very consistent with his teaching, very clear of his purpose, his humble spirit, unwavering faith, love for people is what makes him connect with people at a deeper level. A simple message that can have extraordinary impact when applied.

Love is not like an Apple-pie

Would love to celebrate Christmas with my Christian friends, Eid with my Muslim friends and Hanukkah with my Jewish friends and Janamashtmi with my Hindu friends as if i am part of their family. Would pick unity,brotherhood, peace and love over segregation any day.
Is that not what all religion teaches ... then why do people say this festivals is not for Sikhs or this is a festivals of Hindu only.

Felt very disheartened when i saw people condemning other Sikh for enjoying Holi or when people would stop others from embracing celebrations from other cultures in the name of " this is not a part of our religion !! "
Well, what part of sharing, caring and loving is not part of your religion or any religion ?

As a mom , if i don't feel insecure when my son gives hug to his friend's mom then why do we feel insecure if a fellow Sikh plays Holi ...or if Sikh visits Church. Will that makes us less of a a Sikh ?


I don't think Guru Nanak Dev ji will get offended when he will see me hugging my Muslim friends on Eid and sharing semiya (sweet pudding )with them.
 Love is not like an Apple pie that has limited slices and if we give more to one, someone else will have to get less. Love is like air, it is everywhere , there is enough of it for everyone. No matter how much we share with one , we will still have enough to share with others.

Why do we talk so much about what is wrong with others, instead of focusing on what is right with others ?  In fact why do we even say others. There is no other, we all are one, we all are humans before anything else. God did not send us in this world with labels, he had just sent us a Human Beings.

Just like there are different teams of a game and each team has a coach , some rules and uniform ,so are all religions like a team with a coach and they have their own set of rules within the team and have a uniform that gives them identity . But when we play the game , rules are same for all and that is love others and respect others.

If we do or say anything that is not based out of love or causes separations and segregation and creates a feeling of we are better then them, then that is not being religious , that is going far away from basic principles of any religion , from the truth . Truth is "Love is above all" .


All prophets and saints and guru came in this world to spread the message of peace, unity and oneness. They came to tell people to follow principles, they gave the message of Divine Love, One God, Unity , love above everything else, all creations are child of one God, among other things and many people who felt good listening to them forgot the message and just started calling themselves their followers. Instead of following principles, started following people and just got stuck in the rituals.

When we get so blinded by following the rules and forget the main underlying message , two things happens, 1. We start judging everyone else and labeling them based on how well they follow rules. 2. Our ego gets inflated and there is a sense of superiority even though we may be speaking of humility.
Number one teaching of all spiritual teachers is Unconditional Love, Non Judgmental and Gratitude.

Why do people fight, criticize and condemn in the name of religion......? Who are they trying to please ?

I would  pick love over a ritual that promotes segregation any day.
Warmheartedness , compassion , tolerance be our motto before anything else.

If you want to shine don't try to be, just be

Inspired by a beautiful photograph i saw on twitter yesterday by Rich Cruse.  He has a gift of capturing nature at its best and has a eye for beauty which can be easily missed if we are not present enough.

A View from the Oceanside Pier - April 8, 2013 by Rich Cruse

" If you want to shine , don't try to be , just be  and let your strengths shine "

Stillness ... a peaceful, quite resting place  or all the action, fun , drama, music, dance , the waves, the winds, the tides...

So which is is more beautiful...

 Stillness is beautiful only when you have experienced all the action, fun and drama.  Its the drama that  makes us experience and understand the true depth of stillness and same is true the other way.

Only way you can really enjoy stillness is if you have experienced the action, the drama and high and lows. One who has never experienced fun, the action would never be able to truly understand the value stillness.

So they both make each other more meaningful.

and they both co exist , enhancing each other's beauty....making a picture so much more beautiful.

Our strengths is what makes us beautiful and our strengths and our unique gifts is what makes this beautiful world so beautiful.

 We all are pieces of puzzle when put together makes this most beautiful picture made by God. Each piece has its unique shape, colors, texture . They all have its own place . A smaller piece , a bigger piece, a brighter piece or a plain piece , all are special. No one can replace the other , no one is more special then other . Only when they all are put together is when we can truly see a big picture and admire the beauty. The beauty is not in one piece but beauty is when they all are put together  each piece in its own place , in its own way enhancing the beauty of the other .

Next i saw this picture

Fisherman on the Oceanside Pier at Sunset - April 8, 2013 by Rich Cruse

" God is smiling on you" this is the first thing that came to my mind when i saw this picture.

 Fisherman is busy in his own thoughts, focus on his own thing while sun rays are shining on him. He may not be even thinking about it. Just like the sun rays, God's love is showering upon us while we may not be even thinking about Him, busy doing our own stuff . His unconditional love, selfless love is always with us .

Surfer at Sunset in Oceanside - April 9, 2013 by Rich Cruse

and He continues giving and giving and giving warmth like sun rays during the day and tranquility and peace like twinkling stars and moonlight during the night .... 

Yes, you matter

Very often I would have these questions in my mind like , what am I doing here...? What is it that I am here to do ? Am I really doing anything worthwhile? I hope I am not wasting my life...
 I have also met many people who are always striving to do something big,  They feeling inadequate  unless they win a medal or achieve no.1 position or reach a status or accomplish something big.  There sense of self is attached to accomplishments.
They never seem to be happy.
 This is what I understood..
We all have a purpose in this world, big or small, does not matter . In the bigger scheme of God, in terms of the universe, we all have an important part , a role to play that completes the divine purpose. We may think or feel that our role is very small , so small that it even may seem insignificant to us . But in Divine order, everyone has their own role that no one else can replace and for the divine order to be in balance every role is crucial.

I saw a movie Hugo and it explains so beautifully what I always felt in my heart.
If you look at any machine , it has a purpose. A car has a purpose to drive, a watch has a purpose to show time etc.There are so many parts in a machine that completes it. A smallest part in a machine is equally important than any other part to make it functional.There is no extra part or useless part in any machine. If a small part of a machine is missed or  is not working then  entire machine does not perform its function well or may not work at all.
We all are parts of a big machine, a very big machine like a big watch made by God that has a divine purpose. Some of us are small part, some of us are a big part of that machine, all are here to perform an important function for this big machine to function in an order. Some gets light shining on them, others work inside quietly. There  is no one that is here by mistake or that has no purpose. We all have a role to play that completes the universe and each and every part is important. So how can we say that this part is insignificant just because it does not get ecolades or shines brighter like a diamond in a watch.

The important part is that we love what we are doing and do it with passion, with a sense of purpose in it. Let our every act be infused with  an intent of serving . Have a serving heart. Whether we are raising our kids, filing papers, writing a book , cooking a meal , making new invention ,taking care of sick or smiling and giving someone hope. So there is no big or small, no one is insignificant, neither there is any one good or bad. We all are here to play an important role that God/Universe has assigned us for proper functioning of this universe.
The important thing is that we do what we are here to do and do it well and not try to do what someone else is doing and try to be someone else. That can mess up everything .Can you image if every part of a watch says that they just want to be the diamond on the dial and not anything else? There will be no watch than ..
We are happy when we are aligned with our purpose. Joy and happiness is in the process of fulfilling our purpose, in being in the moment and at every moment. Happiness is not something we achieve when we reach our goal, or when our work gets recognition at a bigger level, happiness is in living every moment fully, purposefully.  Every moment is significant, every moment is to be lived and lived fully .
When we are not aligned with our purpose , when we are not doing what we where meant to do, then we lose a sense of peace and inner joy, it is like a broken machine. If there are many of us who lose their inner joy then collective energy is out of balance and we see anxiety, hatred, anger, frustration. If we are not present enough, then we react to anger, hatred, frustration that causes us to move further away from our inner peace, inner guidance and hence further away from our purpose.

So live every moment and believe you are significant , you matter , whatever you do .....you are making a difference.

Love,
Amandeep

Life Lessons

Few lessons for my son

These are few lessons that I learned . Would like to pass it on to my son  as he is growing up....

Simar,

This is a journey that will continue...... growth and learning is an ongoing process... it never stops.

First : God loves you a lot and He will always love you no matter what. You don't have to do anything or not do anything for Him to love you. We have to love him from our heart for us to feel His love. 

Then why do we do good things or right thing ?

because if we do the right thing , make the right choice or think the right thing that is aligned with love, reverence for life ... than that is for us , for our growth, for our peace . We do that for our self not to please God. God is pleased always , he loves always , he is not someone who gets angry , upset or unhappy. 

God is love, we are made in His image, so our core is love too. Our core got hidden in the veil of ego and that gave rise to judgement, resentment, anger, hatred and so on. If we are made in His image than we carry His essence in our core. Instead We made God in our image and started  to believe that God will judge us, punish us or get angry with us just like we get angry, upset, need validation and punish. The truth is God is love, God is absence of hatred, God is absence of fear. 

Second : We are not punished by God ever... never ever . What we experience is the result of  our actions and our choices. Please don't blame Him for your present or past circumstances.

               What we feel as punishment is actually one of the three things

              1. Balancing of our energies we had put out with our actions, choices, our thoughts. 

               2. Not really a punishment but a gift wrapped up for us to uncover.

               3.Is a bitter medicine to heal our wounds . So it will make us feel better once we     take it without any judgement and look for the lessons in it..

So either way, it is for our good. The outcome depends on our attitude while we are going through it. Best attitude is surrender to His will and act out of non-resistance and non-judgement. 

Third: Don't try to run away from Pain. When you feel  pain, that is not the time to run away or hide or try to get rid of the pain. That is the time to feel it without using your mind. I love what Iyanla Vanzent says, " Pain means, Pay Attention Inward Now". So tell your mind to stop thinking and be an observer of pain. Don't get scared of pain getting escalated. After every peak there is a valley. When it reaches it highest strength , it has to come down. Go through it with non resistance and non judgement. That is the only way of getting rid of that pain for ever. If we push it inside and bury it, it will come to surface one day . More we try to avoid it, bigger it gets, sooner we go through it, sooner it will dissolve. We cannot avoid Pain, we can avoid our judgement toward it . Freedom is on the other side of the pain. Got to learn to get past it . Its like a steam, only way we can get rid of it , if we let it out . Trying to close it or stop it or get distracted will only increase the pressure.

Fourth :

Always listen to your intuition. Always follow your heart . Do only what feels right in your heart. When I was very young , I read one quotation " Listen within, there is a friend inside" I loved this and I would contemplate on it for hours . That friend inside will guide you time to time with subtle messages. They are very subtle so pay attention and follow them. Don't ignore them. You will be surprised where it will take you in life.

Fifth :

Highest form of freedom is freedom from judgement of our self and  others .

Most of our miseries arises from judging ourselves an others or situations and categorizing it into bad or worse. We become our own worst critic , instead of judging ourselves , we need to learn to love ourselves unconditionally and give us some room to make mistakes. 
We can either judge others or situations and keep fighting trying to make it what it is not or  we accept them for who they are and move on .
You have to experience it in your day to day life to know how powerful this statement is . It will free you when you feel stressed out .

This is all about experience, mere knowledge is not enough

Sixth:

Always act , speak  from the space of internal peace. State of clarity .

We are not perfect , we are on a journey to be with One who is , His reflection in us is the closest we can be to perfection....

Our journey is not going from point A to point B . Our Journey is unfolding layers around us and going deep inside. So it is not a journey since we don't have to go anywhere, we just have to reveal our self to our self and experience infinite in finite.

Love ,

Amandeep

Reverence for life

Reverence for life

Read first few chapters of Gary Zukav book " The seat of the Soul " again. How could I miss this , I read this book and re read chapters , but this time it seems new and it just resonated with me like never before. This book is a masterpiece.

This is in brief what I learned and would want to make it my daily practice .

Everything that we do and everything that we think , if it is infused with love , compassion and reverence for life, the universe will give back  us the same multiple times. All our actions and thoughts should come out of spirit of love, kindness and unconditional love. At this point our work becomes meditation , our thoughts becomes meditation. There will be peace and love around us and people who come in our contact will feel it .

This does not mean that life will be very easy like a fairy tale. There will be moment of pain ... we will come across events and situations that may be painful, but pain will be much less and there will be inner peace in the midst of turmoil. It is like eye of a storm , right in the center of a massive storm or tornado there is a place which is absolutely quite, peaceful. That is the state of joy, like someone says a sweet spot.

How do we reach that state? We all have experienced that at some point in our life . Maybe just for few moments but we know what it is like. How nice it would be if we live in that sweet spot all the time and if that becomes a part of who we are. Well that is our goal , to be in the state of peace .

It is moment to moment work on our self and it is never ending , but it is worth it . Peace is worth it . We have to take our lessons , we would rather take it peacefully and finish it sooner then face our lessons with bitterness and stress and judgement and prolong our lessons and create more tests for our self.

Many time we are doing everything that we are supposed to do but we feel something is missing. There is no peace ...  even when we do good work ... we feel empty at times. It  is not what we do , it is not our actions, it is our intention behind our actions that will determine the effect. We feel we are performing our duties well , but if it is infused with  love, Kindness , reverence for life... It will fill us with same , with love, with peace , with joy.

We create our Karam  not by our actions, but by our intention behind our action.

We can develop reverence for life  when we look at people or any living thing, we do not look at the body but that invisible inside that body. That invisible which is pure . It like in the movie Avatar, every plant had a light in it , it was so evident ,it was infused in every living  thing . That is a reality , just that we cannot see with our eyes . Just like UV light or microwave light is there but we cannot see it. What we can see is just a small spectrum of the light. There is that purity in every living being , in the core every person has the essence of God but what we see is just the outward appearance . If we could only remember to look past the memories of our experience with people and look inside that pure space every time we interact ..... life will become so beautiful.

 I heard a  Marianne Williamson  says in her prayer, " God please enter where you already abide." 

Here is my simple prayer 

God please enter where you already abide
Let all my actions , my thoughts be infused with your love . Fill my heart with unconditional love which is your essence . Fill my cup with your love , let each and every cell of my body be infused with your love and there be no hatred, no judgement  just like you don't judge anyone and you don't hate any one . Shine through me, through every cell of my body. Let me get merged with you to the point that there is no more me ... only you , only you , only you ....

It fills my heart . 

Love,

Amandeep