Om Swami - A Million Thoughts: Learn All About Meditation from a Himalayan Mystic

Published in India by Jaico Publishing House

Worldwide publishing rights: Black Lotus Press

Copyright Om Swami 2016

ISBN: 978-81-8495-945-1

Om Swami asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

www.omswami.com

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Contents

Home Sweet Home

H ave you ever unlocked the main door and entered your home after a vacation of two or four weeks? You are greeted by the smell of a closed home, a sweet smell of dust. You throw yourself on the couch and you let out a big sigh. You say, Home, sweet home.

No matter how beautiful the vacation might be, after a while you start missing home. You want to get back to a familiar setting. Your home may not be the plushest, it may not have the luxury of room service and housekeeping, and yet you feel most comfortable in your own home. Theres a natural ease, a sense of belonging, a different sort of freedom. It beats the luxuries of the five-star hotels.

The same goes for our soul as well. Our body is not its permanent home. Our individual consciousness is eternally trying to merge in the supreme consciousness. It wants to go home. It may not be an eloquent orator to tell you so clearly but thats what it wants to do. Because we are beings of immense freedom and infinite potential, and here we are caught up in the petty tendencies and desires of our mind and body.

The soul wants to go back to its source. This is the most fundamental law of nature, of creation and destruction: everything must return to its source. Our body may be temporary, our minds conditioned, our consciousness a wary traveller, but our soul knows where it belongs.

Thats why every person at some point of time in their lives is forced to think about the meaning of their lives. Everyone, whos experienced even a minute of fulfillment, embarks on a journey greater than their individual existence. That journey could be the path of Einstein or the passion of Christ; it could be the path of Buddha or the moksha of Vedas.

We may have forgotten our true nature, but our soul eternal and unblemished wants to go home. Until you show it the way, the restlessness in life will not go away. No pleasure or relationship can offer you permanent fulfillment because we are all on a vacation, and we are missing home.

Meditation is going home. It is going back to your source, where you belong, so that you are no longer what people tell you who you are, or what the world has made you to believe, or even what you think of yourself. Instead, it is to discover yourself, to get to your primal source from where bliss, happiness and joy flow constantly. It is to discover your original home, without the furniture of jealousy, covetousness, envy, hatred. A home with no walls of ego and anger. A place where your soul rests in peace, where consciousness flows unimpeded like the gentle Ganges murmuring on a sunny day.

Let me take you home. Its a long walk, the path is arduous but its worth every step. Youll discover that happiness is not a pursuit, its a feeling. On your way home, youll find that freedom is not a quest, its a state. Youll understand that even the best resort cant be your home. For, as Shiva, the foremost yogi said, Things are not what they seem, O Goddess, for this world is like a dream.

When you get home, youll realize that your room of bliss has always been there. Its your home, after all.

Introduction

L ike a moth rushes into the fire without caring about the outcome, each one of us is attracted towards light. This attraction is innate. It propels us to constantly act towards a greater sense of fulfillment. Regardless of how you want it and whether you like it or not, the truth is you cant run away from the two most fundamental elements of human life. The pursuit of happiness and the quest for freedom. From a sinner to a saint, a beggar to a billionaire each one of us is working towards acquisition of happiness and freedom. And why not, for to be happy and free is immensely empowering.

Everything we do and most things we think are ultimately geared towards feeling happier and freer. Every act of ours is aimed at avoidance of suffering. And yet, the harder we work towards our fulfillment, the more shackled we feel. The Vedic view and my personal observation is that our suffering results from a lack of harmony in our being. When what we want from life or others is not aligned with our actions, speech and thoughts we feel exceedingly restless and dissatisfied. To this effect, Im reminded of a beautiful tantric legend I heard from an adept during one of my travels. It was a good story that has remained with me and I am paraphrasing it here in my own words.

Legend has it that there was a time when Shiva the first meditator roamed the earth with his consort, Devi. Just as a beautiful moon softly dispels the darkness of the night, the fair- coloured Shiva walked through the streets leaving footprints of his divinity behind. The great yogi took in the decadence and the poverty that gripped the village.

They stopped by the home of a poor farmer. His body was aching from the days hard work. The crop had practically no yield in the last two seasons and he was mad at his wife for not serving him any meal. She was arguing that there was nothing to cook in the kitchen and they were fighting like they hated each other. The man went ahead and hit his wife.

The Devi shook in pain and disbelief. She was about to manifest and slay the man, but Shiva stopped her.

Things are not what they seem, Uma, he said. Nature must run its own course.

Just then the woman in a fit of rage took the sickle that she used everyday to cut the grass and hacked her husbands hand. Unable to bear the pain, he howled and fell down unconscious.

This man had usurped his brothers land, Shiva explained, his own karma is coming back to him. And the lady, she had also earned today by selling hay. But, out of attachment, she gave it to her good-for-nothing son whos currently sleeping with a prostitute.

Devi knew that nothing was hidden from Shiva. She said nothing and simply followed him.

A few blocks down, they saw a bookkeeper tossing and turning in his bed. Suffering from severe insomnia, he was unable to fall asleep. Angered and helpless, he got up and downed half a bottle of alcohol so he could sleep. There was a depressing energy in his home. There was his wife, there were kids, they had resources, and yet the basic fabric of happiness a sense of belonging was missing altogether.

Surely, this man doesnt deserve sleepless nights, Devi said, he donates to the temple every month and he calls out to you every morning.

Things are not what they seem, Shiva said benevolently. He falsifies the financial records for his clients so they evade taxes. In turn, they pay him more.