This is the most recent article by my Guru - Shri Nimishananda published in the 'Oasis column of the Deccan Herald newspaper. Please read and injoy.

OASIS

Food dictates what you think

Shri Nimishananda

Vedic seers and sages from times immemorial have clearly advocated that thoughts generated by the intellect form the very basis of human beings. Our ability to think sets us apart from animals. The way we think moulds our personality and shapes our life. If our thoughts are so important, what is the prime factor that decides what kind of thoughts we think? Our scriptures tell us that our thoughts depend on the food we eat. Some of us may find this very surprising.

Let us delve a little more into this. It is our intellect that prompts us to eat when we are hungry. The whole beauty is that the intellect derives its own nourishment from the same food.

The energy from the food goes not only to our gross physical body, but also to our brain through blood and oxygen. The brain which is the reservoir of the intellect, then acts as a tool and generates thought after thought.

The type of food we eat decides the kind of thoughts we think. If our food consists of meat and other heavy foodstuff, then it takes a long time to digest. Such food is called Tamasic and creates sloth and inertia in us, because of which our thinking becomes very slow and our thoughts are filled with doubt and suspicion. This kind of thinking generates innumerable troubles and conflicts in our life which are very hard to resolve. Our food may also be Rajasic or very pungent if it is laced with a lot of spices, onion, garlic and so on in order to satisfy our taste buds. Then the intellect, acting through the brain, pumps out a stream of hyper and revolting thoughts, bringing out anger, fury and obsessions, which are totally contrary to the very purpose of our life. Such thoughts make the path of life base and repulsive.

If our food is Satvic and consists of cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, milk and so on which are cooked with moderate spices, then soft, pure, divine, subtle energy is released from within us.

(Photo: Over 500 children from 23 govt and aided schools relishing the lunch prasada served by the Ashram sevaks at the Pratibha Karanji talents show at Mallathahalli, Bangalore)

Maha Shivaratri The Holy Night Of Awareness

Maha Shivaratri was observed on 5th March 2008.On this occasion, hundreds of people thronged the temple of Shri Nimishamba Devi in Rajarajeshwari nagar , Bangalore.

Devotees came in large numbers all through the Holy Day & Holy Night to offer their prayers & to worship Lord Shiva, embodiment of Awareness. Special Rudrabhishekas were performed amidst the Divine incantations of Holy Mantras of Lord Shiva.

The evening of Maha Shivaratri began with the traditional welcome of Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji with priests chanting Vedic verses with the accompaniment of melodious musical notes of nadaswaram.

The dais was beautifully decorated with flowers, resplendent with a statue of Lord Shiva sitting in a Meditative pose& showering His blessings of Auspiciousness on all who were present there.

The devotion in the hearts of the devotees increased manifold after hearing the divine bhajans. The devotees were soon swaying with divine, devotional rapture.

The Maha Satsangh programme started with a special discourse from Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji. Pujya Guruji explained the spiritual significance of worship of Lord Shiva with Holy Bel leaves (Bilva), Holy ash (Vibhuti) & Holy Ganga. Pujya Guruji also revealed the Principles of symbolism of the Trident, the Drum, the crescent moon, the serpents & the Third eye (trikuti) and the methods of worship for each Yaama (a quarter period of the night consisting of 3 hours each).

Pujya Guruji was invited to visit Shanishwara Temple built by revered Shantinath Swamiji. Shri Shri Guruji blessed the devotees present there by illumining the devotees on the importance of the worship of Lord Shanishwara & the methods to mitigate the hardships one undergoes during the transit of the planet Saturn. After blessing the devotees at Shanishwara temple, Pujya Guruji returned to the Maha Satsangh.

Maha Satsangh at Shri Nimishamba Devi Temple continued till well past midnight during which Pujya Guruji highlighted to the devotees on the worship of Lord Shiva in the remaining Jamas.

The charged atmosphere witnessed all devotees singing & dancing in spiritual bliss and concluded with tasty dinner prasada.

Om Namah Shivaya!!!

Activate Positive Energy By Practising Equipoise
29 Nov 2007, 0047 hrs IST , Shri Nimishananda,

The scriptures clearly define the three qualities of tamas, rajas and sattva present in all of us. Tamas is inertia or resistance to transformation. Rajas is aggressiveness, restlessness or result-oriented action. Sattva is the characteristic of purity inside us.

As human beings, all of us have this wonderful quality which gives us patience, tole-rance and establishes us in a state of utter tranquillity. But our sattvic nature has been pushed to the background. That is why we make no progress in spiritual practices like meditation. Total confusion, problems and worries are the fruits of tamas. Lack of peace or a disturbed mind is the fruit of rajas. Peace, happiness and contentment are the fruits of sattva.

Our sattvic nature is given to us in the form of energy by God Himself. It empowers us to cope with problems in a very systematic way without affecting our mental peace or depleting our humane qualities. It tunes us to Divinity and activates our Soul. Just like we preserve food using a preservative, we should preserve our minds using the energy called sattva. If we want to have unflagging inspiration, zeal, zest and dynamism, we have to soak our minds in sattva.

Sattva gives us the ability to remain unruffled at all times. We interact with so many people. Whatever people say, we should never allow inner peace to get destroyed. If there is a grain of sattva in us, other people's thoughts, words and actions will bombard and kill it if we react to them. Even if somebody accuses you, keep quiet. After a while that person will realise his mistake. When we don't react and become completely quiet inside, what comes out of us is sattva and peace. This is in the form of a vibration. We cannot see it, but we can feel and experience it. These divine vibrations are extremely powerful. They transform people and situations, as no words can.

When we don't react, our sattva acts like a concrete wall and shields us from other people's negative energy. If we react, all that energy will invade us in the form of vibrations. Then we will feel depressed, tired and depleted of energy. Sattva is an armour that protects us from all kinds of negative vibrations, as well as an antenna that attracts positive and divine vibrations. Physical proximity is not requi-red for the transmission of such vibrations. They are transmitted automatically even when we think of a person. That is why, when we pray for somebody's welfare, though that person is far away, our prayers benefit him.

We allow our sattvic qualities to drain away in so many ways - through over-reacting, indulging in negative thoughts and emotions and even through unnecessary talk and gossip. If we want to retain our equipoise, we must avoid such things. The whole point of venerating a guru or god is to increase the sattva in us. We think doing so would resolve our problems.

However, the main purpose is to increase the sattva in us. Sleep replenishes our sattva to the extent of 25 per cent. The guru rejuvenates our sattva one hundred per cent. Selfless prayer, meditation, chanting the holy names of God and spending time with evolved beings restore our sattvic qualities. We must constantly replenish this energy inside us. When we establish this quality in us, God resides in our minds. The vibrations of peace and happiness that we exude will bring contentment and serenity into the lives of all those around us.

Nimishananda Ashram Website

2) LISTEN TO DIVINITY
3) THINK DIVINE / SPIRITUAL MATTERS
4) TAKE EVERYTHING THAT COMES YOUR WAY AS A GIFT OF GOD
5) DO NOT COVET OTHERS PROPERTY / THINGS / THOUGHTS / IDEAS
6) ALWAYS HELP OTHERS TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY
7) ALWAYS OFFER YOUR PRAYERS IN THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE TO
- YOUR KULA DEVATA
- YOUR GRAMA DEVATA
- YOUR ISHTA DEVATA

GIVE THANKSGIVING PRAYERS TO:

8) FOUR SEASONS
9) FIVE BASIC ELEMENTS
10) SAPTHA RISHIS-THE ENLIGHTENED MEN OF WISDOM
11) NINE PLANETS
12) 27 CONSTELLATIONS
13) GODS / GODESSES LIVING IN DIFFERENT WORLDS
14) ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN YOU FOOD
15) ALL THOSE WHO CAME FORWARD AND HELPED YOU IN TIMES OF NEED
16) YOUR MENTORS , BENEFACTORS , GUIDES AND WELL WISHERS
- WHATEVER YOU THINK ,
- WHATEVER YOU DO,
- WHATEVER YOU EARN :

MENTALLY OFFER IT TO YOUR GURU, IF YOU HAVE ONE . IF YOU DON'T JUST OFFER IT TO THE WORD "GURU"

(EXCERPTS FROM A TALK BY SHRI SHRI GURUJI ON 18 th MAY , 2003)

Divinity is Attained with Unconditional Love
10 May 2006, 0000 hrs IST

Discourse: Shri Nimishananda

All of us are aware of our bodies. Whether we are young or old, slim or plump, tall or short, we feel a sense of belonging to our body and identify ourselves with it. Likewise, though we cannot see our mind, we are constantly aware of it through our thoughts.

Sometimes our thoughts are good. At other times they are either neutral or negative. Negative thoughts and emotions shatter peace of mind and cloud our judgment. Then our words and actions become negative as well and we end up hurting people around us.

On the other hand, all of us frequently do helpful things. These are good actions, but the intentions behind them may not always be selfless. For ins-tance, we may give alms to a beggar simply to get rid of him and stop him from pestering us.

We may donate to a charity to create a good impression or gain publicity. We may help somebody hoping for a favour from him later. So we must carefully examine the attitude with which we give. Doing good is not enough, being good is far more important.

We need to share our talents, time or wealth with others expecting nothing in return. The scriptures tell us that nobi-lity is the doorway to Divinity. Selfishness, negative thoughts, emotions and actions take us away from Divinity.

Selflessness, noble thoughts and emotions take us closer to Divinity. Emotions help us to feel divinity. The greatest emotion is love. Today love is only pertaining to family, friends and acquaintances around us. It filters down according to the proximity of our relationships.

To feel divinity, our love should go beyond relationships. We should extend our love to everybody. Today we have alienated divinity from us because our love does not reach everybody. Even the kind of love we are used to is all about "expectations".

For example, if we are showing love to someone today and that person doesn't reciprocate as expected by us then we start hating that very person whom we liked moments ago. So even the emotion called love fails here. The very base of divinity is love.

So we clearly fail to feel divinity. The experience of divinity for wise people is that they had no separate relationship with another human being in their minds. All human beings were only an extension of the Creator. Wise men showered unconditional love not only on human beings but also on all other living beings.

That was how ahimsa was established. Love one and all. We then not only feel divinity, we can also establish it in our hearts and learn to pray universally. Usually, even our prayers are self-centred. We present a list of desires to God and ask him to grant them.

Sages ask us to rise above ourselves and pray for the people around us and for the welfare of the world. When we engage in this kind of selfless prayer regularly, it purifies us and helps to establish us in a state of nobility. When we are established in a state of nobi-lity, we draw close to Divinity.

As we draw closer to Divinity it wells up from the soul and overflows. We are enveloped in peace, bliss and contentment. We have finally tapped the divine core within.

When each and every pore in our body is oozing with Divinity it becomes a mantle to encircle the world and peace reigns supreme.

E-mail: shrinimishamba@hotmail. com Website: www.shrinimishamba.org

Dear All,

Here is an article which came in Times of India today written by His Holiness Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji in the 'Speaking Tree' column of Times of India

Think Hard Before You Become A Copycat

We are constantly imitating others. When we copy other people, we can't reproduce their charisma, talent or success. Externally, we can imitate their life, their way of dressing and drive the same kind of car, but this does not bring us fulfilment. We can take another's life as an example, but we must think hard before we follow them. Look at the virtues of others and ask yourself: "I have something valuable and worthwhile myself ? How can I bring it out?" When you notice something bad in those around you, make a firm resolve: "Let me not nurture such vices".
There is much hidden potential in each one of us. What should we do to make this blossom? When you activate yourself, you bring out all the strengths and talents that God has given you, all that is inherent in you, that is natural in you, something genuine and original. Create your own identity. When you do this other people gravitate towards you. Activation leads to gravitation. Then you don't imitate others. Instead others might want to be like you.
We are used to paying more attention to the external world. We try to gain social approval by dressing ourselves in a certain manner. We stand in front of the mirror and make sure that we are presentable before we leave the house. We trust the mirror implicitly. The mirror reflects our outward appearance, not our thoughts, feelings and relationships.
Does it reflect the love in your heart? You may go to your workplace dressed in your best clothes. When somebody provokes you there, you may retort in anger or sulk in silence. Either way your peace of mind is shattered. Now your beautiful dress does nothing to help you. Only inner strength and equipoise can continue to keep you calm, cheerful and unruffled. For this you have to activate the divine core within, from which flows a perennial stream of peace and tranquillity. Imitation cannot give you peace. So, watch your attitude, thoughts, words and desires. Be aware of the calmness in your inner core and try to retain it.
External beauty is temporary. Inner beauty is permanent and eternal. This is the beauty we need and this is what we gain when we activate ourselves. This is the beauty God recognises. So seek love, for you seek inner beauty. Direct your mind to a higher ideal. When you see the divine beauty concealed in your own heart, you also see it in others. "Do not see, seek". Don't look merely at the external form, but also at the divinity within. Today when you see a beggar, you will give him alms. You will not pat him on the back or shake his hand. If your child comes home, dirty from the playground and calls you "Mummy, Daddy ...", you hug him with love. If a child in rags comes to you, you drive him away because you don't love him. For the realised soul a beggar and a king are equally divine and beautiful because he has activated his inner core.
When you imitate you only see. When you activate you seek. The difference between "see" and "seek" is the "k". That "k" is kindness or karuna. When there is care, compassion and kindness, nothing else matters. So let us stop imitating. Let us evaluate ourselves and nurture the divine core within. Let us seek. Let us activate.