The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change

Southbank at dusk, Melbourne

In this world, everything is changing every moment including ourselves. Companies, organisations talk of change and change management. We have practical examples of companies that failed because they didn't adopt new communications technology like, Kodak, Nokia, Xerox, DEC (The Digital Equipment Corp), Lucent etc.

Every moment, every day millions of cells are being created and destroyed within our body. And, the day we or our body stops changing, something happens to our body called as death. So, from the time we are born, up until death, the cells in our body would have died so many times and new ones born.

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change -” ― Heraclitus.

Yet, despite so many changes one thing that does not change is the Soul or Atma which is the non- material, spiritual spark that can never change, never ages, cannot be cut by any weapon, moistened by water, burnt by fire etc. The science and nature of Soul is nicely explained in Bhagavad from verses 2.12 to 2.30. For example, in verse 2.20 Lord Krishna explains as below,

na jayate mriyate va kadacin

nayaṁ bhutva bhavita va na bhayaḥ

ajo nityah sasvato yam purano

na hanyate hanyamane sarire

Translation: For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

It’s simple to understand this apparent paradox of changes to the body and Soul not changing is to see ourselves. I remember myself as a child playing and doing so many things that all kids you. Yet, when I look at my body, I don’t see the child body. It’s gone, changed. But, within the hearts of hearts, I know that I am the same person that existed so many years ago as a child. I may have picked up so many experiences, knowledge, became wise (or stupid) but, essentially it is the same me.

Again, a nice forward I received on Whatsapp.....

"A friend of mine turned into 40. I asked him what's changing? He sent me following lines.

Yes, I am changing.

After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.

Yes, I am changing.

I just realised that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.

Yes, I am changing.

I now stopped bargaining with vegetables & fruits vendors. After all, a few rupees more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.

Yes, I am changing.

I pay the taxi driver without waiting for the change. The extra money might bring a smile on his face. After all he is toiling much harder for a living than me

Yes, I am changing.

I stopped telling the elderly that they've already narrated that story many times. After all, the story makes them walk down the memory lane & relive the past.

Yes, I am changing.

I've learnt not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. After all, the onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.

Yes, I am changing. 

I give compliments freely and generously. After all it's a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me.

Yes, I am changing.

I've learnt not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. After all, personality speaks louder than appearances.

Yes, I am changing.

I walk away from people who don't value me. After all, they might not know my worth, but I do.

Yes, I am changing.

I remain cool when someone plays dirty politics to outrun me in the rat race. After all, I am not a rat & neither am I in any race.

Yes, I am changing.

I am learning not to be embarrassed by my emotions. After all, it's my emotions that make me human.

Yes, I am changing.

I have learnt that its better to drop the ego than to break a relationship. After all, my ego will keep me aloof whereas with relationships I will never be alone.

Yes, I am changing.

I've learnt to live each day as if it's the last. After all, it might be the last".
And, I would like to add this,
Yes, I am changing.
But, I have learnt that the inner core or actual me not changing. Only the layers that cover the real me are being added or removed. 

Children with Special Needs

Children with Special Needs

I would like to share this amazing experience of today morning. I was on my way to work  and as soon as I got into the tram and I noticed this young man who happens to be affected by downs syndrome. How do I know? because I studied science, worked in Medical field for few years, I know that they look different from facial features, eyes etc. Then, as though reading my mind and thoughts, he immediately looked at me and smiled beautifully, as if to acknowledge that what I am thinking is true, but that doesn’t bother him. I immediately felt guilty for staring at him. I started thinking to myself. Why did I look at him? Is it because, he is different and I am trying to find some fault? Much to my solace, I realized that the reason I looked at him was because, I was impressed by the poise and charm this young man is carrying, inspire of the disability. No one is perfect in this world. Even the beautiful full moon has spots on him. We need to ignore the spots and appreciate the warm moon light that we get from him. Imagine, someone looking at you in a different way. It takes a great courage to take it and then smile back. Few minutes passed and my stop to get down had come. I looked at Mr.Champion and sure enough he looked back. This time, I smiled at him internally saying him, well done mate, Keep up the good work. And he smiled back and really made my day.

Ultimately, everyone is a Soul and everyone is special. Everyone is having their baggage of past Karma and destiny. We need to acknowledge this fact, respect their difference in the way they learn. we need to encourage them in their growth physically, mentally and also spiritually.

This also reminds me of the son of a doctor that I knew and met few times long time ago. He had this similar problem but, what an amazing memory he had. Once I went to see the Doctor and he was there. He recognized me, remember my name, what dress I was wearing during my last visit and what date and time it was. It was so unique and special to have such a memory and he was so innocent and sweet. Sometimes makes me that, how good it is to have the heart and mind of a child forever.

Once I was listening to a speech from the CEO of a company and during conversation he casually said that, since is Dyslexic, he learns things different than common people. I was impressed with him because, he openly, proudly admits he is different. 

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna 9.29 says,

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu,na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah- I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all.

As Prabhupada says "Everyone is God's son. So how God can be partial to one son and, better than the other son? That is not possible. That is our mistake. We write: "We trust in God," but we make discrimination. If you trust in God, then you must be equally kind and merciful to all living entities".

P.S: Find and appreciate the good in everyone especially those kids with special needs. Understand they are special, to encourage and motivate to bring out the best in them and not just show pity (just like this young chap on the tram who is so confident and positive). Now, I look forward to meeting these special Souls.

Is he the same person ?

This was a comment made on a Facebook post. One of my cousin posted his photo on the Facebook and one of his friends who saw him after a long time was surprised that the person he knew before and now looks so much different. So much so that, he looked  like a completely different person. So, is it a different person?. Yes and notify we ask the person that if he is the same person or different, he will firstly look at us, as if are you gone nuts or something?. Then, he will reply would be something like, ‘ Yes, I am changed over the time.I now have a new body which is different to the one which I had when I was a baby.But, I can still remember some incidents or memories of my childhood’ (generally from 4 to 5 years onwards).I did meet one person who told me that he actually remembers when he was a 1 year baby.

A Baby

Science tells us that, the body is always changing.As per science a human body consists of 50 to 100 trillion cells and each day about 3 billion cells are killed and similarly new ones created.

 

Bhagavad Gita 2.13 Translation

This verse from Bhagavad Gita succinctly conveys the same message,

"Chapter 2 Text 13

dehino smin yatha dehe

kaumaram yauvanam jara

tatha dehantara-praptir

dhiras tatra na muhyati”

So, to come back to the title of the article, "Is he the same person?". The answer depends on what you consider a person to be.If one considers the skin,bones, hair as 'A person' they are no longer the same because they have already been replaced so many times in the life time of a person.So the body is changing every moment manifesting as a child, youth, old man.But,inspite of all these changes, there is somthing that does not change and remains constant.In Bhagavad Gita, that changeless, non material or spiritual spark is called as the spirit soul. What happens at the time of death is that sub-atomic particle called Soul changes its body to that of another.In the saame section of Gita, it is explained that, just like a person changes his clothes and puts on new garments, the soul changes its bodies to various species of life, depending on the fruits of its past karma or actions. This process of changing bodies or transmigration of soul is called as reincarnation.As explained in Bhagavad Gita,just like an air carries the aroma, a living entity carries with it, the different conceptions of life which means, its desires, likes, dislikes, particular nature to different bodies.So when a person dies, his consciousness lives on and carries forward some of the memories, behaviours tendencies, even phobias etc.

This most important message from this section of Bhagavad Gita is about Soul, Reincarnation and transmigration of Soul answers so many questions or connects the dots which don’t normally make sense of. When we start to learn and understand this science of Soul and incarnation, we start to see things from a higher perspective and that empowers our future life. The most important distinction one can make out is that we are all spirit souls and different from the material body. 

What Movie Character are you? And the real You.

Whenever a new movies that becomes a hit,great fan following,audience - this is a common thing that comes up.Displayed below is the famous south indian (Telugu) movies that had recently hit the silver screen. 

The movie is called Bahubali and made record collection.And, in Facebook you can see the quizzes that come up. One of your facebook friend answers the quiz and the verdict is given. The app will display what character of the movie your friend is and provokes you to try and see who  you are. A nice of engaging audience is to involve them in the movie so much that they ascribe themselves to a character in the movie. Long time ago, I had a friend who confessed to me that he watched a movie about 50 times (an era when there was no internet and the only way you get to watch a movie is to go to the theater and watch it).He would come out of the movie, half way when the role of character that he identified with is finished. So, its a common thing. People watch movies because, they enjoy the movie, the characters, the melodrama, story and identify themselves with a character.But, as soon as the movie is finished at least majority of the people come out of the movie world and back (or forced to come back)to reality.Humm, a person may watch a movie where he becomes a hero of the movie driving a Ferrari or Porsche.Once the movie is over, he has to come out,go to carpark and get back into his broken Car or may be a bike, which he had to kick start 10 or 15 times to start it.Actually, one of my friend told me an interesting incident. One day he went to a movie (this is in India) and parked his bike in a no parking area where there are

already a number of other bikes parked illegally.He had a good time at the movie and slowly,lazily came out of  the Movie hall and walked to the place where he parked his bike.Lo Behold ! there was not a single bike remained at the place where he parked his bike and of course his bike was still parked there but, there is a Police Conestable sitting on it, smoking a Cigarette and patiently waiting for the owner to turn up.I don't want to write what happened next but, you can imagine.

So this is easy.People identify with some character because, they like, adore whatever but, quickly out of it because, it's a movie. It's something external to us and we can see the difference.What is difficult is the fact that is stated in Bhagavad Gita about our real identity as a spiritual Soul, that never dies, simply takes up different bodies just like one changes a dress from old to new.Furthermore, when people read that the spirit soul is indestructible, can never be destroyed by any weapon, cannot be cut, burnt or made moist, it just goes out of their rational and logical brain which immediately shouts back "What do you mean that I am not this body.? I can touch it, feel it, I suffer when something hits me and of course,I have burnt my fingers too many times. It's me that is this body and the body is mine.

Its interesting if you think about this. Who is this "me saying mine"?.The knowledge of soul is so basic that Lord Krishna talks about the Soul and its nature in the 2nd Chapter of Bhagavad Gita from verses 12-25 succinctly and with examples and does not further talk about it in the further Chapters.The Soul resides in the region of heart and like sun illuminates the whole body with consciousness.When someone dies, people say that he passed away. But, who passed away?. The body is still there (except the Consciousness).Thus, Consciousness is the symptom of the presence of the Soul.Further on Lord Krishna talks about, various Systems of recognising one's eternal nature which is Soul. Various practices like Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Astanga Yoga and Bhakti yoga.Of which, Bhakti yoga or devotional service to the Lord is explained as the most sublime and easiest method. Enter the Bhakti laboratory and experience your real self.