Black Lotus App – An app that will change your life forever!

“Di, Black Lotus App for guided meditation is wonderful. I did meditation and chanting on Black Lotus and it was so reliving. Yesterday, I was having migraine because of some workload at office or because of extreme weather or both. Instead of taking medicines, I did guided breathing meditation on Black Lotus. And you won’t believe di, my pain just vanished without any medicine or massage. It felt so good.” My cousin told me. “I was introduced to this app by you. This App changed my life. I thank you, di from the bottom of my heart.”

“The guided meditations are in Om Swamiji’s voice, a mystic from the Himalayas. Many people including me find it very easy to meditate on Om Swamiji’s magical voice.” I explained her.

“Whenever I went in my mother’s room, I always found her busy in chanting mantras or hearing discourses by Om Swamiji on the Black Lotus App as at this age she couldn’t read much and moreover she was confined to her room because of her health related issues.”

“You can also even ask a question to Om Swamiji and can read the answers of the questions asked by others in Swaminar option.”

“That's great!”

“It is like a video game where there are different levels and you have to cross them to WIN. The Black Lotus has 10 levels and each level has ten sublevels. Select the option home, then the Path, then Achievements and you can check your progress in meditation, chanting, kindness, mindfulness, honesty, sincerity, self-discipline, reading books, world peace meditation sessions and some task related to Black Lotus App.”

“Oh! That sounds amazing di! At which level you are?”

“I have earned the badge ‘Explorer’ which means I have crossed two levels. Further my five sub levels have been crossed.”

“Now, you are close to win the next badge.”

“The next badge is Seeker and I am working hard to win it.”

“Oh! I am quite sure di, you will win all the ten levels.”

“One more interesting feature Black Lotus App have that you can do RAK, Radom Act of Kindness like planting a sapling, leaving a surprise tip, feeding birds, caring a stray animal, helping a family member, forgiving someone, making someone smile, helping a colleague, carpooling, donating items, educating a child etc. You can also share your story about an incident where you have done a RAK or a RAK done to you. And you can read the inspiring and motivating stories shared by others.”

“So, it is radiating positivity!”  

My extraordinary father

I was damn scared.

I was counting currency notes from the counting machine. Everything was moving fine. When all of a sudden in a bundle of notes it started taking two notes together and began tearing them. The speed of machine was so fast that before I could realise what was happening and I could switch off the machine, it had already torn 64 notes of 1000 denomination. Some were shredded so badly that I could not recognise which piece was of which note. All I could see in front of me was an amber-red colour ocean of bits. My heart sank.

It was a big, rather very big mistake. My boss, my father was definitely going to scold me heavily for this mistake. Usually he scold me even for making small typing mistakes of full stop and comma. And, now this is BLUNDER! I meekly get up from my seat and went in his room. I narrated the whole incident and waited for being chastised. But  was surprised when he only said, “Collect all the papers carefully and bring them to me.” He forgave me and didn’t scold me.

I did as told. For the next ten days, he pasted and joined the note pieces together just like solving a zigsaw puzzle. He pasted them with such perfection that no one could tell from where that note was torn as not a single joint was visible.

Now, he is no more. But I always wonder why he scolded me so much on pretty things and didn’t scold me for such a big mistake? May be because he was an extraordinary father! :)

Thief! THIEF!!

“Madam, I want to see the CCTV footage as somebody stole my scooty from the parking space of your premises.” Mr. ‘Z’ hurriedly and worriedly told me on the phone.

“Let me talk to the concerned person. I call back you in two minutes.” I put the balm on his wound with my calm voice.

After two minutes, I called him and told, “The concerned person is out of the town and other staff members have left the office as it is 6:15pm. The concerned person will reach the premises tomorrow sharp at 9:30am and will show you the whole coverage from different angles. Please bring your pen drive if you want to save the clippings of the scooty thief.”

“An unknown scooty is parked here, in front of the premises. Whose is it?” He said with a surprise and put the phone down.

After thirty minutes, he called back and elatedly told me, “Madam, I found my scooty.”

“Where?” I asked with a surprise.

“In a nearby area, in front of a house. Somebody took my scooty, leaving his behind.”

“Somebody took it mistakenly or consciously?”

“He didn’t even know that he had made a mistake as he was busy in studying in his room.”

“Were the colour of two vehicles same?”

“Mine was black in colour and his steel grey.”

“The scooty thief was absent minded or colour blind or studious guy?.” I thought.

Thorns on the road

An elderly woman who was traipsing with the help of a stick stopped in the middle of the road; bend down very slowly, maintaining the balance of her fragile body, picked up something. I observed her while on my evening walk. On coming closer to her, I noticed she was holding a dry branch of bougainvillea with lots of long and sharp thorns on it. She threw it in a nearby dustbin.

In my heart, I admired her for picking up thorns, which was a tedious job for her at this age, and for throwing them so that others are not hurt.

Facebook Friends

“I have 5000 friends on Facebook. If I have to add a new friend then I have to unfriend someone then only Facebook allows me to make a new friend.” A poet told me. “My Facebook friends include models, singers, dancers, painters, artists, homemakers, teachers, politicians, bureaucrats, etc. How many friends do you have?”

“Less than 200! Only my relatives and close friends are on Facebook.” I told him.

“Wherever I go, whatever I do, whomever I meet I keep posting on my Facebook. My creations, my lines, my poems all I share on Facebook. You can also share your writings on Facebook and make more friends.”

“For that I have my blog.”

“Today I met you, I will share our photo on Facebook with a few lines about you! Why don’t you share my photo and my poems on your timeline.” He started typing on his mobile with a very fast pace. I must say that I couldn’t type that fast even on my laptop. While he was busy with his mobile, I noticed his dark circled sunken eyes behind thick glasses and thought, “Apne aankein to kharab ker he rakhe hain, mere aur kharab karvayega!” :D

A blind date with endangered species

Many travel to explore, some to rid boredom and a few to learn. But I travel for Self Exploration. My bucket list always consists of places of pilgrimages like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Uttarkashi, Vrindavan, Puri, Rameshwaram etc. My travel inspiration is always to meditate, to do yoga and to realise Self. I am quite open-minded person therefore this time I decided to go on a blind date, without planning, going to a place that is unknown, to have rewarding and unforgettable experiences. #TheBlindList can be exploring the unknown places in the world, #SayYesToTheWorld where nobody has reached before, experiencing nature to have enriching moments and spine thrilling adventures.

I went alone in hills covered with forests with my camera, telescope and a water bottle. Leaving the main road, I started walking on the steep rocks. Reaching a considerable height, upon a flat rock I adjusted my telescope for some bird watching. I was trying to focus on a pied wagtail but it was focused on sociable lapwing. My poor focusing capability and my good luck to spot it. I watched the movements of this critically endangered species for near about two minutes! Then a pair of saras crane came and started feeding upon weeds. I watched this spectacular event of a vulnerable species with my naked eyes. I was distracted by a hissing sound behind me. As I was alone I was extra careful. I turned around and spotted a king cobra coming out of bushes. I froze not out of fear but out of precaution that I become untraceable for snake. It could recognise only vibrations on ground made by feet. Another king cobra appeared. My good luck a pair of vulnerable species and my bad luck I have nothing to protect myself from these two venomous snakes. To my relief, they rolled down the rocks. On reaching ground, they coiled around each other. One of them lifted its head from the ground. The other coiled around the other. One over the other, in the air, on the ground, in the grass and on the rock; together they were everywhere. They were dancing or fighting, kissing each other or attacking each other whatever they were doing but I couldn’t kept my eyes off them. From nowhere a green peafowl came, grabbed another snake and flew away. The two stopped fighting and went away in two different directions because of fear or because of sudden disappearance of the reason of their fight!   

Before green peafowl (endangered species) could find a strong branch to adjust itself, a leopard attacked it. To protect itself from sudden attack, it released its grip. The leopard, a vulnerable species put its claws on its fleshy body. The bird tried to fly. They both rolled in air and fell on the nearby bushes. The sloth bear, a vulnerable species made a loud noise when its sleep got disturbed. Moreover, it slapped leopard that in haste lost its control over its prey. The family of smooth coated otters (vulnerable species) attacked the snake that fell nearby. After finishing their meal, the adults were giving swimming lessons to the young ones in the nearby wetland. An adult otter stood on its two hind legs, looked towards me and winked. It dived back in water. I was so much mesmerised that I forgot to shot such interesting incidents.

Meanwhile the sun moved down. I started my journey back. I felt a sticky thing on my leg. An Indian pangolin (endangered species) was licking with its long, very long tongue! I took out my camera to make a video but my conscience stopped me because after sharing it on social media, many would want to kill it for its beautiful shiny skin. I wanted to save it from being killed so I put camera back in my bag. I captured the movement and activity of that animal in my memories forever. Let us live and let them live!

Book Review : Perfect Love – 5.5 Ways To A Lasting Relationship by Shubha Vilas

Perfect Love – 5.5 Ways to A Lasting Relationship is a treasure trove of scriptural wisdom for the modern age. It contains six scintillating stories namely ‘The Wheel of Fortune’, ‘The Golden Letter’, ‘A Silent Voice’, ‘The Other Before Oneself’, ‘The Woman Who Chose’ and ‘A Condition About Conditions’ from the scriptures with deep philosophical truths for creating enduring relationships. The stories contains simple keys yet powerful for transforming relationships.

Forgiveness is key is the main theme of ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ which narrates the story of Nala and Damayanti. Tolerate first and forgive next is the first key to make a relationship last for a lifetime.

Rukmini expresses her love to Krishna in ‘The Golden Letter’ as she explores that expressing love is crucial in a relationship. Appreciative expressions of love are the second key to make a relationship last for a lifetime.

Trust is foundation of all relationships. In ‘A Silent Voice’, Shakuntala first starts learning to trust herself, her inner voice and then later on trusting Dushyanta, her lover and husband. Trust in others begins by trusting oneself first, inner voice second and life itself, third. Trust is the important key to make a relationship strong.

In ‘The Other Before Oneself’, the author narrates the love story of Udayana and Vasavadatta as well as Lohajanga and Rupinika who build their relationships based on quality time spent in each other’s company. Spending quality and quantity time is the fourth key to make a relationship last for a lifetime.

Savitri’s determination to stay with Satyavan is retold in the story ‘The Woman Who Chose’. The determination to stay together actually increases the overall levels of happiness and contentment in a human being. Savitri was resolute not to let go of the relationship even in the face of death itself.

As the name suggests ‘A Condition About Conditions’ is about the conditions that have positive or negative impact on the relationships. A positive condition is the last half-key to make a relationship last for a lifetime. The stories of Shantanu’s relationship with Ganga and Satyavati and Pururava’s love for Urvashi talk about how negative conditions complicate relationships from the beginning and strangulate them in the end. Whereas Draupadi’s marriage with the five Pandavas lasted a lifetime.

Quotations that I liked from this book are as follows:

1.      Just like birthmarks on your body reveal your identity, your values are birthmarks on the soul that reveal your character.

2.      Confusion and clarification are two sides of the same coin. When the side of confusion faces you, turn it around and seek clarification.

3.      Dependence is taking, independence is giving, and interdependence is an exchange programme.

4.      When you look down upon someone, they appear ugly. When you look up at someone, they appear beautiful. But when you look straight at someone, they appear the way they are.

5.      Exposure to a variety of people, thoughts and culture is like learning to appreciate all the colours in a set of paints.

6.      Words can paint images, which no brush can.

7.      Filthy roads are better than filthy minds; at least their filth is visible.

8.      Those who are troubling others are actually borrowing trouble for themselves.

Shubha Vilas is a TEDx speaker, lifestyle coach, storyteller and author. He has delivered more than 4000 lectures on application of scriptural wisdom in day-to-day life. Ramayana: The Game of Life is his bestselling series. He’s also the author of Open-Eyed Meditations and The Chronicles of Hanuman. Curious to know more about him, then visit his website – www.shubhavilas.com.

For all those who wish to improve their relationship with their partner it is must read book! :)