Stories

If you sit quietly, and zone out from your outer circumstances for just ONE moment, and carefully observe, you will notice something you wish you had not noticed. You will notice, the voice in your head. The voice in your head that speaks of how you are not good enough, how you cannot get anywhere, how circumstances are binding you, how everything is miserable, how you need to get ahead of where you already are and other words that sound similar.

How true is this voice in your head? It is pretty loud. And therefore accurate? It does always seem to point correctly to your life situation, so it MUST be right. 

Is it?

Does the voice in your head mirror the situation you are in or is it the other way round?

Have you considered stepping into the possibility that the voice in your head is exactly what is limiting your life situation? It is not mirroring reality, but creating and affirming all that is wrong within your reality?

Circumstances are not negative or positive - just teachers. Like all the years that have passed you on till now, this will too. What is the worst that can happen? 

You Die.

That is essentially the worst as fathomed by our minds. Death, annihilation, end. 

The truth within You knows that is not the end. It knows it's own immortal, perfect nature and hence it is fearless. Caged in our bodies, we live from the body, every minute rather than living from within our souls. We spend every moment in worry, calculating, analysing every step we take, thinking how much we risk, counting how many people we love, measuring HOW MUCH we love. 

Listen to yourself. "I did so much for her, the least she could do is love me back". "I sacrificed all my youth bringing them up, and they don't care anymore". "I give my whole heart to him, and he does not do anything special for me, he does not understand me". 

Are you really that much of a victim? Is that how you define care and loving? By what you get and not what you give? Is that your real self? Have you tried to see your authentic self, buried under those layers of judgement and opinion?

Gently try drop your focus on that voice inside your head that tells you everything is wrong. Smile at it. It will be surprised at you when you smile at it from a deep awareness of the truth of any situation ~ any situation's true "temporary" nature. Loosen your grip on what you don't want. Let it go, rather than thinking about how it will go wrong and keeping it alive within yourself. For once, connect with another being without judgement of their past or present, without holding onto what they have 'done' to you. Understand, that people are rarely themselves anymore, just their own stories. A large part of you is also just your own version of you. A story about yourself that you tell yourself, each moment of every day. This is the voice, the story, about yourself and others that forms the cloud you see all things through. It is your preferred choice of glasses, with a really high optical number! 

Don't be your own prisoner, woven within your own stories. Let yourself out. Let go. And while you do that, remember to Smile.

© Sneha Singh 2010

Light

It's been devoid of Light over the past few weeks for me, where I've been looking, (actually, frantically searching) for something to brighten me up. Diwali came and passed by just as quietly as it had arrived. I lit up my living room with many tiny candles that day, and it made me feel light. That's when I decided to light candles in my room each night before I went to sleep. The warmth and glow of the tiny candle lit up my room just appropriately lending me a strange sense of security amidst the internal chaos that had started to overwhelm me. Just while I was thinking of the Light that I had blocked out in my Life, very voluntarily, I received a text message from an unknown number thanking me for a candle I gifted them ages ago, which they were using today as they were facing an unexpected power cut. The sender had a test to study for and wrote that he/she had not intended to burn the angel shaped candle but was glad he/she had it when they needed the Light. I tried to reply back saying that I was glad to be of service, but it was an invalid number. I tried ringing the number and my call would not go through. My frantic outward effort to respond to this person quietened with an deep breath and a quiet smile as I remembered that three years ago I gave out approximately ten to fifteen angel shaped candles to friends as Christmas presents. Maybe someday I'll know who was the person that sent me that text.

The Light in my room has been giving me the nudge to sit in deep silence and find my way back into Love. Amidst the silence, I can hear so much chatter in my head that I have to remind myself to quiet down. I have to remind myself to stay put. Stay put in Love. Remain there. 

This is not final.

Only the Light of Love and all that stems from it is eternal. Someone very special to me said to me today - We live in a world which is fleeting and we are beings that have only one truth that we are sure of, that is, destruction. We are not immortal or eternal. From his words I understood, that we cannot be eternal but our intentions and actions can become eternal. What we give unto this world and its beings can become eternal. What we live as, can become eternal. And if we live in the Light of Love, we are living in the present moment. The present moment, which always is and always will be ~ Eternal. 

© Sneha Singh 2010 

Metamorphosis

You think you are on a path, 

A struggle, 

A road.

An obstacle we all need to overcome

So we can grow.

So, stretch, make room.

Let this push you till you disintegrate.

Let this fire, turn you into gold.

Let go, surrender,

Into this transformation.

Drop all the resistance you withhold.

Become the metamorphosis,

And your own observer.

Watch carefully, what He does

To bring you close.

© Sneha Singh 2010

The Real Challenge

As we grow in size and opinion, each day we are told by the people around us how difficult things are. How difficult it is to study and achieve a good grade, how difficult it is to get into a good university, how difficult it is to get a job, how difficult it is to get a good salary, a promotion, a car, a house. An almost endless list. How I wish people were brighter on their general outlook in life!

However, there are more people that have most of the things listed above, and yet do not have Love in their lives. They have pleasure, but not peace. 

So what is the real challenge?

Is the real challenge to become an achiever? A person who can get all these things? Or is the REAL challenge one which demands you to become a giver? A giver of unconditional Love? 

I meet many people each day - and each person remembers to tell me about the 'bad economic climate'. I understand it is a reality. But it is also true that anything is only as much of a reality as you accept it. It is very important to be mindful of the circumstances we are in, but it is more important to mindful of the fact that it is temporary. We've lived in eras of civil wars, world wars, the Great Depression, and yet survived. Not only have we survived, but we have given birth to more prosperous generations. It must be understood that many key individuals of these generations have tripped and given in to selfishness over selflessness. Therefore, the real challenge is not only to become an achiever and gain success. The real challenge is to know that achievement and success are temporary just like the person who has achieved them. There is a powerful choice that comes along with success that can make a enormous difference to how people in your surroundings, and even in the world perceive you. That is the choice of being selfish or selfless. 

Remaining grounded, and in unconditional Love, no matter what your external state might be - that is the Real challenge. And remaining in unconditional Love and humility, after being blessed with the strength to work hard and achieving brilliant success - that is an even bigger challenge. For the man that is poor by money makes do, and knows that his shining heart will definitely make the difference needed to help people around him. But the man that is rich is quick to forget Love and confuse it with pleasure.

Remaining within Love, that radiates from within, and using that as your powerful tool for transformation is the Real challenge. People remember and use their minds amazingly to analyse situations and people and create opinion. However, they forget they are blessed with hearts too, and that the intelligence of the heart is supreme because it is a mirror of the intelligence of the Creator. Your Heart, which is the seed of your life. 

The REAL challenge is to remain true to your heart, in all situations, knowing that all situations, in reality, are temporary. 

© Sneha Singh 2010

My Companion

"Looking at my life

I see that only Love
Has been my soul's companion
From deep inside
My soul cries out:
Do not wait, surrender
For the sake of Love."

-- Rumi

In truth, my companion since I have started waking up, and even before that, has been only Love. Without it, I am nothing. It is not an entity that we hold, but an ocean that flows through every molecule of our bodies. If Love were absent, we would fade away. The energy that holds our DNA together would dissipate. We are connected through energy, through Love. 

It takes great courage to step into Love, and then realise, you are home- where it is not about blood ties but about authentic relationships. Everything we receive is a gift of Love. Longing for loved ones is just as much of a gift as the Union, for without either, the whole essence of Love would be hidden from you. Every circumstance is here to open you to Love, each fall an opportunity to love your wounds. 

The most amazing part of this is, we all know these things in our hearts. But we sit in our dark holes, doing our thing, waiting for a 'Light' to shine on us. Meanwhile, we forget the Light we have been holding within us, the Light that fuels our existence.

Beautifully, Rumi says, 'Do not wait, surrender, for the sake of Love'. He says, Love is not about self, it is about annihilation of self, to be able to destroy who we think we are so we can become infinite, eternal Love.

Do not wait.

• © Sneha Singh 2010

Without Love?

Rumi says, ''A Lover only Loves. He has no choice". 

I am in awe of Love. Each day, it teaches me a new lesson. It reaffirms to me that it is on a journey of its own. I have no choice but to Love, no choice but to live in surrender. Surrender is a choice that requires immense love and strength, and it is not a sign of weakness. 

The only Love that is permanent in my Life, is the Love for God. Through that Love, all other love flows and I am only a channel. It is so simple, that all life, irrespective of form, seeks and lives through Love. We know it, but we don't understand it. Or maybe, we understand it, but we don't know it. Which one is true, I don't know. 

I don't know if we truly realise, that sadness, sorrows, trouble and tears bring with it the joy of patience, surrender, faith and peace? 

Each one of us is on a journey, no one's journey less important or more meaningful than the other. Thinking, that your journey has a higher place is not the voice of God within you that is speaking, but your Ego which wants you to believe that you, somehow, have a superior purpose. All purpose is simply that - Purpose. Effort shall be recognised and purpose achieved. That is the wonderful law of this Universe. 

In this journey toward my purpose, of which I still lose sight sometimes, I know that without Love I cannot cope. Without God, I cannot cope. And for your constant Light and Presence, I am eternally grateful. You break me apart God, so I can see the Light you have planted in my heart, for that I am thankful to you. 

A few more verses, 

 ‎"You try to be faithful
And sometimes you're cruel.
You are mine. Then, you leave.
Without you, I can't cope. And when you take the lead,
I become your footstep.
Your absence leaves a void.
Without you, I can't cope.

You have disturbed my sleep,
You have wrecked my image.
You have set me apart.
Without you, I can't cope." 

~Rumi~

• © Sneha Singh 2010

The Unseen

''This which I am faced with, how will it go away? How will it all detangle? Where will the strength that I need to face this come from? What do I do?''

Questions like these come up in our lives at every moment, where we're tested and we find ourselves spiraling into the circle of fear and doubt. It is, in times like these, that we need to centre ourselves and find that which is true within us, that which WE ARE. In the words of Eckhart Tolle, things we have can be taken away from us, but that which we ARE will always stay with us as our real strength, as our true virtue. The depths of an ocean are always calm, always serene, no matter what happens on its surface. The surface is lashed with lightning, storms, winds and rain, but in its depth, the ocean knows what it is. It takes what Nature gives it, and underneath it all, it remains calm. It knows, like all other storms, this too shall pass. 

It is the unseen, the unfathomed, the unknown that we all fear. In our careers, relationships, family - we don't know what is going it happen. In life, we don't know what is going to happen! And so we spend today in fear, creating a fearful, troublesome tomorrow. Have you tried just being thankful for the fact that you are alive and reading this right now? That you have access to a computer or a mobile device, which millions in the world don't? If you are still here, you're mission on this Earth isn't over yet. That, you must be sure of. But instead, we complain about what we think we want, what we think we need to make us happy. Your heart's real desire is created in God's image, and there is no other way but for it to come true. Think back at all the things you really knew you wanted, and those you 'think' you wanted. You'll see how it all came together, just right. Because there is something that we don't understand that works in our lives. Thank God for that!

The problem is we try to understand God. We try to analyse what will happen, how it will happen. God is too expansive, too amazing and too overwhelming an energy to be understood. I can't understand Math, how am I supposed to even attempt understanding God? But I have felt His Love, and that is REAL. How can I argue with that which is SO real? God's love is visible, just not tangible because it is a burst of energy traveling through all Creation. So don't get caught up in that which you cannot see, comprehend or understand. It might be dark, and so you might not be able to see the way, but when God's morning lights up the sky, the way will be crystal clear. 

Patience and faith, my love. :)

• © Sneha Singh 2010