Talking about God in times of COVID Pandemic

Talking about God in times of COVID Pandemic

In times like these, it may seem like God has abandoned us. Or maybe that God doesn’t exist after all. Many have recently said that there is no God and if there is one, it is our Doctors. No. Not so. The Doctors had teachers, the medical researchers find remedies and cure. Someone built the hospital on the money raised from the wealth-creating work of others. The police and indeed the politicians and bureaucracy have helped keep more people from harm's way than the numbers infected.

No. God is not a person or a set of people or this or that one thing. She-He exists as the strength in us, the inherent capacity we have to heal ourselves, the intelligence, the courage, the compassion in us, the capacity to overcome our fears, the ability to think beyond our own selves.

We may even question why the suffering if there indeed is a benevolent God? It shakes up our beliefs. But, perhaps it is that our idea of what God is is mistaken. As per the Sanatan Dharma, God is all - the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. She-He is the great force that is responsible for the existence and that which shapes our lives. The forces that we must submit to. The flow of power in which all things move and drift. Lao Tzu and the Zen masters call it - Tao or The Way. The one that we must understand and flow in harmony with. Guru Nanak called it the Will of God that we must live by ( Hukum rajai chalna Nanak likheya naal).

The Avatars - Ram, Krishna, Budhha, all talked about and were bound by immutable laws of nature. Shakti fought and overcame the demons who multiplied and mutated, after a long long battle.

That same force that takes away also gives. All it asks us is to stay attentive to acknowledge it, to make the effort to flow with it.

But, if you think you know it all, that you have or can master it all, that money or power over others frees you to live as you please, go inhale deeply you know where to learn the truth.

All in flow

Nothing I can hold on to

Nothing to let go

Life flows

Sometimes a hurry

Sometimes slow

Could've done this

It could've been so

My mind goes back

To and fro

I cry I weep

So much again I will never know

I watch as it passes by

All I see is a flow 

I too am so

I too am so 

The Warriors of the Sky

They first came in ones and twos
Growing in numbers with every passing day
Wave upon wave they came
Till the skies could hold them no more
They thundered, roared and poured upon the land
Charging through every street and stream
Conquering every little patch turning them to green

Gratitude and delight in every eye
All of life celebrated the return of the warriors of the sky

Purpose

What is the purpose of a river but to flow;

What is purpose of a tree but to flower;

What is the purpose of a mountain than standing tall;

What is the purpose of a bird than to sing;

I am made of these things.

They are me.

What is purpose of life but to be. 

Somewhere between earth and the sky

Sometimes nothing and no one can can bring my heart any rest
I long for what is past, what I couldn't and what is lost
Sometimes my heart with love so swells I cannot wait I cannot stop
High up it soars without a shade of doubt
As if I had just begun as though it was just the start
Sometimes I can hardly walk, sometime I fly
Somewhere I stand between the earth and the sky

Grounded by my fears, bound by my thought I can hardly move
Weighed down by guilt, I count all my loss
All my follies, all my shame, hold me there and still
Through the thick veil of doubt the road ahead I barely see
Then for no reason at all, I recall, I remember it all
All that I have learned, All that I can see
All that I may become, All that I can start
The days of my deeds are done, I stand high above it all
Looking down I can only laugh
At how with strings of thoughts I tie-up myself in many knots
Sometimes I laugh sometimes I cry
Somewhere I stand between the earth and the sky

As I rush through my days, towards some promise high
I am stopped by a moment of endless grace
This is the end, this is end
My heart is sure, it won't pretend
I wonder if it's true and why?
Somewhere I stand between the earth and the sky

At times I wonder at these bonds so strange

They hold me close won’t let me go

Sometimes I helplessly watch all pass me by

Sometimes I wish 

Sometimes in gratitude I lie

Somewhere I stand between the earth and the sky

Have I come here to unlearn or to learn anew
Have I come here to be or to become
Have I come here to see or to do
Have I been here forever or am I passing through
Have I risen from the earth or come from some place high
Somewhere I stand between the earth and the sky

Maya vs Love

That which belittles you, that which promises you happiness and but makes you unhappy instead, that, the more of which leaves you emptier than before, that which takes you away from truth...is Maya (delusion).
That which takes you towards your better self, that which connects you to your purpose, that which rids you of the weight of your self, that which takes you closer to truth...is inspiration, love, blessing...
Maya is not in things outside...it is in us...so it is with love.

Nirvana Shatakam

मनोबुद्ध्यहङ्कार चित्तानि नाहं
न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे ।
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥१॥

न च प्राणसंज्ञो न वै पञ्चवायुः
न वा सप्तधातुः न वा पञ्चकोशः ।
न वाक्पाणिपादं न चोपस्थपायु
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥२॥

न मे द्वेषरागौ न मे लोभमोहौ
मदो नैव मे नैव मात्सर्यभावः ।
न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्षः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥३॥

न पुण्यं न पापं न सौख्यं न दुःखं
न मन्त्रो न तीर्थो न वेदो न यज्ञ ।
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥४॥

न मृत्युर्न शङ्का न मे जातिभेदः
पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्मः ।
न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यं
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥५॥

अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपो
विभुत्वाच्च सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणाम् ।
न चासङ्गतं नैव मुक्तिर्न मेयः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥६॥