भाषा के रहस्य -१

भाषा  में कई चीज़ें ऐसी होती है जो कि सामने होते हुए भी छुपी रहती हैं । 

आज अचानक सोचते हुए मुझे ऐसी ही एक बात ने अपनी ओर आकर्षित किया । 

जब हम हिन्दु धर्म में अपने इश्वर का समर्ण करते है तो एक नाम जो सृजनकर्ता है हमारे मन में गूंजता है, और वो शब्द है ब्रह्म । सबसे बड़ा ज्ञान; ब्रह्म ज्ञान| सब से अभेध अस्त्र; ब्रह्म अस्त्र । 

हर कण में ब्रह्म का निवास है, ब्रह्म ही सृजक है सारी सृष्टि के । 

साधू - सन्यासी ब्रह्म को जानने की इच्छा लिए यज्ञ, तप, पूजा, पाठ इत्यादि करते हैं । 

पर ब्रह्म मिलने से पहले ज्ञान मिलता है । शास्त्रों का ज्ञान, प्रकृति का ज्ञान, ईश्वर के कहे शब्द कभी गीता में तो कभी वेदों में से घुल कर मस्तिक्ष में समाते हैं । 

ज्ञान का मिलना अपने आप में एक उपलब्धि है और कदाचित एक परीक्षा भी। ज्ञान जहाँ सिखाता है वहीँ मनुष्य को ऊपर भी उठाता है । अब ऊपर उठता हुआ मनुष्य अपने चारों ओर नीचे ठहरे हुए मनुष्यों को देखता है । कुछ वोह लोग जो दिनचर्या में इतने मगन है कि ईश्वर की मंदिर में लगी मूरत या कोई चित्र देख कर ही संतुष्ट हैं । ऐसे लोग प्रयास ही नहीं करते ब्रह्म को जानने का, न ही ज्ञान अर्जित करने का (सिवाए उस ज्ञान के जो उनके व्यवसाय को बढ़ावा दे सके)। फिर वोह लोग जो जानना तो चाहते है पर समय नहीं है ।और वोह लोग जो ब्रह्म पथ पर तो है पर कई सीडिया नीचे। ऐसे न जाने कितने ही कारण और कितने ही मनुष्य जो कही नीचे दीखते है। बस इसी क्षण परीक्षा प्रांरभ हो जाती है। 

कुछ नीचे लोगो को देख कर दुःख करते हैं उनके दुर्भाग्य पर जिन्हे ब्रह्म को पाने कि इच्छा ही नहीं है। कुछ दम्भ करते हैअपने अर्जित किये हुए ज्ञान पर। कुछ अपने छूटे हुए व्यवसाय को देख कर अपनी ब्रह्म साधना पर कुंठित होते है और कुछ अर्जित किये हुए ज्ञान को बाँट कर गौरव प्राप्त करने लग जाते हैं। 

ऐसे ही कुछ कारण परीक्षा में उत्तीर्ण होने में बाधक बन जाते हैं। ऐसा नहीं कि इन अनुतीर्ण साधको को कुछ नहीं मिलता, इन्हे मिलता है इन्हे मिलता है ब्रह्म जैसा ही सुनाई देने वाला .... भ्रम। 

भ्रम अपने ज्ञान के दम्भ का, भ्रम अपने श्रेष्ठ होने का, भ्रम अपने ब्रह्म के पास होने क। बहुत से ऋषि-मुनि, साधक, शिक्षक इत्यादि ऐसी भ्रम को ब्रह्म मान के जीते रहते है। 

जिस ने भी हिंदी भाषा को बनाया होगा उसने इस सच को बहुत करीब से देखा होगा और इसी लिए ब्रह्म और भ्रम को एक जैसे नाम दिये। 

सोचिये ब्रह्म ज्ञान या ज्ञान का भ्रम आपको क्या पाना है, और कहीं आप भ्रम को ज्ञान मान कर तो नहीं रह रहे?

तो ब्रह्म को कैसे पाये? यदि मुझे पता होता तो नै अवश्य कहता।  अभी अभी तो मुझे ब्रह्म और भ्रम का रहस्य मिला और मैंने आप से बाँट लिया। अब आप बताये कोई भाषा का रहस्य आपके पास हो तो।  

A Sensible Dream

It is not that I will often have sensible dreams. My dreams have been all over the place from being strange to crazy to unexplainable and scary or silly, and a lot more. They come in many flavors of the unusual. That day when I woke up in the middle of the night, I knew it was another of those unusual dreams. But there are times when they, in spite of their unusual theme, don't appear impossible, just ignoring them is not easy. This was one of those; and I remembered only talking to someone whose face or appearance was quickly dissolved from my mind, maybe I had rubbed my eyes too hard. All I remember was someone preaching me and the other thing I could recollect was that the lesson was important, I needed it. Annoyed at not remembering any part I was thinking hard but never realized when I drifted back to sleep. And a few minutes into sleep again I was comforted that the voice had returned.

Find the right teacher, the voice was telling me. Someone who is not just a preacher but a role model in real sense, the voice continued. Go to the mountain road and walk for around a kilometer on the dirt road. Travelers before you would have left the footprints to guide you, and you will see the tree. That is where the teacher will be found; the real one. I was as confused as some of you might be at reading this. But then the reason I love the dreams( in spite of their being unusual)next moment I was on the dirt road, following clearly obvious footprints, like one sees on the mountain passes in India or Nepal. The voice still guiding me and keeping me alert.

After a walk that was uneventful and comforting, I found myself in a beautiful clearing. The mountains seemed to have pushed themselves out to make room. The grass on the ground had decided to grow just enough to become a neat, furry green carpet under the feet. And there, in the middle of all that, stood the majestic tree. Big, tall, grand and imposing in a very subtle way. May be it was an oak. But the type didn't matter, what mattered was that the tree was there, standing tall like the king of everything around it.

I was here to meet a teacher near the tree, but one glance and I knew that the tree was the teacher. And the voice ratified. I looked at the tree and I knew that the learning has started.

Do I know you? I thought. We share the most profound relation in the world. The tree conveyed. You need oxygen to live and I need Carbon dioxide. You exhale Carbon dioxide and I produce oxygen. So we complete each other. We are not just related but we are complementary to each other. We represent the best example of interdependence. We together make the world. Now that you know we are one I can tell you a few more things about me that may help.

Every year in winter, the master asks me to give away my fruits, my flowers even my leaves. And I surrender all that to master’s command without any doubt, any question, a prejudice or any regret. And every spring master makes me whole again; new with new leaves, New flowers, New fruits and a new life. The faith during complete surrender makes it all worthwhile. I know what the tree meant; my lack of faith had made me cry while giving away anything I like. I ask, doubt, analyses, question and disobey in the name of logic or common sense. Since my surrender in fall is reluctant so my crowning in spring is deficient. So I continue a life of monotony and mediocrity and complaining that the master has been unfair.

Now you know what I mean the tree smiled. Another thing, I don't worry about my seeds and my fruits. I don't worry how the seeds will germinate and become trees like me. I trust the divine law of life that made me what I am will help the seeds germinate, the saplings gain ground and strength and knowledge to get the needed minerals from soil. The divine law is not to be taught, just to be lived. And that is coded in the very being of the seed. You call it the DNA.

But aren't seeds weak? I doubted. Yes they are weak indeed, and I have the responsibly to help them overcome and protect them as long as I can, but I don't fret about what size trees they will grow into. All I do is give the care seeds need to grow the roots and settle in the ground rest all is their zeal and their place in the master plan of the heavenly. I know what you mean teacher but I don't think I can just do my duty and let go. I have read that even as a child to be unattached to the results but I could never do that. No you cannot, certainly not your current mind set. That is a reason I spoke about surrender during fall before I started talking about the seeds. The tree chucked again.

And then all of a sudden birds stared chirping, the music playing, and the voice of the choir singers started filing my ears. The tree, the grass, the mountains all started to fade away. My morning alarm was ringing.

I remember the dream, weird, but worth remembering. Not sure if this will ever continue but I want to meet the teacher again, maybe I also walk to the lake and see if one of the trees on the banks can tell me more. Who knows, the spring is coming, the winter going away so a miracle might be waiting for me. My promise to you is if I hear more from the teacher in Dream or while awake, I will share. Also I would like to know the way to return from sacred tree teacher’s abode, would you not want to know that?

Native Soil

When a plant is uprooted from its native soil and taken to a new place, it will carry some soil attached to its roots. That soil helps the plan in getting adjusted to the new soil it is planted in, provides the necessary nutrition during the transition phase and till the time the plant is acclimated to the new conditions. And in the process the soil from the old land mixes with the soil from the new place and work on a common goal of ensuring the growth of the plant.

If that old soil was not there with the roots; frail and fragile with the shock of being uprooted; the plant will wither and perish. That native soil stays with the plant during those friable days.  Eventually it mixes into the plant as a part of its being, ensuring it grows in the new soil.

In a similar fashion when people move from their native land to a new world; one feels frail and overwhelmed in the new environment. The traditions and the rituals of the land one left are just like the native soil for the plant during those days of frailty. The daily rituals and the traditions based on the region or religion; the family memoirs (mostly mental) and the festivals of the native land provide the strength that one needs during those times.

Like that native soil dissolves and mixes with the new soil and also with the plant's body, the same way the festivals and the traditions from the native land do mix with that of the new world. The rituals are altered somewhat and the traditions tweaked to adjust in the new settings, at the same times maintaining the essence of the original festivals.

13^th of January every year people celebrate the festival of Winter (Lohri) in North India with bonfires, dances, good food and a lot more. At the same time kids fly kites of all colors in the day in Amritsar coloring the sky with the bright collage of the kites. I know you are thinking that I am thousands of miles away and couldn’t possibly have seen that sight yesterday, but honestly I did see it. All I had to do was to close my eyes and connect to the native soil that I brought with me years ago thankfully stuck to my very core.

I could see the kids and the kites and the long strands of the thread soaked in an improvised mixture of color, thread strengtheners, powdered glass and the secret ingredients (every kid has a secret ingredient to prepare his thread so that he can beat everyone in the neighborhood) I heard the loud music blasted from thousands rooftops. I heard the screams “Ayeee Boeeeeee!” after the kites were cut from the threads and left to float in the air, and those kids with long sticks chasing the kites in the street. The cool shades on the eyes, the gestures, the glances and the hidden messages that adolescent kids are sharing from the rooftops. Mothers bringing all meals on the roof as no one has any intention to go down to eat. The never ending snack pile of peanuts, popped corn, rewari and Gazzak (candies made with sugar or jaggery with sesame seeds coating). All that and more treasured in my mind, a part of the native soil.

I will pass it on to the next generation as they are my extension, they have my DNA so their roots; similar to mine may need some minerals from the same native soil that I needed for my growth. As with the strength in the roots the saplings can grow into big trees and rise towards the skies so every bit of that native soil is important. Sharing that soil of traditions I brought from many miles away is my responsibility towards them.

While I was getting drifted into thoughts about the need for the soil of traditions for the new seeds; something shook me out. A loud scream, so lively and so joyous “KAI PO CHE!!!”; those are my cousins on their rooftops, the calendar has moved one day ahead and it is another day of festivities more in the western India; similar tradition; same joy; same kites and same snacks and meals on the terrace. Just a different state and a different name for the festival and a different 'War Cry'; Kai Po Che!!

Not that I miss all that a lot; since I have carried a piece of those traditions with me; an abundant portion of Native Soil………….

Welcome

In the middle of huge fanfare and shows and lights and fireworks, the calendar turned page and a year went to eternal sleep under the sheets of history. The folding of the pages always has the big promise hidden in it; and the promise is when one page is turned and put to rest the story continues on the next, and the next page always picks up from where the outgoing one had left at. Like a good story teller every closing chapter holds surprise, some anxiety, hope and a bang at the end urging the reader to turn the leaf and look at the next page.

So from the fireworks at Sydney to ball drop at New York and a million festivities in between; the old year ended and the new one started with a bang (or for all my friends and family from India it rather started with a Dhoom).

Last year brought many ups and downs. Many flows and ebbs witnessed from the shores and many faced head-on being in rough waters. Failures and triumphs; sorrows and joys; gains and losses; life and death all and more had been the acme of the year that went past.

But then that is what every year before that had brought with it, certainly in different proportions for each ingredient but none the less all same ingredients. Closely inspecting the ingredients of the past year and years before that; they are exactly same as that in the recipe of life. So every passing year is a small serving of life itself.

While I bid adieu to the last year; I thank almighty for a year that in spite of many ups and down was; on the whole; worthwhile. One major loss last year that is irreversible, but again there must have been some reason for that in the bigger scheme of things from God.

As I Welcome the New-year I pray for another wonderful year ahead.  Being ready for another serving of life packed in a year, with all its ups and downs and everything else; I pray that the sum total of the things stay positive and I pray for strength to accept the losses and strength to celebrate the gains. I pray for being able to give love and being worthy of getting love. I pray for being able to give back something to the world around me.  I pray for the world to become a better place for me, my family, my friends and everyone. I pray that my kids and their whole generation and the generations that follow theirs always get days and years more peaceful and more joyous than before and it keeps on getting better, starting this year.

So Welcome this year with me while I Pray that You have a Great Year.

Amen!!!!  

PS: Prayers for my friend whose family suffered a lot during Typhoon Haiyan. May your folks get all the strength they need to rebuild what was lost

कच्चा पक्का रस्ता

I must be a traveler at heart; a wanderer who always is fascinated by the adventure and the pain that a traveler experiences. I have written some poems and a few articles on this subject but still I feel something more is to be written and I start writing...The poem below is a similar attempt. Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.....

एक रास्ता कुछ कच्चा कुछ पक्का 

कुछ रेत, गढ्ढे कुछ पानी कीचड़ 

एक राही  कुछ थका हुआ, कुछ उतेजित 

थोडा घबराया और कुछ डरा हुआ 

अपने थके पैरों से नापता 

राह की गर्मी-सर्दी 

उम्मीद टूटती तो थके पैरों को रोकता 

फिर  हौसला बटोरता बस एक और कदम भर का 

याद भी नहीं कितने युगों से, बस युहीं चल रहा है 

एकसार हो रहा रास्ते के टूटे-फूटे पन से 

दूर क्षितिज पर सूरज ढलता, दूजी ओर से चंदा आता 

रात कालिमा दिन को निगलती 

भोर को सूरज फिर चढ़ आता 

रात है सच्ची या दिन सच्चाई,  इस सोच को भुला कर 

क्यों अकेला जब संग है तन्हाई इस पहेली तो सुलझाता 

याद भी नहीं कितने युगों से, बस युहीं चल रहा है

आते- जाते पथिको को, खुद अपना ही वीर-गान सुना कर 

हर बूँद आंसू-रक्त की स्याही से एक कहानी नई  बना कर 

युगों लम्बे सफ़र को बातों ही बातों में नापता 

कभी रोने, कभी हिम्मत के किस्से 

कभी भली कभी रूठी किस्मत के किस्से 

सुनते सुनाते चल रहा शायद किसी लक्ष्य की ओर 

उसकी गति उसका जीवन 

चलते रहना उसकी पहचान 

उसके कदम ही उसके साथी 

उम्मीद उस्ताद, उपदेशक भी 

जो करती सदा एक एहसान 

हर मोड़ पे आ कानो में कहती 

अब लक्ष्य और भी पास है !!!!!

Also Posted at http://timesofindia.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/philosophy/content-252573?track=cntshem

बदलते दस्तूर

I was talking with one of my friends at work, discussing a coworker who seems to be often shifting his priorities based on convenience and personal benefits. While discussing we realized that there are many who do the same... I have tried to write a short poem to sum that up ...hope you will like it....

बदलते दस्तूर

                                BY:  निखिल डोगरा (१८ नवंबर २०१३)

बदलती दुनिया के दस्तूर बदलते जाते हैं 

देखे हैं हमने अब कई इंसान बदलते हुए 

ईमान बिक रहा हर हाट पे भारी छूट से 

बे-ईमानों  को  देखा अपना  ईमान बदलते हुए 

पाप के छींटे नहीं हटे चहरे से तो क्या मलाल 

दिखते है पापी रोज़ अपनी पहचान बदलते हुए 

'गधे को बाप बना लो, गर हो दरकार' से रिवाज़ के चलते 

मिलते है लोग हर दिन अपना भगवान् बदलते हुए 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                   

                               

Farmer's Wisdom - 1st Nugget

Farmer's wisdom applied on the fertile land of mind...no big words just some basic thoughts...hope someone will find it useful and if it can be of use for even one person...my writing and posting will be meaningful...... I intend to share more similar basics that I dearly call the positive thinking nuggets for quick and easy consumption...please comment and share your thoughts...

Thinking Positive is like growing a crop.  You have to sow the seed or positivity in prepared soil of your mind. And as any good farmer will tell you that a seed needs water’s moisture and soils warmth to sprout into a sapling which will grow into a plant. But on that journey you will need to nurture it with care and Patience. Save it from bugs and moths and weeds. Raise it to its maturity then only you will reap the produce. The reward of all that persistence is immense and lasting.

The farmer toils patiently.......

On the other hand Negative thoughts are like the weeds. All the need is open land and they will start their parasitic growth; eating out of the resources that are supplied for the intended crop. They are unwanted, useless and damaging but still they come uninvited. No effort is needed to raise them, but effort is needed to pluck them from the ground that they do not consume the nutrients and make the soil infertile for the intended crops (positive thoughts) to grow. Weeds as any farmer will tell you are very resilient, too stubborn to let go even in the worst weather conditions.

A good farmer will make sure that the two actions are always given equal importance. First action is to nurture the crop with toil and patience and second action is to conscientiously remove the weeds. And when these two actions are meticulously done the result is a healthy crop, good yield and a fertile land for more quantities of good crop.

Now on the soil of your mind, sow the seeds of positivity, nurture the sapling continuously feeding good thoughts and examples for it to grow and become a reservoir of good positive thoughts. And make sure that any negative thoughts are plucked as soon as they start spreading their nasty roots on the fertile soil. Remember those will not only damage the goodness of the positive thoughts but also weaken the soil of your mind. So do that meticulously and continually to ensure that you reap crop after crop of good thoughts and May God be with you always on your endeavor to cultivate Positive thoughts.