Intrinsically we all are pure by nature; but the moment you feel this,that you are pure, your heart is pure, you don’t wish anything bad for anybody on this planet or any other planet, then you are love.
How can celebration happen? Celebration cannot happen by just putting flowers and balloons; it has to happen from within. What are the qualifications and conditions needed for celebration to happen? Have you thought about it?
(Audience: Feeling grateful, feeling happy.)
It’s a Catch 22; if you celebrate, you are happy; if you are happy, you celebrate.
(Audience: Contentment; good company, wanting to have somebody to celebrate with; feeling at home, a sense of security.)
Yes, if you are fearful, you cannot celebrate. Being in love; a sense of belongingness!(Audience: Good food.)
Of course, food is part of celebration. If you are hungry, you can’t celebrate!
(Audience: Exchange food and drink? )
Listen, do you really see people who exchange food and drinks as happy? Or in a celebration? Look at their faces!
Then we need a sense of purity.When you feel clean, you can celebrate. When you feel dirty, can you celebrate?
If you are working on the drainage system, and someone comes and tells you, ‘Come, let’s celebrate’, you will say, ‘No, I am dirty. Let me take a shower, then I will come and celebrate.’ Don’t you say that?
So what do you need to celebrate? A sense of purity; cleanliness.
Celebration is when you feel clean, outside and inside. People who think they are the worst sinners cannot celebrate since that guilt and sin is eating them up. So a sense of purity, outside and inside.
I want you to remember one thing, you are a diamond; maybe, in a garbage-can!
So, when you feel you are impure, know that you are a diamond. A diamond can never become impure, it can only be in the garbage can.If a diamond is in the garbage can, will you throw it?
No, you will just pick it up and wash it. All these practices that you do, is just washing the diamond, that’s all!
How long does it take for you to wash the diamond? Do you need to scrub it hard? No, just a little bit of water; maybe a pinch of soap. In the way, 'So Hum, So Hum', that’s it, then the diamond is pure again.
When you know this, Nitya Shudhoham, i.e., I am ever pure, celebration will never stop in your life.Intrinsically we all are pure by nature; When you feel you are pure, you are love, and you are blossoming. Then there is alertness, wakefulness inside you.
You are ever pure, and silence is the scent of pureness. Silence, and this understanding that I am ever pure, makes life a celebration. The celebration that comes out of silence is very authentic because it is coming from the depth.
Since you have used all the soap and water and everything to clean the diamond (referring to The Art of Silence Course), now the diamond shines, and that is celebration. There is genuineness in everything in you; there is genuineness in your smile.
Have you seen the smile of some people? The smile doesn’t come from inside; it is a cosmetic smile. People say, ‘Welcome’, but it is a cosmetic welcome.
People say, ‘Thank you so much’, but that thank you so much is very cosmetic. It is from outside, because inside there is no silence, there is turbulence, a sense of impurity, a sense of sin; all that is boiling inside.
The purpose of being here is to express all facets of life, i.e., love, joy and wisdom. And to fully express life is celebration. These are all the different facets of life and you are here to express that. But if you feel that you are a victim of situations, of time and of other people, you can never do that.
So how to get over the victim consciousness? Know that all the unpleasant experiences in life has given some depth to me and thank them. And the pleasant experiences have a given me an opportunity to do more service for people, and thank them too.
Life is always a mixture. We must thank the unpleasant days, because it has centered us. Nobody gets more centered than in unpleasant situations. You carry guilt in you and think you are a sinner. If you are a sinner you can never celebrate yourself. You can never be at peace with yourself. It will always eat you up deep inside.Unpleasant things take you out of the external and puts you with yourself; so that gives you depth, and it adds to your personality.
So instead of saying, 'Oh I wasted 20 years of my life', or, 'That person created some problem for me', drop all that and say, 'I thank all those bitter days cause they gave me strength, and I thank all the pleasant days that made me realize my true potential, and helped me express my true nature which is joy'.By thanking the pleasant and the unpleasant, we get over the victim consciousness.
Only when you get out of the culprit consciousness, the guilt consciousness, there is peace and there is spiritual light within you. You should know that there is light inside of you; you are part of the light, and part of Universal Love. Yes, you are a spark of Universal Love.
Just realize that you are pure love. It is because we are conditioned to think that we have sinned and are sinners, that we are so hard on ourselves. And since we are so hard on ourselves, we don’t recognise the beautiful qualities, and the gifts, that we already posses.
Each and every one of us have come to this beautiful planet with abundance of beautiful qualities; somehow we simply don’t recognize it.Hold on to faith, and let go of cravings. If you let go of cravings, you will be happy.
Hold on to the faith that only good will happen to you. 'Only good things can happen to me. If something unpleasant is happening to me, it is because nature wants to make me strong'. Have this faith in you.If something bad happens, you should think it is just an accident. You should not think that it happened because I deserved it, no! 'If bad things happen to me, it is only an accident; but good things are bound to happen to me'. This will give you confidence.
Every storm that has come into your life has widened your horizon, has made you deep and more powerful. Every storm has destroyed some smallness in you, something in you that has been very small.So, taking these few pearls of wisdom and treasuring it is essential to make life a celebration. These are the decorations for celebrating life.
"Celebrate Life. Care for others and share whatever you have with those less fortunate than you. Broaden your vision, for the whole world belongs to you."
Human life is worth the celebration. It is worth getting rid of all these things that we put in ourselves.What we do is put garbage in the jewel box. It is not the jewel box that is in the garbage can, but we are putting garbage in the jewel box. We simply have to remove it.
Celebrate life with wisdom. Without wisdom it is not true celebration at all. The wisdom is in knowing that the divinity is with me.
There are two types of celebration. One is as thanksgiving, an expression of gratitude for the Divine. The more grateful you are, the more grace flows in your life.
The second comes from dropping the past and moving forward, knowing that life is eternal.
Any excuse to celebrate is good.In true celebration, you are not just having a party. When sanctity is attached to it, celebration becomes complete. The body, mind and the spirit rejoice. If celebration uplifts and unites all around you, if it frees them of the traumatic past and hold out hope for the future, then you will not feel guilty. That type of celebration is service. It is sacred. Turn your celebration into a sacred offering for society rather than a self-centred, pleasure-seeking one.
When celebration has a tinge of sanctity and prayer, it gains depth and dignity. It is not just entertainment for the mind or excitement for body, but nourishment for the soul. Instead of beginning a celebration with intoxicants, begin afresh with an act of kindness, a moment of reflection.
Celebration is an attitude, to celebrate life you don't have to spend a lot of money. Celebration comes from enthusiasm and joy. When you are depressed, that's when celebration is needed the most. Reconcile with the past and move on to the future with enthusiasm. Share what you have with others.People on the seva team were sharing how good they feel doing seva. When you share, the joy is something different, and that is celebration.
Life will always move in the direction of the best. On the way you may find some rough roads, but they will lead you to a better life.
Difficulties give you depth and joy gives you width. The wise see their past as destiny, the future as free will and are happy in the present. The unwise regret the past, think the future is destined and are miserable in present. The choice is yours.
Keep smiling. The past has taught us many lessons; what we should be doing and what we should not. Every pain that we went through brought us some depth, and all the joys and pleasures gave us a new vision of life and hope for the future.
Welcome the future with a genuine smile. That smile comes when you know for sure that you are loved. If you don't know you are loved by the Divine, you will not be able to celebrate life. You will live in insecurity. With insecurity comes greed. With greed comes selfishness. And with that comes anger. With anger comes lust. And with that comes sadness and misery one behind the other, like a chain.
Look back and try to remember how many days in the past you were entangled in such a pattern. When you do this, do not reject anything. Let your attention be on the Self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga. That balance is spirituality. Some people think being silent is spirituality. Some think only celebration is spirituality.
Spirituality is a harmonious blend of outer silence and inner celebration; and also inner silence and outer celebration!.No celebration is complete without meditation. Meditation helps to seep the celebration/ happiness deeper into our being. So meditate 5-7 minutes whenever you celebrate.Celebration that comes out of silence is real celebration
There is a place you can come where everything is beautiful.Tourists travel from place to place looking for beauty. With photos, and souvenirs, they try to take the beauty back home with them. They only get tired, and tanned. .Yet the most beautiful spot anywhere is right here. When you come here, you find that everything is so beautiful wherever you are.
Where is this place? Don’t look here, and there; come within you.When you are here, then any place becomes beautiful.Then wherever you go, you add beauty there.
If you are unhappy, even the moon irritates you, sweet things nauseate, music disturbs. When you are calm, and centered inside, noise is musical, clouds are magical, rain is liquid love.
Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe.Then you’ll find that every day is a vacation, and a celebration.
Enjoyment and celebration are a part of your personality. Fun, joy of life…It is written in the Upanishads, the atman, soul, is satchitanandmayi (complete bliss)
Precious moments are few in life. Catch them and treasure them. Place, time, mood of mind are factors that influence celebration. Snatch every opportunity to celebrate, then you feel great and full. Then celebration infiltrates your mind in all moods and space, and celebration is inevitable. Celebration reminds you of the fullness of the moment. The moments you are in the company of knowledge - the Master - are the most precious moments in your life. Treasure them. Treasuring them you transcend the mind, time and space.
And that is true celebration.
