You are Godstuff

BY. Prashant Solomon

(Published in the Inner Voice column of Hindustan Times March 4, 2008)

(slightly edited version was printed in the newspaper due to space constraints)

The ancient wisdom of the ages is this – you are a drop of the ocean called God. However, most have not realized this truth. "The Kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 17:21 and this is so. Think of this truth. When the creation of the Cosmos took place, the raw materials had to come from somewhere. So where did they come from? Even if you believe in the Big Bang theory that the Cosmos was condensed into a tiny ball of energy that just exploded one fine day and continued to expand until the present cosmic setup, the basic elements of the cosmos had to come from somewhere. It is too simplistic to say that they "just came" out of nowhere. The basic building blocks of the entire Universe are the same three sub-atomic particles – protons, neutrons and electrons. There is absolutely no difference between the protons, neutrons and electrons in you and in the paper that you are reading and the chair that you are seated on. They are the same. There is fundamentally no difference between you, your car, your house, your best friend and your worst enemy when it comes to the basic building blocks that make you. This is important to note because it immediately makes you feel the 'oneness' of all things throughout the Cosmos.

So, the Creative power that made the entire Cosmos had to have used 'itself' as the basic 'stuff' that made the protons, neutrons and electrons as well as the almost unimaginable energy that goes into every single atom of creation. So not only are we (as the late astronomer Carl Sagan loved to say) 'starstuff', but we are all 'Godstuff' that has been mixed and matched in different permutations and combinations and is made to interact with each other amidst the delusion that we are actually separate. We are as separate as the individual drops in the ocean – which still retain their existence in some stretch of imagination, but at the same time, have merged with the larger entity called ocean. They still exist, but now as a part of a larger more powerful being. Like the cells in your bodies are individual beings in their own sense – they have a fixed boundary or body, they are born, they reproduce, they absorb oxygen (so they breathe in a sense) and then they die. They may even have consciousness, but miniscule compared to the consciousness of a human being. Yet, our physical bodies are nothing more than a conglomerate of trillions of cells. So are we the single body or the sum total of trillions of cells?

Extending this thought to the next level – our souls are like the cells that make up the body of God. We are drops of the ocean of God and are one with God whether we recognize this or not. But we are blessed. It is possible through meditation for our consciousness to become one with the cosmic consciousness. Just like the sound of the sea lays hidden inside every sea shell, the vibration of God's kingdom is hidden within every soul – just waiting to be found. It can be found by tuning into it. So the drop can still have its existence in consciousness, but at the same time can draw on the wisdom and experience of the grand ocean and be one with it at the same time. When this happens, we will realize the truth that we are not separate beings in isolation, but parts of the creator of the entire cosmos and since we ALL are parts of the Creator, and like drops of the cosmic ocean, therefore we are all ONE.

Trip to Kashmir

We made a quick trip to Srinagar on October 21, 2007. So, actually I have travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari within a month (but not in that order). The last time I went to Kasmir was in June 1986 (before the disturbance there). It is still the same - of course lots of new buildings. But unfortunately, the strong security presence makes things gloomy. Though tourists are gradually coming back to the valley.

Be careful while carrying video cameras though because they are not allowed in many places. But by and large, we had a good time in the two days that we were there. We went to Dal lake on the Shikaras (little row boats with comfortable seating and canopy) and visited a house boat called 'Neil Armstrong' (named after the astronaut who the house boat guys claim stayed in the boat). Then we went to Roza Bal - a shrine in the city where it is claimed that Jesus Christ is buried.

Dinner at Ahdoos was fantastic for all its authentic Kashmiri cuisine. The vegetarian food is great there so is the chicken roghan josh. A trip to Nishat gardens is refreshing with its several man-made waterfalls.

On the last day (October 23) we walked up to Shankaracyarya temple and back down (a total walk of ten kilometres) so that was a good experience. The walking bit is not as tiring as the 234-steps one has to climb up to the temple.

A word of caution - cameras are not allowed in the temple or at Chashmashahi gardens. Also GPRS services of Airtel are not operational in Kashmir. So if you plan to connect to the Net with your laptop, don't count on it (at least not till the time of writing). However, if you stay at the Grand Palace, you can use their business centre to get access to the Net (with pretty good surfing speed). Also, try to get to the airport early on the way back as security is very heavy and you would not want to miss your flight.

Prayer power

By. Prashant Solomon

(published in Inner Voice column, page 13, Hindustan Times, October 24, 2007)

(published in slightly edited form in the newspaper due to space constraints)

There is a lot of power in thoughts and prayers. Thoughts are a form of energy and therefore real. Prayer is a form of communication with the Infinite source of all energy, or God; through our thoughts. Thoughts are like seeds which require nourishment to grow into fruit-bearing trees. The nourishment of thoughts is in the form of affirmation, concentration and attention. Prayer need not necessarily involve the usage of pious phrases.

Normal Vincent Peale describes a three-fold approach in his best selling book, 'The power of positive thinking' – (1) prayerise, (2) picturise and (3) actualise. The first step involves simply thinking and talking to God informally, which is prayer. The next step is picturising or visualising it mentally. Create in your mind an image of the desired result: a healed love one, a more prosperous life, a happy marital life, a more healthy or confident self. Whatever you seek, pray to God and then visualise it to be so and then just say to God, "I have put it in Your hands, Lord." After this, the actualisation will come in time either by the desired result or guidance.

Peale gives a glorious example of how we can spread love and goodwill throughout our daily lives. Just say a little prayer for anyone that you see. These are called flash prayers "shot" out towards people. Just send out thoughts of love and goodwill. There have been cases where the recipients of such prayer "shots" could feel a physical manifestation of the energy.

The world can be a lot happier if we all just continuously "shoot" each other with prayers of love and goodwill. Let us "shoot" out positive thoughts towards one and other. We could try to replace our hatred and anger filled thoughts with thoughts of love and goodwill. Just mentally send out peaceful and love filled thoughts of goodwill towards everyone that you see and they will feel it as well. The energies around the whole world will change if everyone starts to do this. These energies are very powerful and the results will be seen and felt. But constant prayers are needed. Even prayers take time to be answered. Just be patient and have faith.

Prayer and positive thinking is also a very useful technique in creating a more confident and success filled life. Thoughts of success often attract success. Thoughts of failure often attract failure. Energy is like a magnet. It attracts. Positive energy attracts positive results.

Positive affirmations, especially at night time before bedtime is a very important tool to attract positive results. The age old tradition of prayer before sleeping is so that the positive thoughts and prayers can sink into the subconscious mind during sleep. Avoid all forms of negativity. Nip it in the mental bud. One can not stop negative thoughts from entering, but one can kick them out as soon as they enter. Positive thoughts can repel negative ones from establishing themselves in the mind.

Many of the world's problems can be solved if there is more prayer energy generated. This energy will increase when we add prayer into our consciousness and make it a part of our daily life. Talk to God either verbally, mentally or even in written form. Yes, write a note to God. Every day use flash prayers to increase the overall consciousness of peace and goodwill and soon if more people do it, we will transform into a much better, safer and peaceful world.

Prashant Solomon, LL.B

On September 18, 2007, I got my final year LL.B result and I passed with a first division (62.5%). I am now a law graduate. I can become an advocate if I choose to. I thank God for this. I always wanted to do an LL.B and now I have finally achieved it!

Great vacation to Karnataka & Kerala

I am sitting at the Thiruvanthapuram (Trivandrum) airport at the cybercafe. Yes, they have a cybercafe here which is accessible after security check! So, I am waiting for our plane to arrive to take us back to Delhi.

We arrived in Bangalore on September 8 and had a blast there - ate at all the great south indian non-veg restaurants like Nagarjuna, Malgudi, etc.

Then we went Coorg and stayed at the Orange County resort from Sept 14-17. This is one of the most enchnatingly beautiful places we have ever stayed at. The place is situated inside a coffee plantation. It was very relaxing. We went for a walk along the Cauvery River, did a coffee spice tour. Ate at the fantastic restaurant Peppercorn. In general had a blast. My parents and brother Rohan were also with us, so that made it even better.

After this, we went to Brindavan Gardens near Mysore and were overwhelmed by the Krishnaraja Sagar (on the other side of the dam). Cheryll and myself went for a walk in the evening and saw the musical fountain. The only down side of this part of our trip was that it was raining.

Then back to Bangalore for a couple of days. On September 22, we flew to Trivandrum and drove 10 kms south of Kovalam Beach to a place called Chowara and stayed at The Travancore Heritage hotel. This place was very similar to Orange County, Coorg except that it had the massive Arabian Sea sprawled out in fornt of it. We had a nice Ayurvedic massage, went for Sunday lunch to the Leela in Kovalam with the kids and the maids. We went one day to Kanyakumari, which is the southernmost tip of India. This entire vacation was an experience to remember.

September 27 was our tenth wedding anniversary. Cheryll and I went to the Leela to the Tides restaurant, which on the beach. It was the most romantic dinner possible. We were under the moonlight, next to the beach having wine and lobster (sounds amazing doesn't it) Believe me, it was.

The next day, we went to Kollam to a houseboat and did a three and a half hour backwater cruise. They served us an excellent authentic south Indian (Keralite) meal. We were so relaxed on the backwaters. It was an amazing experience.

I will add some pictures when I get back to Delhi.

Cool tools from google

I just wanted to mention that I found these following tools of Google extremely useful and cool.

www.google.com/notebook

and also the Google calendar, which you can access by logging onto your gmail and on then clicking on the calendar link on the upper left part of the screen.

PM vs. Left Front

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh gave a good reply to the communists that they can go ahead and withdraw support if they so wish. Hurray! The Prime Minister has shown great courage in doing so and I'm sure that millions of us Indians will respect him more for finally standing up to these communist Left Front types like Prakash Karat. These communists while choosing to 'support' the government from 'outside' have virtually opposed just about everything that Dr. Singh's government has done or tried to do. One wonders what exactly is the 'support' that they are lending. The Left Front has acted more like the true opposition than the BJP-led NDA has since 2004.

It is great that Dr. Singh has taken this step. Now the ball is in the court of Karat and company. Will they really act and pull down the government for entering into the nuclear deal with the US or are they just trying to rouse trouble?

Brick by Brick, My Citizens

The Roman Emperor Hadrian once said while building the Roman Empire, "Brick by brick my citizens, brick by brick."

What does that mean?

With the monumental task of building the Roman Empire, one can be sure that Hadrian offered those words to the roman citizens as a way of telling them not to focus too much on the big picture but rather look at it in a way that it can be accomplished and that would be simply brick by brick. One can imagine that the size of the task would be large enough to make most say, "No way, it cannot be done!"

John Edwards for President

Out of all the candidates in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election declared so far, I would put my money on John Edwards (Democrat). I think Hillary Clinton is good, but has too much baggage. Americans have had either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House since 1988 and they want a new face (in this case, a new name). Barack Obama may be very charismatic, but I think Americans need someone with more experience. Edwards is smart, charismatic and seems to have a kind of sincerity and honesty that is really what the next president needs.

I do not think the Republicans have much of a chance. Eight years of George W. Bush have created too much bad feeling and mistrust in the minds of Americans. The war in Iraq has done more bad than good for Bush's image.

Watching all the YouTube speeches of the major candidates, I back John Edwards.