Live a life that matters

After a near fatal accident last month, I am reminded of the fragility of human life and at the same time the sanctity of it. There was an incident when an 8 kg tile fell from a height of about 30 feet and struck me right on the head. I still have swelling on my head even now, but luckily there was no internal injury. God saved my life that night and I thank Him for it.

At the risk of sounding clichéd - I must say that this incident changed my life. What changed the most is my perspective of how we strive, fight, stress out and slave over things that really may not even matter in the end of the day. I am now even more strongly convinced of the importance of living a spiritually inclined life full of love and introspection instead of a life ruled by materialism and monetary gain alone.

While these are important, it is the real effects of these that are important. In other words, it is not really important how much money you make, but what you do with that money. This is not restricted to money alone, but to any gift from God we possess, be it - money, talents, interests.

Like the Parable of the Talents, it is important to not just let our talents be buried in the sand, but that they are used, improved and expanded. But it is the actual end result of the usage of these gifts that is important. If we enjoy writing, singing, filmography, drama, research, business, teaching, etc. how did we use these things to help our fellow living beings and environment? These are the things that are important. I read in a book (don't remember which one) that when we pass onto the higher realm there are only two questions that the Divine Spirit asks us -

1. What did you learn about love?
2. How did you use the talents I gave you to help the world?

In the final analysis, this is all that matters!

Peace, Love and Light.

Colorizing Black and White photos - colorized John F. Kennedy photo

Watched some interesting videos on YouTube like this one ---




and used the techniques there to colorize a black & white photo for the first time. And who else do you think I would choose other than President John F. Kennedy?


Here are the two photos side by side - the original and the colorized version I made. Not bad I think for the first attempt. 

US President John F. Kennedy (black and white) and colorized.

When Your Earth Visa Expires

(published in The Speaking Tree column, The Times of India March 27, 2012)

Where do we go when our Earth visa expires? Most religions suggest that our souls live on and travel into another realm. While this is the common belief, it is not as simple as it sounds. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity talk about multiple levels, dimensions or frequencies of existence after the soul leaves Earth. The Quran and Bible have instances where the term "Seventh heaven" is used. Hinduism talks of various astral planets and even higher spiritual planets or 'loks' where souls travel to after physical life comes to an end.

There have also been accounts on record of near-death experiences (NDEs) where those declared clinically dead have subsequently returned to life. In 'Life after Life' Dr. Raymond Moody recounts NDE cases in which patients described seeing their own body after being pronounced dead, then travelling through a tunnel into a room full of light where their dead relatives and friends came to receive them. Then a life review happens, in which they see instances that occurred in the incarnation just passed. Then many see a 'Being of Light', emitting a powerful feeling of love. They are told their time has not yet come and they return to their bodies.

In 'Journey of Souls' Dr. Michael Newton talks about the period between incarnations. Newton uses past life regression techniques to take people back to the time after their death in their last life and before the time of their current birth. An account of the spirit realm describes split incarnations where one soul occupies two or more bodies at the same time, soul families, groups, colours are seen based on levels of spiritual development, spirit guides, council of elders, healing areas, library and temple. Finally, the place where the soul decides the type of experiences it needs in the next incarnation and actually chooses parents and circumstances needed for the new incarnation to meet its karmic requirements.

Do our souls actually 'travel' somewhere? It's like asking if you are actually travelling somewhere when you dream. There is obviously something happening to your awareness. The field of awareness shifts from one plane to another. First you are awake and then you enter dreamland. But when you transition from this world to the next, are you actually travelling in the spatial sense or just shifting the frequency of your awareness?

When TV channels are changed, it is only awareness that is shifting from one channel to another. The old channel doesn't cease to exist because the new channel is being viewed. It is just that the screen is now displaying a different frequency. This is the same principle that happens when we die. Our awareness is tuned into a different frequency of creation. The Earth plane does not cease to exist, but for the person who has passed on, the frequency of awareness has shifted. The reality they perceive is now different.Similarly, for those on Earth, the person seems to have gone, but in reality the soul has just moved onto another frequency of awareness. It leaves behind the empty human body, a kind of virtual reality device, through which the soul experienced life on the Earth.

The opposite of life is not death. The opposite of birth is death. Life is eternal. Birth and death are just entry and exit points of incarnations.

To read this article on the Times of India site, click here