spiritual enlitment

1. Swamiji, is there a special discipline of balancing the male and the female energies? If female energy is dominant in a person, such a person needs to be trained in an aggressive form of martial arts like karate or judo and if male energy is dominant in a person, such a person needs to be trained in gentle forms of energy techniques like taichi, gardening or music to counterbalance such energies. In yoga, there are certain postures that enhance the male or the female energies. Hence, a guru would be best placed to guide you wisely. 2. Swamiji, mind is meant to think but not to be kept empty; can you please elaborate on this statement? When required, think. If thinking happens without your awareness, it is compulsive and hence mechanical. Mechanical thinking is no thinking. To energise your thinking, keep your mind calm and empty. It is a known fact that many scientists think deeply on a subject, go to sleep and in the middle of the night often find answers mysteriously. Resting the mind energizes it. Waking up after a good restful sleep, you feel refreshed. Learn the art of being empty and in this emptiness when you start thinking, your thinking will have the power and vitality. 3. Swamiji, you mean to say that when there is no 'I' - the Ego, divine intelligence will flow? Yes. Our ego - the 'I' is like dust in the eyes. When there is dust in the eyes, the whole universe appears to be chaos. Ego is the dust in the eyes of consciousness. Be empty, surrender your ego and allow divine intelligence to flow. The old female cat was empty and allowed the cosmic intelligence to flow. In such a state of surrender either a rat or a cat would win. Such surrender requires great commitment. Allow this cosmic intelligence to flow through you. 4. Swamiji, why should I be a good individual as being good involves more problems? In my workshops, I ask people, if you are going to die within an hour, what would you want other people to talk about you? People throughout the world want only good things to be spoken of them. Nobody wants others to talk ill of them. It is thus clear that we are all seeking goodness. Being a good individual requires facing problems. In fact, being a bad individual also involves facing problems. Problems are a part of life; hence do not be against them. Train your mind to enjoy problems. Just as you go to a gym and enjoy the work-out in spite of sweating. Similarly, train your mind to enjoy problems. Problems at times make a powerful individual of you. 5. Swamiji, what should be the purpose of one's life? Learn to be successful and satisfied in life. Success is getting what you like and satisfaction is liking what you get. Life should be a balance of both success and satisfaction.Work for success and let work be fun, do not work for fun. By working for success, you fulfil your accomplishment needs. With more of success that you achieve, be grateful and thankful so that your success will not lead you to be egoistic. Remember, ego is Edging God Out. To be satisfied involves being at peace with what is. Do not create a conflict with 'what is.' Be in harmony with it. Learn to see elegance in imperfection; to see beauty in 'what is' and not in what it should be. You will then be satisfied. 6. Swamiji, should we not drop our desires in order to be happy? Spiritual teachers tell us to drop desires, whereas materialistic people ask us to increase desires. In my opinion, both are wrong. Make desires sacred, by which you transcend them. Desires have two ends like a pole. One end is the object of desire. Learn to enjoy the object and do good to the world. The other end of the desire is you. In the process of doing good to the world, are you growing in silence, love, peacefulness and gratefulness? If so, then you are growing. By working on both the ends, you make your desires sacred and transcend them. Thus, desire is a problem only if you have not made it sacred. 7. Swamiji, does growth involve seeing both the ends? Yes, horizontal growth occurs in the world of objects. Enjoy and do good. Acquire wealth out of goodness. Vertical growth involves you being more loving, kind, silent, and grateful, thereby providing you with real happiness. Horizontal growth only provides you with pleasures. There is a remarkable difference between pleasure and happiness. Be aware of this distinction. 8. Swamiji, should we therefore avoid thoughts? No. There is a perception that happens through thoughts and there is a perception that can happen from a pure being or consciousness. Just be well versed in both these perceptions. Then you would be able to choose wisely. If you have learnt the art of looking from your being, then as required, you will see through your thoughts. As a result, you have the thoughts and the thoughts do not have you. You will notice that thoughts are not controlled by memory, but memory will guide your thoughts. Generally memory imprisons thoughts. This possibility happens if you have learnt not to be totally dependent on your thoughts. http://www.swamisukhabodhananda.net/faq-1