The Splash of Wisdom

Why is my life not improving in spite of reading so many self-improvement books and engaging in spiritual practices over a long period of time? We are creatures of habit. Our minds are conditioned by past impressions. We keep following in our old ways until the cycle of ignorance is broken by constant awareness of ourselves. This is why we need constant reminders. Knowledge needs to seep into our sub-conscious mind in order for it to become useful to us. This is precisely why in the Vedic scriptures, three levels of attaining knowledge are prescribed: Shravanam (Listening) Mananam (Contemplating upon knowledge) Nidhi Dhyasa (Practicing the knowledge) 1) Shravanam (Reading/Listening): A lot of people read/listen to inspirational material for the temporary relief that it brings. When you are feeling low, positive thoughts make you feel better. It gives you hope. Inspirational material asserts that the way you are currently looking at things is not the only way to look at it - that there ...

Thousands of years back, a group of nomadic men discovered a cave for the first time. The men had no idea what to make of it. It was bright daylight outside, and it was pitch dark inside the cave. The men were very scared to enter it. One of the elders suggested that there was a demon sitting inside the cave due to whom they were not able to see inside the cave, even though they could see very well outside the cave. The others readily agreed to this, and started making a plan to drive out the demon so they could occupy the cave.  One of the men suggested that the demon would be afraid of loud noise. He brought in a set of drums, and played them loudly the whole day day. The “demon” did not budge. Tired, the men retired for the day. The next day, another man chanted mantras that commanded the demon of the cave to leave, but nothing happened. Finally, on the third day, one of the men who had just discovered fire, suggested that the demon might be afraid of fire. He set a torch ablaze...

In a small city, there lived a homeless person who roamed about near the downtown district for most of the day. He would beg for some food and change, and then also make some money recycling soda cans and bottles. Once he had enough money, he would go to the nearest wine shop, buy some cheap liquor and drink away until he became stone drunk. Upon getting drunk, he would move about from block to block, stopping various passersby and ask them “Sir/Madam, Can you tell me the correct time?” Most of them would oblige, report the time and then walk on. The homeless man however would move on to the next person, and then ask the same question “Sir, what is the correct time!?”  One day, a new shopkeeper who has just set up shop in that area was sitting outside and doing some accounting. The shopkeeper happened to notice the activity of the drunkard for the first time. The homeless man kept asking the time to all the passersby. After three hours of this activity, the shopkeeper grew curious ...