Exploration

Bleed, if you must — let the crimson truth drip from wounds the world can’t see. Not all pain screams. Some just sits in silence, waiting to be acknowledged. Heal, not once — but twice. Once for the hurt, once for the lesson. Scars don’t mean you lost; they mean you lived through what tried to end you. Manifest, not just dreams, but the strength to believe you’re still worthy of light even with water in your lungs and anchors tied to your thoughts. Heal again. Because healing isn’t linear. You’ll revisit wounds, reopen them in your sleep, but every time you choose to mend — you defy what broke you. Evolve. Like fire from ashes, like lotus from mud, like steel forged in flame. Let every struggle carve a wiser version of you. Adapt. The tides don’t ask permission. Neither should your will to survive. Let your breath become defiance, your silence become strategy, your fear — fuel. Build. Not castles in the air, but strongholds in your soul. Build with broken bricks and bloodied hands a ho...

Shishya : Guruji, I have seen many who are old, some with white hair and wrinkled skin, yet they seem none the wiser. And then I see young ones, speaking like sages, with clarity and compassion. Tell me, does experience not bring wisdom automatically? Guruji (smiling gently): Ah, my child… experience is the journey, but wisdom is the guide. When the two walk together, hand in hand, what is born is insight — that rare and radiant jewel. “Jnanaṁ ca kriyā ca yatra tattvam syāt prakāśakam” (Where knowledge and action meet, there arises true illumination) — Rig Veda (implied essence) Shishya : So, one may age with time, but not necessarily grow wise? Guruji : Yes. Aging is compulsory; wisdom is optional. Time ages the body, but reflection ages the soul. “Jarā jīrṇāni vāsāṁsi” “Old age is like worn-out garments” — Bhagavad Gita 2.22 But nowhere does Krishna say that the wearer becomes wise just because the cloth frays. One can live a hundred years and still be bound by ignorance. Another ma...

Anirudh : Guruji, I have a confusion that’s been growing louder within me... People say that age brings wisdom, but I’ve seen older people behave like children in ego battles, and younger ones hold great grace in silence. Today someone mocked my idea—an idea I believe in with my whole heart—and yet, I chose not to respond. I stayed, even helped them. Was that weakness, or is that what people call “maturity”? Guruji (smiling): Ah, Anirudh… the river doesn’t argue with the rock that stands in its way. It simply flows around it. You did not react—and that is not weakness, but inner strength, the fragrance of maturity. But you are right to wonder—what really is maturity, and how is it different from age? Let’s walk through this gently, like walking through a temple garden. The First Story: The Bitter Mango Guruji : Do you remember the old mango tree behind the granary? Anirudh : Yes, Guruji. Every summer it yields hundreds of fruits, sweet and golden. Guruji : Once, a boy climbed the tree...

Student : Guruji, I’ve been thinking. If we were to pit a finely crafted spear—one forged precisely for war—against another that has been battered and bent by war, which one would you say is more likely to win in battle? Guruji (smiling): Ah, you bring a question as sharp as a spear itself, my child. Tell me, when does a spear truly become a weapon? Student : When it is made with intention—shaped by the blacksmith with balance, reach, and purpose. A weapon forged with skill. Guruji : Yes, and yet… isn’t that just its beginning? A newborn tool, no different than a flute before music or a brush before painting. Student : Then you say the battered one—the one which has survived war—has more worth? Guruji : Not necessarily more worth, but it carries stories the other does not. That bent spear, though dented, has seen the rhythm of war. It has struck, missed, endured. It has tasted both victory and retreat. Let me ask you: would you trust a map drawn by a scholar who never left his room, o...

Student : Guruji, why is it that I feel so overwhelmed by the pressure to perform, to grow, to succeed? At times, I wonder if all this heat of effort is even worth it. Why must transformation be so painful? Guruji (smiling gently): Child, have you heard of how a diamond is born? Student : Yes, Guruji. It is formed from carbon under immense heat and pressure over time. Guruji : Exactly. The diamond and charcoal are both carbon. But the conditions they endure differ. Charcoal crumbles, while a diamond dazzles. The same is true of human souls. Pressure doesn’t break you, it reveals what you're made of. The First Dimension: Heat and Pressure as Tools of Growth Guruji : In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: "Sukha-duḥkhe same kṛitvā lābhālābhau jayājayau, tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi." (Gita 2.38) Treat pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike. Then engage in battle. This way, you will not incur sin. Guruji (contd.): The “battle”...

Student : Guruji, I often wonder... those who succeed early seem celebrated, cheered, and remembered. But what about those of us who keep failing, again and again? What is our place in the world? Guruji (smiles gently): Ah, child. Let me ask you something first. Have you heard of the Shalagrama stone? Student : Yes, Guruji. It is sacred and worshipped as a form of Vishnu. Guruji : Indeed. But do you know where it is found? Student: In the Gandaki River, isn’t it? Guruji : Correct. But it isn’t just found — it is forged by thousands of years of water grinding against rock. It is shaped not by luck, but by endurance. Student : So, are you saying failure is... a kind of river? Guruji : Not just a river. It is the Guru disguised as loss. The winners often burn bright and fast. But those who fail — they walk through fire and do not burn. They learn to carry pain as a companion. "Na hi kalyāṇakṛt kaśchid durgatiṁ tāta gacchati." (“One who does good, my dear, never truly falls into...

Student : Guruji, I have been tormented by two stories I heard in childhood. One of a man who accepted what life gave him first, and people said he lacked ambition. The other, of a boy who kept seeking the best corn, and ended up with nothing—people called him greedy. Now, I don’t know whether to settle… or to keep searching. Should I take what I have, or wait for what may never come? Isn’t destiny about choosing what gives us peace—not necessarily what’s best? Guruji : Ah… You have stepped into the eternal riddle, my child. The paradox of choice, where too many roads can blind the traveler more than too few. Let me tell you a tale from the Mahabharata, of Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava. When asked by the Yaksha, “What is the greatest wonder?”, Yudhishthira replied, "Every day people die, yet those who live think they are immortal. That is the greatest wonder." And in the same spirit, I say—people chase after choices as if the ‘best’ will save them, forgetting that peace co...

Student : Guruji, lately I find myself doing nothing for long periods. I wonder—am I practicing stillness or am I simply being idle? Guruji (smiling gently): Ah… a question many ask but few truly reflect on. Tell me—when you were “doing nothing,” what were you doing within? Student : I was… scrolling through my thoughts. Mostly random. Sometimes worries, sometimes fantasies. Just floating along, honestly. Guruji : That is not stillness, my child. That is idleness. Like a boat left to drift without oars—moving, but with no direction. Stillness is when the boat is anchored—unmoving, aware, and at peace. Student (confused): But isn’t doing nothing the same as being still? Guruji : No. Stillness is a choice; idleness is a consequence. Stillness requires discipline. You still the body, but awaken the mind. You still the noise, and listen deeper. Idleness, on the other hand, is a reaction to boredom, fatigue, or resistance. It drains you. Stillness fills you. Student : So idleness is passi...