Ask Dvorahji: Final Guide for the Spiritually Challenged &amp; Confused

Karma is a thought...but thought itself is an infinite mystery, like Karma is a myriad of something or other doing something or other...it's really quite astounding, how this manifestation works, crazy mysteriously AWESOME....REMEMBER THE MYSTERY, NOT THE DEFINITIONS...

"Karma is a thought"...IS A THOUGHT that should take you compLETELY out of your head and into SPACE, because it's such an outlandish statement...Be sure to marvel at these statements - not JUST put them into another department of knolwedge.............and by the way DO LIVE AS IF YOU HAVE NO KARMA, because you will NEVER FIGURE it out, so why even bother???...Just live your life without this added "karma/schmarma worry!!!

5 hours ago ·

Nivedita R

You are crazy awesome Dvorahji haha I love you! :D

4 hours ago ·

Assuming there is "karma", or inherited genes to predispose people in certain direction, we must remember that we have FREE WILL and we can change many things.... we are no "actors" thrown in the world stage... and if some people believe we are, I'll say... don't follow the script... add your own music and dance steps...shut up... as Dvorahji said... dance, and be happy. LOVE TO ALL

4 hours ago ·

Pilar, love you I do, however I disagree with you completely....The appearance of free will is very strong isn't it? But in truth: "Deeds are don't and there is no individual doer!"--Buddha.......(from my perspective) Free will is one of those wonderful illusions that we cling to that makes us miserable. Why? Because if we have free will, why can't "we" make decisions that benefit us, that make life go our way? And my answer is BECAUSE! YOU ARE NOT THE THINKER, FEELER OR DOER, and sometimes life goes your way and sometimes IT DOESN'T. AS a matter of fact MOST of the time it doesn't.

You can still dance and make music and shut up and be happy, BUT IT'S ALL IN THE SCRIPT...AND what I'm talking about here is not an intellectual discussion on how Karma works, or how the body works or how free will works......The hardest THING for the seeker to understand is that LIFE IS A MYSTERY AND HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW ANYTHING WORKS...Although he sure THINKS he does........So yea...be happy, dance, play do what you want, make decisions, excercise your "FREE WILL" ....just DO WHAT YOU DO AND BE HAPPY!

4 hours ago ·

wow ! lovely.

3 hours ago ·

Fox Ultrafeel

How could the "will" ever be free...? As soon as you 'will' something, certainly you're not free anymore!

3 hours ago ·

Hmmm... I thought I've chosen to become your fan by exercising my free will... I don't know much about Buddha but I heard he's pesimistic. I thought also that I have taken big decisions, turning points in my life.... was all that written??? If Karma is just a thought then there was nothing written..... I can't complain the way things are flowing in my life. LIFE IS A MYSTERY.... : )..... Just watched "A serious man" by the Cohen brothers.... great movie. And Now, by exercising my free-will I'm going to do my breathing techniques Sudarshan Kriya and going to sleep and wake-up refreshed in the morning.... or maybe not? Would love to meet you in person to have a serious Laughing Retreat. A laugh a day keeps the doctor away. Lots of love to all.

3 hours ago ·

Elena Tetereva

Be Happy! Love and Light to You ! I am Honered to be your friend! Thank You!

2 hours ago ·

I am so grateful to you for making my life so lite... No matter if there is or is not a I and You... Gratefulness Still Remains :)

about an hour ago ·

You welcome baby...your life is floating along in air...

52 minutes ago ·

Dvorahji Dvorah Adler UR always trying to get away from stress! LIFE is STRESS! Changes-ups-downs-success-failure is life HAPPENING & is STRESSFUL by IT'S Nature!

Sun at 11:23pm via Twitter · Comment ·

Jerry Harvey, Irene Harvey, Sean Murnin and 5 others like this.

You can't get away from ANYTHING...you can only BE there as it comes & goes...Stop fighting the world as it shows up and FLOW!

Sun at 11:26pm ·

Hege M Stenberg

Stress is great fun, like how to not get smudged and poured in holi colours... I love stress!!

Yesterday at 2:05am ·

Jorge Morales

Stress is part of the wavy flow of the journey... it is never the destination, nor its part of it... when our journey is over, i believe there will be such a lack of stress that we will not even have time to miss it due to the state of awesome joy one would be found in... but thats the future i am talking about... something totally speculative of which I know nothing about lmao but hey! it entertains! hahaha Stress is part of growth, plants wont grow without some amount of stress... seeds wont sprout... guruji says something about pain that is similar... stress... pain... youd argue if pain and stress are not similar in this way... personal growth has its taste of pain or stress or both in order to bring you new experiences from which one grows! Indeed, an integral part of life! We may fight it as much as we want... but life will always throw events in our way... until we grow!

Yesterday at 3:21am ·

Well said, Dvorahji. Be one with your giggle. 8))

Yesterday at 5:14am ·

"....life will always throw events in our way... until we grow!"
Actually, "life will always throw events in our way PERIOD-Enlightened or not. And our bodies will RE-ACT accordingly, enlightened or not. And BLISS actually brings it's own stresses on the body. Joy is a sensation a feeling like any other and it comes & goes like all other feelings, in the enlightened as well. It's not a permanent state, it CAN'T BE, as it's associated with the body/changing world.

Stress & life/body are synonomous, Enlightened or not. That's why the enlightened get cancer like everybody else or are in pain like everybody else. THEIR TAKE ON IT IS JUST DIFFERENT, they handle/APPEARS differently - but it still hurts (is a strong sensation).

People have this misconception that "stress stops" if we just "grow enough. The second you're born stress begins, gravity begins, life begins, the body & mind concept begins.

The POINT REALLY IS...don't get "stressed out of shape" when you realize it NEVER GOES AWAY FOREVER (it's not something to look forward to, because you'll waste your "stressful life" trying to get rid of it....

Recognize IT FOR WHAT IT IS and move on to the next moment whether it's joyful of NOT...

Yesterday at 9:29am ·

Dvorah, this is great. I thought for a long time that stress disappears when we become enlightened. It does not disappear. We just handle it better. Be one with your giggle. Love ya!

Yesterday at 9:33am ·

Jorge Morales

This is beautiful indeed. What I meant was on a situation per situation basis. With "stress until we grow" i meant that a certain situation will continue to be stressful until we grow. Which means that we obtain the necessary mindset, or tools to properly deal with said situation, in which case that same situation will no longer be a source of stress in the future, because it is known how to manage it. Needless to say, stressing issues will never stop coming... :) That is life! The difference is as you say Dvoraji, how we react to these issues. How thick is our spring... do we spring very far when we react? It will all boil down to experience... experienced people often know how to deal with stuff better than others... they are not invincible or exempt from downfalls or going gung-ho because something happens to them... but they have pretty good chances of not springing too far when reacting to stressing events... XD I always considered my father to be like that... while my mother would go nuts and sometimes would yell... my father would take things calmly and talk his way through... often resolving any issue in tranquility... :D

Yesterday at 10:42am ·

Well, Jorge, that's all true AND...REACTion IS IN THE MOMENT, really no past of future, so you never know how you will react really, no matter how much training or experience you have.
Example: I love my daughter, I know we're both pitta's, hot tamales. We've both had a lot of experience/meditation/knowledge/whatever and lots of experience wanting to kill each other over Nada...so you'd think, that "THIS TIME IT WOULD BE DIFFERENT"......but it just isn't or sometimes it IS... Sometimes she does/says something and I/she lets it go and SOMETIMES, I/she screams our heads off and the next second, we're peaceful at rest again...

It is the nature of the person, the system, the diet at that moment, the circumstances, that determines how POEPLE DEAL WITH THEIR STRESS/LIFE...Your Mama, well she was hot, body was sensitive to heatd (internally & externally) - Your dad well his planets/stars/liver/ bile WAS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE...

AT some point people ACCEPT THAT their bodies & mind (and every thought feeling & action ) is really a matter of their genetics/body/type/circumstances/and on & on - ONE BIG HAPPENING IN THE MOMENT - AND OUT OF THEIR CONTROL!.............You think you got it down and thennnnnnnnnnnn along comes someone stealing your Guchi bag and you're in a DITHER or NOT!

THE POINT REALLY IS...you are who you are AT ANY MOMENT...you just think you can control it........The enlightened aren't any different. Some Guru's are HOT, and some are mellow, and some can't stand leaving their little HUT!

Yesterday at 12:12pm ·

Dvorahji Dvorah Adler Sri Sri: "The purpose of words is to create silence"......When the student is ready, even a Fortune Cookie can bring you HOME! Doesn't matter so much who your teacher is, what your Sadhana is: What does MATTER is how ready YOU ARE. So RELAX, You will never miss YOUR moment, impossible. You have no RECOURSE BUT TO COME HOME.

February 25 at 8:46pm · Comment ·

Ayshen Radha, Neelam Mohun, Monica Maric and 16 otherslike this.

Jonas Magram

I once drove home in a fortune cookie, and narrowly missed a jaywalking wonton.

February 25 at 8:55pm ·

Ajay Verma Aol

Om Shaanti shaanti om... R E L A X... so simple!!

February 25 at 11:29pm ·

Kathleen Saraswati Rosenberg

lovely !! true !!

February 26 at 1:03am ·

Chandelle Payen

Your timing is always perfect lol so is mine love you my sweet x

February 26 at 1:22am ·

Hege M Stenberg

I am in for the Fortune Cookie... wonder where in India I can find one.??.. These gurus are not doing it for me no more no more no more no more... la la la hit the road guru, hit the road... when jack says this is the last shack... I'll rather hit the waves in stead... I'm in for the oceanic relaxation and mindless lion roaring ... woohhaaaa!! Kisses to you D..

February 26 at 6:59am ·

Patricia Pashia D'souza

De-light-full

February 26 at 8:09am ·

Montse Hurtado Cancini

Just Wisdom.

February 26 at 1:19pm ·

Love this!

February 26 at 2:05pm ·

Dvorahji Dvorah Adler Don't get stuck on every CONCEPT that floats through UR mind-Move Along from one moment to the next-Relax & open to the adventure of UR life

February 24 at 9:19pm via Twitter · Comment ·

Neelam Mohun, Nancey Gagos, Nivedita R and 8 others like this.

Kannu Priya

hmm. . very true!

February 24 at 10:23pm ·

Mahima Gabriel

What about shopping, retail therapy? :)

February 25 at 12:09am ·

ur words are amazing and so basic !!! no high and mighty hoo ha !! just what is needed and what is right. Hits bullseye. thnkx.

February 25 at 6:18am ·

@Mahima...just move along from store to store, relaxed and happy to be shopping!

February 25 at 8:06am ·

BTW, it not so much what you do as WHO YOU ARE...The thoughts, feeling & actions will continue to be the ADVENTURE OF YOUR LIFE...Don't get stuck on the adventure, the concepts of life...JUST LIVE IT, JUST MOVE ALONG without stopping at everything thought feeling & action - wondering if "it could have been different, better, more evolutionary"...Apologize if you need to; feel sorry if you need to; THEN MOVE ALONG...continue without all this rationalization, analyzation, mental constipation...Say good-bye to the last thought-feeling-action (good or bad) and Move ON!

February 25 at 9:01am ·

Mahima Gabriel

I sorta do that . . . but, sometimes I'm on a 'time line' and rushing around to pick up the teens after school (my little part time job) and try to fit in running those errands, and end up getting sorta 'involved' in shopping or returning things, lol !! and have to rush to finish up ~ I just did that yesterday! I prefer not to be rushing anywhere and yet, I find I do ..... so I guess it's to relax about that and be happing to even be rushing sometimes . . . ? and 'if I have any choice', (which at this point along the journey it certainly doesn't look like I do) ' I can try to leave the house 'earlier', try to move slower, get more enjoyment, rather than 'rushing' .... or go on 'another' day when it's more 'open ended :) and stroll store to store rather than brisk walking .... :) love you !! ♥

February 25 at 1:10pm ·

Mahima Gabriel

@Tanbir - you worded it so perfectly - YES !! so clear and basic, which is so helpful as it leaves the mind with really nowhere to go! ( Sigh of relief!! ) I loved the prayer she did on here last week ..... fold your hands and say 'I want nothing' . . . mmm. I have been using that one recently and it's so very helpful. Thanks for being yourself, D ...... thanks for sharing with all of us. I hope we can 'do lunch' sometime this summer ...... looks like I will be in 'Camarillo' in the later part of June for my nieces graduation party, and then on to OC to see a new grand daughter, who is due 'any minute' now !! :)

February 25 at 1:30pm ·

This makes me think of life as a river that continues to flow happily over everything that comes in its path, and the babbling sounds of the river are like the sounds of loving laughter. Be one with your giggle. 8))

February 26 at 6:21am ·

Dvorahji Dvorah Adler Sometimes when you are talking about knowledge, you get dry, intellectual. If life is a story-Let it be a juicy ONE! Devotion is Yummy!

February 23 at 11:38pm via Twitter · Comment ·

Neelam Mohun, Vinod D'SOUZA, Kannu Priya and 8 otherslike this.

Ajay Verma Aol

Yes, some spice.. some flavor... some aroma..make it tempting... mouthwatering... delightful ... and heavenly!! Thanks Dvorahji... I am your biggest fan. Your crispy posts are great appetizers and make the spiritual food easily digestible... Thanks for all the care that you take of your friends- Jai gurudev!!

February 23 at 11:53pm ·

Totally agree :))))) it has to be juicy. real juicy.

February 24 at 12:45am ·

Be Pannell

You are yummy... :-)

February 24 at 2:30am ·

Charlotte Segercrantz

yumyum

February 24 at 4:15am ·

Life is also quite comical. We do end up laughing at the moments we felt were horrible at a later date. I like this little bit of wisdom. Be one with your giggle.

February 24 at 5:50am ·

Now darlings, don't get stuck on "wanting it to be juicy" all the time, that's also a trap...can't be squeezing oranges day & night!...just don't be afraid to have fun, laugh, dance, be silly, hug, kiss and eat ice cream...don't get intellectually dry with all these spiritual stories of what's what. Just look at the sky, your finger, that AWESOMENESS/WONDER WILL TAKE YOU RIGHT OUT OF YOUR HEAD!

February 24 at 9:52am ·

Jorge Morales

This is pure, distilled, and reverse osmosis processed AWESOMENESS!!!! XD

February 24 at 9:56am ·

Kiki Kathryn Ciesielski

my finger wants to know if you want to go out for ice cream

February 24 at 8:21pm ·

Navneet Setia

To the Dry Ones --Be Juicy....And to the Juicy ones...Be More Juicy :)

February 24 at 10:54pm ·

Dvorahji Dvorah Adler "When your real, effortless, joyful nature is realized, It will not be inconsistent with the ordinary activities of life"-Ramana....In OTHER words Get IT! and then GO OUT AND GIVE IT as life flow your "effortless, joyful NATURE" out into ordinary Life. EAT, DRINK, MEDITATE, TALK, TRAVEL, SING AND BE HAPPY!

February 23 at 10:52am · Comment ·

Jerry Harvey, Sunpreet Singh Shanky, Vivek Patil and 19 others like this.

Fred LaMotte

Why?

February 23 at 11:47am ·

Why NOT? or just sit in the backyard and watch the humming birds...or if you prefer wash dishes....

February 23 at 1:02pm ·

Jennifer Irwin

OMG, I just had a real life example of this and now I have a job interview Fri.!!!

February 23 at 1:19pm ·

Fred LaMotte

I was just kidding about the WHY. There is no why. Only the answer, tumbling out of every singing atom.

February 23 at 3:33pm ·

Mary Bellamy

Oh no, I`ll never get that singing part, everything else is a piece of cake!

February 23 at 4:17pm ·

Fred, I knew THAT!@#@@$%@! I'm that bald eagle in the poster staring at you saying: "Hey I'm AM SMILING!"

Fred, write some poetry on my wall - it's really lovely and takes me RIGHT OUT OF MY HEAD!

February 23 at 4:35pm ·

Nice :)

February 23 at 6:05pm ·

You make everything, life, feel so lite and it is exactly the way you make it sound :)

February 24 at 2:11am ·

My mind ceases to be :)
Thank you for being there ::))

February 24 at 2:14am ·

Yes Nitin, it is all completely effortless...it's our thoughts that make it difficult, gluppy!...In actuality, life is light, just moving along doing it's thing, right?

One minute you're happy next minute you're sad, next minute you're eating, next minute you're on the computer, then you get a phone call, now you're angry, then there's a knock at the door with your delivery, and you're happy again and on andon andon just moving along, effortlessly...

February 24 at 9:58am ·

February 24 at 9:50pm ·

Hi Dvorahji, I really enjoyed your comments on meditation, however as I'm technologically challenged also I didn't know how to add my comment on the blog.
So here it is: "Meditation demands an astonishingly alert mind; meditation is the understanding of the totality of life in which every form of fragmentation has ceased. Meditation is not control of thought, for when thought is controlled it breeds conflic in the mind, but when you understand the structure and origin of thought, then thought will not interfere" KRISHNAMURTI "FREEDOM FROM THE KNOWN" (1969)

4 hours ago ·

Krishnamurti, (wrote this in 1969) and to me he is very very confusing in 2010, there are far simplier/ more fun teachers...So from my perspective what he said can be said very simple this way:
TRUE meditation is your NATURE - SO when you are ALREADY in true meditation:
1. mind is alert
2. understanding of totality is evident
3. Thoughts come and go and they don't 'BOTHER THE STATE OF MEDITATION.

Intellectuals love krishnamurti and others do to - for me I fall asleep listening to him...although truth can always resonate with someone who hears it. And He was very cool in his own way.

4 hours ago ·

Nicely simplified! I only have 2 of the books which contain his lectures, my favorite is "Freedom from the Known", he also said that you can meditate at any moment, sitting in a bus or walking in the woods, reading a book if you are 100% into it. Thanks for your comment.

3 hours ago ·