Into this new day us You've brought, A chance again to be here we've got, Make its each moment be best spent, That is, fully according to Your intent.

No charming spot on Earth's face, Or in the rest of vast cosmic space, Can for us in beauty and joy excel That place in us where You dwell: Our heart's throne, where You preside Over Your kingdom, Your realm inside.

Tozy (name changed), who is an old man now, has spent much of his life living in fear, with his fears taking different forms and shapes over the years. From as far back in childhood that he can remember, it has almost always been this way for him. Tozy grew up in mortal fear of his parents, with whom he had an extremely ambivalent relationship. His mother could be very loving at times, but she was a strict disciplinarian and could easily fly into a rage and curse and beat him

Do you sometimes feel that time weighs heavily on your hands and you wish you had something exciting or meaningful to do instead? Do you at times feel empty or flustered for lack of something truly purposeful to keep yourself engaged in and with? In short, do you sometimes feel bored? It is perhaps natural to feel bored, at least occasionally. In fact, it is quite likely that most, if not all, of us do at times feel that way. It may not always be that we feel we are using our

Last week, I created a new record for myself by watching almost half a dozen movies in less than the same number of days. This is possibly more than the number of movies I have watched in the last entire decade as a whole! I rarely see movies, but last week, a cultural centre that I often visit was screening a number of films, all free of cost. From their description, they seemed to be on important social themes, and so, I thought they might be well worth watching. A friend o

When your destination is so near, Within your own self, inside here, Why far-off need you seek to go, That’d be foolishness, isn’t it so?

You decide what I must do, I leave the matter all to You. You tell me, You be my guide, Make me do what You decide. My own course I won’t choose, To decide on my own I refuse. This burden You must fully take, Deciding all for me, for my sake.

In love deeply with their chains That their belief system ordains, Some people just refuse to agree To any offer of being set free, Claiming this is their god’s will Which they are bound to fulfill. In darkness their lives they spend, In misery seemingly with no end, Bearing a burden of fear and hate, That they’ve been told to cultivate, Believing this their god demands In obedience to his grim commands. Ah precious lives thus spent in vain, In spiritual slavery, self-cho

I can commune with God direct, So, your foolish demand I reject That I take you as a middleman, Who, you declare, alone can Connect us both, me and God, Be off with you, I say, you fraud! Your noxious claim I stoutly refuse, I can see through your cunning ruse That you deploy in the hope that I Will fall flat for your most foul lie, And so will consent to be your slave, Be off with you, I repeat, you knave!

We can craft for us our own personal ‘Scripture’ With our every thought, word, deed and gesture.

I can see through your knavery, I won’t submit to your slavery, To agree to all that you claim, All you say in some god’s name. There's no reason why I should Treat your word as true and good Just because this god you invoke, And declare that to you he spoke. No proof of this can you adduce, No evidence can you produce, Every reason thus have I to doubt What your claim is really all about. So, contrary to what you expect, Your foolish claim I firmly reject! I can see through

If this fact we come to realise, (It may come as a great surprise!) That within ourselves, too, You are, (And not just in some ‘Heaven’ far) How differently we might then view Ourselves, the world, and You, too!

From the book you say is God’s Word (A claim that I think is most absurd), I can take the good I might there find, And can then leave all the rest behind, For this I know and clearly understand: That it’s the work of mere human hand, And not God’s Speech, as you proclaim, And of oh most great, hallowed fame, So, a mix of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ it must be, That this is the case is very plain to me, And so, from it I may pick and choose, To accept it all, I just have to refuse!

I’ve no need for your tome, For within my own ‘home’: Deep inside my own mind, The guidance I need I can find.

Their book they proclaim as ‘Divine’, Its each tiny dot, its every single line. “God sent it down,” they loudly say, “So, all its teachings we must obey”. In their madness they’ve turned blind To the many absurdities one can find In this book, for they've all been told That anyone who dares to be so bold As to doubt even just one of its claims, God will punish them in Hell’s flames, Where they’ll remain for all eternity, A fit punishment for their temerity. In this way, v

Turn away from all other sounds To the Voice within that resounds.

We on Earth are guests mere, For a short while we are here, Moving ahead, passing through, As we journey back home with You.

Leaving all else for a while behind, In chanting Your Name what joy I find!

I wish I could see Your world, Your beauty therein unfurled, Those forms Your Face displays, On them in sheer joy to gaze. Grant, please, this my request, If this for me is for the best.