Color of Blood

Take some blood from all living beings like humans,animals,fish,birds and then mix it up.Looking at the red liquid can you differentiate...which blood is from which source?? Any second person looking at it will say it is the same color red and belongs to the same source which ever. When you cannot differentiate the color from outside then what right do you have to draw boundaries around caste, creed,rich & poor.Every living creature born in this world deserves the same love and affection and needs to be looked at with the same respect as your own soul.

The Sun,Moon,Stars,Air,Water and Nature shower the same affection to everyone.It is only we humans who have drawn square lines around us.Till such time we are happily entrenched in our own luxuries of life we fail to look at the sufferings, miseries and sadness amongst others.Most of the time we are not even conscious on what is happening around us and are only aware about happenings that concerns us only.

The source of life for everyone is through the eternal being.Only the form of life is different.This is how HE has created a complete world where each form of life exists for a purpose.Each one has been created to balance the existence with various LIFE colors.Amongst all life forms GOD made humans the most advanced in order to spread the message of peace,love,gratitude,sharing,caring and existing together.But look what have we done.We have completely defeated HIS vision and formed our own vision to rule this planet.Formed up our own corners of comfort.Displaced and disturbed the very agenda of GOD for creating us.Have we ever asked a question to ourselves as to why we have done this ? Why is it that for us the color of blood is different in our own way of thinking about others.Is it because of our own sophistication that we feel that others who are not so fortunate as us have a different blood.Really, this is highly distasteful if we look at the color of blood from a very sadistic and inhuman perspective.

However,the most selfish part of our existence is that the same blood which has come from the very same people who we shoo away for our sophistication and lifestyle entrenchments, is what we need from the blood bank when at the hospital facing a crisis.At that point in time no thought even remotely cross our mind at the source from which this has been generated.And we gladly accept and thank GOD for saving our LIFE. Is it GOD who has saved our LIFE or is it the blood which was made available to us when we needed it the most.We need to think.!! Why it then we fail to recognize the fact that all of us carry the same color blood.We must meditate, try and empty our mind from thoughts which are undivine. Only then we can clearly see the color of blood which is neither red or white but having the color of purity of existence,adundance of love,baskets of gratitude and loads of compassion.GOD from its rainbow in the sky has taken specific colors and filled our LIFE with all his love.

Blood banks are a source of inspiration if one is willing to understand the path to divinity.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Forgiveness

Forgiving people who have done wrong to you makes way for enriching your soul with calmness.Why should you carry a burden of pointless thinking about the incident.You only hurt yourself everyday and your near and dear ones around you.Just remember one thing.Your own virtuousness will carry you through all pains and miseries but you should have faith in the Supreme.No one can harm your soul or take it away from you.Your soul remains yours till such time you are alive in this world of illusions.They can only cause you an external grievance by way of speech & actions.Why should you be worried on what they are doing to you.Is it really that important to brood.You know what..? You are pained by the other people actions only when there is an attachment to the worldly possessions and feelings.Once you practice the art of de-attachment these issues will not bother you.Let me also reaffirm to you that what is in your destiny cannot be denied to you.If you are to receive something that GOD has willed to you it will be delivered to you when the time comes.If something is to be taken away from you it will be taken away.Nothing is ours since we did not bring it with us in this world.

Not only one should try and practice forgiving other people but also try and practice forgiving self.When you start forgiving yourself you also get to understand your own wrong doings and what is that you need to do to correct yourself.Forgiveness is a 360 degrees practice to get you on a 180 degrees straight line.But developing the art of forgiveness will take practice.Seemingly for the first time practitioners it is very hard.It is so not because of any defects with a person but due to the fact that over a period of time we have been tuned into a state of our own mind where the acceptability of the other person finds very little space.The reasons can be many but predominant amongst them is our materialistic attitude.Our own joys matter more to us than the grievances of others.We do not care to think twice on whether what we are doing is right or wrong.Everything at that point in time seems right to us because we stand to gain.We fail to foresee the after effects of what we are doing.And when we feel those after some period in time we try and ask for forgiveness from the person.We may be forgiven or not at that point in time is not in our hands.If we are fortunate enough we will get forgiveness which will clean out soul somewhat but the spot will remain deeply entrenched and many efforts would have to be made by us to clean it completely. If we have done someone some wrong and we know it consciously then no matter how hard we try this act of ours will come to haunt us definitely some day and in somepoint in time during our life. It is said that everything which we give comes back to us in some form or the other.This is the eternal law of the Universe.

Even before we start practicing the art of forgiveness, we should try and meditate and ask for forgiveness from the Supreme Soul.The moment we do that we will experience certain questions which will be asked from us by our own consciouness.The first & the last one would be " Why did you do an act which is so undivine?" We may have no answer to this and no matter how hard we try to reason, all answers will fall flat.This is the learning which GOD will impart at the first instance.When you open your eyes you will find that seeking forgiveness from Supreme is very hard because you are at fault.The Supreme anyways is going to forgive you not because you have asked for it but because it is his part within you which GOD wants to clean.You are just a means to carry a part of his consciousness within you as your soul.Your sinful thinking which tarnishes the soul needs to be cleaned by HIM since GOD cannot accept anything which is impure after your term on this earth expires.This would then make you think as to what is your entity.Frankly speaking NOTHING.You are no one since you do not have the power to create nature and its people.

So ask yourself a hundred times when you think of uttering even one word which is undivine and for which you will have to ask for forgiveness.Why do it when you can avoid it.Just mellow down yourself and think of only divine eternity as the true purpose of your life on this earth.Since what you own are only illusions and nothing more, then what is the need to cause grief and sorrow to others.Seeking forgiveness is your right only if you have committed some undivine act out of ignorance and not otherwise.We must try and act in a way where we should not ask for forgiveness from others but forgive others for what they do to us through ignorance of their existence on this beautiful planet.

Sanjiv Gupta
Creator Merrigold

Life is a poetry

The rising Sun
Makes me believe in myself
I dream of my ambitions
Rising like the new born Sun everyday
The flowers,the petals,the leaves,the green trees and the rich blue sky
Makes me dream of happiness all around
I see the world dancing on their feets
With beautiful people shaking hand with me
My eyes brim with tears
So loving,so caring are these all.
Times passes and the evening gets red
I see the Sun going down
With the dusk setting slowly and birds flying home
The quietness and the gloom which sets in with the darkness
And I see the other bends in Life,besides the sweet ones
Which leave a lasting impresssion till death of unhappy memories which cross you
For a moment I stand still...silent !
Then I smile
Maybe this is what Life`s all about
Making it interesting for us to live.
And as the dusk falls and night settles down
There is only one thought !
Before I go to sleep
Let the next morning Sun wake me up.

Sanjiv Gupta
Creator Merrigold

Discounting Yourself

Have you ever felt that you have been neglected even though you are a prominent person.Has this hurt you inside.It must have.This is but natural.When we consider ourselves important and expect people to shower us with attention then this feeling is bound to arise.But if we discount ourselves and just take things as they are without expecting attention from people around us then this feeling also will fade away.The more we discount ourselves the more peaceful we will feel.Discounting yourself is also a form of mind meditation where you look at life which exists within, in the form of your soul.It is the soul which is your true self and not the outside body.Our eyes see what our mind tells them to see.It is the mind which has the power to stir our emotions.But when you start discounting yourself then it is your soul which then starts changing your perspective and you start looking at things with a more straight forward viewpoint.

Most of the time the root to our greviances,discontent,frustation,jealousy and degeneration is when we fail to discount ourselves.Our own importance supersedes everything.What is it that we are trying to achieve?This is the question we need to ask ourselves everyday,every minutes and every second.Who are we that others should give us attention?What is it that we have done that we deserve to be garlanded with attention from everyone.Frankly speaking nothing!!.Whatever we have achieved is only worldly ambition.And we want even more.Have we done something to please our inner soul.Have we realized our true purpose of life.We have not.Whatever we have achieved till date without any consideration of spiritual existence is worthless.It is worthless because we cannot take it with us.It is going to remain here and others will enjoy it.So let us discount ourselves from the present and let it go.Why bother..if somebody has ignored you.Who is he to you.Nothing.It is your inner soul and GOD which should matter to you.But this realization will only come after you start practicing discounting yourself.Some people will have a query as to what discounting yourself means.There is a very simple explaination."When you start understanding that this body is an illusion and the world around is also an illusion and nothing matters except your connection with the Supreme Soul and it is HE who holds your strings of life and death and nobody else. When you start looking at all events and happenings around you with calm and quietness of the vision without any form of distorted thoughts that is when the force of Discounting Yourself gets operational within you."

7 Golden rules of Discounting Yourself

Close your eyes for 2 minutes

Concentrate on controlling your heart beat.

Breathe slowly

Just let go of all thoughts

Visualise yourself as the means and not the end.

Smile

Practice.

As you start practicing the art of Discounting Yourself 5 things are going to happen to you over a period of time.Maybe more.

You will feel more relaxed.

You will feel more happy.

You will be more calm and at peace with yourself.

Your relationships will improve.

Your spiritual side will get enhanced.

When we trap our mind with narrow thinking and materialistic approaches the outcome is always inflated egos.This entices us to look at how important we are and we fail entirely in logical patterns of behaviour.What will happen? We start getting annoyed,short tempered,jealous,anxious and grieved and take actions which are uncalled for.Our relationships with others as a result suffer.On the other hand if we allow the process of discounting ourselves to take control, we will feel more at peace with ourselves.

So let us try and practice this art of mind meditation and see how discounting oneself enriches life making it more compassionate,gracious and worthwhile living on this planet.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Situation Vacant

One day when GOD was in a very light mood he asked his secretary to draft an ad of Situation Vacant.The secretary was surprised and with a little apprehension asked GOD if she was being retired.GOD had a hearty laugh and told her not to worry and her job with HIM was safe.

"No..dear, I just want to hire someone from earth to look after my interests there.It has become very tiring for me to keep answering prayers and attending to them every day.I sometimes find myself in dilemma.Believe me I have not slept for ages after I created Earth, Adam and Eve."

So the secretary drafted a situation vacant ad and showed it to GOD. It read " Vacancy exists for an assistant to GOD.Basic qualification required are none and the selection will depend entirely on the interview.There is no place and date being mentioned. GOD will himself call on the persons selected to be interviewed " The ad was published on the sky for everyone living on earth to see.

The next morning all people living on earth were surprised to see the ad on the sky.But everyone was in a dilemma to understand how will they be selected by the GOD No one could know where to find him since no address was given.Over a period of few days they tried very hard but failed to locate GOD After about a month finally GOD selected five people randomly and decided to interview them.That night HE visited each one of them in their dreams.After discussing their credentials he asked only one final question.The question was " Tell me what have you done to please me ?"

The first candidate said " I went to the temple ,washed you,adorened you with new clothes ,offered you fruits & sweets and worshipped you with all my sincerity" GOD just smiled and visited the second,the third and the fourth candidates also in their dreams and asked them the same question. Their replies were almost similar to the first. This time GOD laughed to his heart content but said nothing.Finally HE visited the fifth candidate .The fifth candidate replied " Dear Father, I am really sorry I have done nothing to please you.You know my family did not have food to eat for the last two days and the children were crying with hunger.My old parents live with me. I do not have any work but seeing the plight of my family I went out and cleaned the temple .The pujari there gave me some leftover food. When I reached home my parents,wife and children were very happy and we sat down to eat.The moment we did so, there was a beggar who came knocking for food.I felt unhappy seeing his hunger and offered him some of the food from our own ,whatever, we had." Hearing his answer GOD woke him up and blessed him for clearing the interview and said to him " My dear son, when you feel the pain and suffering of the other soul and serve them with pure heart as your own then by default you please me.This is more than enough for me.I bless you and will wait for you with open arms once you serve your time here. I want you to keep serving others as you serve your own.You will never have dearth of anything from this day"

There is always a "Situation Vacant" in this world which GOD has created.Filling that vacancy depends entirely on us.The only qualifications required for this job is selflessness,compassion and gratitude.The timings are flexible and the work which you want to do is to be selected by you.And you know one thing which is the greatest.There is no recession here so there is no fear to loose your job.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Writing your own obituary

Have you ever tried to sit down and write your own obituary..!! Try doing that if you have not made an attempt at it till date.Frankly speaking, you will be at loss to word the same.What will you write...each word which you try to pen down will haunt you at your face.Hundreds of thoughts are going to do many rounds within your consciouness.What are people you know going to say..good things or bad things about you. What is it that is going to become of you in the other world...who all will fight for your belongings...will your family be happy after you pass away...will they offer you the shraadh every year....who is going to cry for you when you are gone...What is the date you are going to write...you do not know?How can you know when you are not even aware what is going to happen with you the next second.Believe me all this will haunt you immensely.Writing your own obituary is an eye opening experience.It brings you back from a plane of an illusionary world to the present.We get a chance to correct our ways of living in this world.It brings forth an insight to the purpose of life other than the material one. The insight to our spiritual existence.

The path to spirituality is very easy to follow and practice.However,it is the first step which is difficult.The beginning is just like a child when he tries to walk and falls down many times.The parents then give support and offer him the courage to walk.Spirituality is inherent in all of us who have been born on this earth even animals. I have come across many incidents where a monkey is seen making friends with a dog, a lion with a deer, a cat with a puppy.So what is this..?? It is a miracle and ways of GOD to give a subtle message.So writing one`s own obituary makes it even more simpler to understand these messages.When once you are convinced that inner peace and understanding yourself is through inclination to GOD`s wisdom, everything else becomes an illusion.

You have a family because you were supposed to have them.You are just an instrument of GOD to support them till such time they have been willed to you.Once that time period elapses you will have to leave them.So when you start writing your own obituary the worldly attachments will start getting seemingly less emotional as a burden on your soul.You will start looking at illusions in the right perspective.Your behavioral pattern will see a small change everyday.This is not a one time activity.Everday you should try and practice this and you will observe that each day will bring you new meaning.Your desires will start deminishing.You will start looking at only what is required and not what is desired.There is a great difference between what is required and what is desired.Your control on your desires will make you more relaxed with yourself and you will start viewing all happenings in your life with a different meaning.Plus the bonus is that you will smile more often.There will be new energy within your eyes and a warmth you have never felt before.

Each one of us is free to look at this with our own viewpoints.There is no disagreement.The question does not arise.Why should it arise at all.But yes one thing is clear.Practicing this will release you of many hidden feelings which fail to come out for fear of bearing sarcasm from people.But is that important.People will be like that and they are like that.Why should you worry.Let them be what they are.No one is going to travel with you.They will travel with you only as far as the cremation ground.After that the journey for you is entirely on your own.So why should there be a dilema.There should be none.We must try and focus on the other journey which we have to undergo so we must write our own obituary to understand how we need to live life, whatever is left for us and try and cleanse the path through which we have to travel all alone.Maybe if we are lucky we may come across some like minded souls to make our journey pleasant or even those whom we had helped in our lives.

Writing your own obituary is like opening a new bank account for the first time and then being happy looking at and counting how many hard earned pennies it reflects with each passing month of your life.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Greatness

Two plants with different flowers were growing side by side.One plant had bigger flowers than the other.The plant which had bigger flowers used to look down upon the other plant for its small flowers.When the breeze blew it swung from one side to other with pride and used to always say " Look at you there is nothing in your flowers.They are too small and miserable. And just look at me.My flowers are so beautiful and big that they are fit to be placed at the feets of the deity." The other plant just used to bend as if to agree but never said anything and enjoyed the breeze without any ill will.

One day few villagers living nearby passed with a dead body.One of them seeing the large flowers plucked them up and laid them over the dead.The large flowers went away with the dead and the small flowers remained attached to the plant..Next morning some little girls were sent by their parents to pick up some good flowers.There was a religious function in the village and garlands were to be made for offering to the deity.The chirpy little girls plucked the smaller flowers and went away singing.That evening the deity wore the garland made of these small flowers.

This time the plant with smaller flower swung from one side to other with joy.It still did not say anything to the other plant with big flowers.But the other plant understood the message, The greatness is not in being big or small.It is in being humble.

GOD says " When I created you,it was without any feeling of pride.I wanted a world which had perfection of existence.But my creations have no reason to look down upon others.My ways are very different to make you understand.Experience & spread the goodness which I have offered you.You are not there permanently. I will call you back once your time is over.Do not give me any reasons to be sad for creating you"

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Shadow

You know what..?? Your shadow always walks with you.Even at night.Of course during the day you can see it but it is there with you permanently.Have you ever asked yourself why it travels with you continuously.There are great learnings through watching one`s shadow.We have very learned masters who can tell you your fate by just watching your shadow falling at various angles.However,that is different subject all together.But if you are observant and have an inclination to the divine,you can get various messages from your own shadow by yourself.

A shadow will tell you never to leave your goodness,love,affection,respect,generosity.All these qualities should travel with you permanently,no matter what comes and what you are going through.A shadow falling on mother earth will give you a direct message that ultimately this is where you will merge when you will leave this world.Your body,your clothes,your belongings everything are like ME.They are only shadows. You have to leave behind every possession of yours once you die.Sometimes you will see that your shadow is either towards the right side,left side- front or back.This also gives you great enlightment.These tilted shadows will inform you to walk straight and never divert from the true purpose of being born on this earth.If you divert then you will burden yourself with a lot of unworthy loads which will at the end years make you to repent and bend you with regret.Think and bring yourself back to being virtuous.

A shadow will tell you to look forward to better opportunities and not lookdown upon yourself as unworthy.Otherwise you will be like me.Just blackness will be inside you.Try and look at the brighter side of life,exhale and inhale goodness.A shadow will tell you to just let it go and not to hold on to memories of the past since they will only make you more sad.Look at me everytime,it says, whenever you are depressed and down.I travel with you only to draw you back from remorseness and remind you that living in the present helps to brighten up your future.

A shadow will make you understand that as the earth revolves you experience day and you experience night.So if you are going through a bad phase in life, it will pass and a new dawn awaits you.Nothing is stagnant.Everything moves but as per the time set by the GOD.So why worry!! Forget and merge your soul with the supreme.Let him do all the thinking for you.If you have been born in this world then the arrangements to exist with a purpose must also have been made for you by HIM.All of us are a part of HIS shadow.As our shadow travels with us so we as HIS shadow travel with HIM.Some of us get enlightened and start believing in GOD.Others just travel with HIM without the knowledge of HIS presence besides us.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Patience

There was this old man sitting under a mango tree looking with temptation at the green mangoes.A wizard passed by and saw the man looking at the mangoes with expectation.

He asked him," Old man what are you thinking".

" I am thinking when will the mangoes become ripe".

"When do you think they will become ripe ?"

" I don`t know, do you ?"

" No, I do not know, but I can make them ripe with my magic" and he flashed his magic wand and some ripe mangoes fell into the lap of the old man.The old man was very happy but no sooner he had one mango, his craving for them vanished.

" Old man, what happened? You seem not to like them",the wizard asked him.

The old man looked at him and said,"They do not taste so good".

"Rightly so",replied the wizard " since they have not taken their time to develop their taste naturally.Do you still want me to make all the mangoes ripe ?"

"No", replied the old man. "I will wait for them to get ripe on their own."

Moral of the Story

Be patient and keep doing good work.Let the process of growth happen on its own.It will some day.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Emptiness

The pair of sparrows had come and settled down on the tree right in front of our house.The male used to fly and get a twig,pieces of paper, dry leaves,cotton and whatever he could to make their home while the female pecked him time to time encouraging him to do a good job.

They had made themselves a comfortable nest and one could hear their sweet chirping.Time passed by and the pair of sparrows were blessed with the parenthood.Again the male used to fly and bring home food for its little one and the female.Both of them used to feed their young.The young grew up till it had small wings which it would flutter happily.One day some young boys while playing near the tree accidentally hit the nest with their cricket ball.The ball came heavily on the young and crushed him to death.As if the life of the sparrows was shattered.One could hear them loudly in great pain.The chirp had been replaced by sorrow.They flew endlessly around their nest and then sat near their dead baby.They pecked him as if trying to bring him back to life.But the young was not to flutter its wings again.When the sparrows could not do anything they just sat perched up on the corner of their nest simply looking at their great loss.One could feel the sadness in their eyes and the way their bodies had sagged.Next morning they were not to be seen.Every morning for the next few days me and my wife used to look at the deserted nest & feel the emptiness.

We could not do anything for the poor birds since giving life was not in our hands.But we could feel their pain and their loss.It is the same for everyone whether you are a human being,animal or a bird.But to feel the pain which the other creatures are going through, your soul needs to be awake.Sometimes cocooned in our own comforts we fail to realize the pain and suffering of others.Everyday GOD tries to open our eyes through various direct and indirect messages.It is for us to be consciously active to receive these signals from the eternal tower of infinity.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Under the Banyan Tree

Temple is your place to get those sacred inspirations to connect with the Supreme.The other day I went to the temple and after doing the puja I thought of sitting under the Banyan Tree and meditate for sometime.No sooner I had closed my eyes to the world, the cry of a child took me by surprise.Opening my eyes I focussed on a burly gentleman in a dhoti and kurta carrying a large bag of fruits.Probably he had come to offer it to the deity.With him there was this 4 odd years chubby child who seemed to be his grandson.As a curiosity which a child when he feels hungry, this sweet looking darling had managed to hang on to a banana which was clinging out of that bag.He wanted to have it and was not willing to let go. Hunger makes old people do things and he was just a child, a budding rose.The old man with grey hairs and large Mussolini moustaches scolded him and wanted him to let go.But you know how children are...!!! the child would not budge.And this man kept scolding him and trying to wriggled out the fruit from the child's hands.I thought to myself..."if children are the face of GOD then why the offering was being kept away." Is it that the stone statue inside where these fruits are going to be offered at the feet of the deity, will be effective to wash this man`s sins or would feeding that child one banana for which he was crying , would satisfy and make the deity happy and bless this spiritual illiterate.These thoughts always keep troubling me.Maybe self provoking thoughts are the ways of GOD to make us understand that the soul resides incidence we feed that every day and in turn feed the Supreme who is everywhere and in everything.I got up with folded hands,thanked the Banyan Tree for this revelation and blessings. Walking out of the temple I bought some fruits and offered them to a group of small children playing outside the temple.The cheers and the smile on their cute little unwashed faces made my day.

GOD sends a message to all through this.HE communicates that if you want to please ME please the children since they are my representatives.You know why they are my face?? Since they are simple and plain hearted without any malice towards anyone.I want each one of you to be like them.GOD says that each day I am trying to educate you through these children but it is only you who fail me.Most of you of course.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Child`s voice is GOD`s voice

Walking through the market and window shopping is what charms my wife most and what I hate most.But you have to go with the home ministry or you are liable to be prosecuted with a coldest dinner you have ever had in your whole life.The other day I was doing just that and wished that I had spent some more time at my office.

My daughter Sanjana and son Siddhant were also hand in hand bearing the never lasting agony.Just then we stopped at an eating joint and ordered for some burgers and ice creams.While we were having our grub, there was this young child,probably from a slum nearby who was hungrily watching everyone eat.He was especially looking at the bunch of young children who were making merry with their parents and having a great time with cold drinks and whatever grub their parents had bought them.Since my children have been taught by us to share their food with their friends at the school and never to have their own corner, they mix well and are growing up experiencing the joy of sharing.This has helped them tremendously in being very simple and friendly with their own.My daughter understands me more since she is the oldest child in the house and my son is just growing up.

She had noticed me looking at the boy standing near the pillar of the food joint.To my surprise, even before, I could think of acting on what I was planning to do, my daughter asked me to buy an ice-cream for that child.I looked at her warmly and hugged her with all my love and told her `Baby- you are a dream come true GOD Bless You'. There was a huge emotional catch in my throat and I went and bought an ice-cream and handed it over to those black pair of twinkling eyes.The joy on his face which I saw the moment he took hold of the ice-cream cannot be explained in words.This can only be experienced.

The ways of GOD are very different to ours.Since the face of GOD are the children, many a times HE will try and deliver a message through them.GOD never ever gives anything directly.It is always through a channel.Reflect this on your own Life.Did you ever got anything directly from GOD.It has always been through someone.The time,the channel,who is to give and how much you are to receive are all fixed by HIM.Sometimes you actually wonder whether HE is in some other part of the Universe seeing over you or HE is actually amongst, as one of us.But wherever his abode is HE is a undoubdtly a great teacher who makes you learn many things.One of his teaching`s is to share your good things in Life with others with compassion.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Footprints

The other day some children were playing at a funpark.There was this patch of land filled with sand where a volleyball court had been built.The children while playing their own games had stepped on to the volleyball court.Their parents had left after playing leaving behind their footprints on sand.

The children had found a new game of their own.Each one had started walking on those footprints, step by step.The full impressions of the parents feet on the sand now had smaller impressions within them.So now all the larger footprints had a smaller impression inside.

Just try and look at this from a broader perspective...the larger footprints are of that of GOD and the smaller ones are OUR.The supreme soul does not want anything from us except that we follow him and his path with full faith and the rest is taken care of by HIM.All our miseries,pain,sorrow will just go away and we will be happy like the children who without giving any thought to what they were doing were simply following the footprints of their parents with gay abandon.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Colors of Life

Sometime whenever one is little free, one should try and reflect on the purpose of Life.Is it a mere existence for us or are we living it everyday.There is a difference between existing and living.Existence is just a drab way of merely waking up every morning,eating our food,doing our chores and then sleeping again in the night only to get up next morning if one is fortunate enough.Living life on the other hand is fortunately getting up every morning and reflecting on the last day and looking at what we can do today with a purpose.How are we going to make life of our fellow creatures happy and fulfilling or in fact implementation of any action which will go a long way to enrich our own soul through visible contentment which the fellow souls experience.

Let us name this endeavor which we may undertake as Colors of Life.Going a step further let us also find out what these colors of life are. Being compassionate,warm,friendly,helpful,understanding,humble and generous are all color of life.

Like you buy your child a box of crayons to paint his imagination on a piece of paper and give it a shape the colors of Life are also like these crayons.Till such time you keep using these colors they will keep coloring your life and others around you everyday.So use them to the fullest extent possible.At least when you are gone those colors will keep their life with the goodness you have shown to your fellow creatures.You know why I say this...When people remember you for your good deeds after you pass away these colors become the inspiration for others to follow the path lit by you and prompt them to continue the goodwork.

Have you ever watched a rainbow closely and tried taking out a meaning from it.The shape of the rainbow is round with multiple colors.It seems to encompass the entire creation within it.This is GOD`s wonder through which HE is trying to pass a message saying that " Be like a rainbow,round and without any sharp edges.Take some colors out of it and try spreading them across all fellow creatures lessening away their pain,sorrow and suffering.If you can be happy seeing MY rainbow just imagine how will you feel when you spread colors all around you with your own rainbow.Do that with willingness using the opportunities I have given you.By doing what I suggest you will only make me more happy." Look at the firefly.It is a very small insect but GOD has given it the power to light the darkness.Be like him.Even a small effort from your end will end up brightening up some of the sorrow corners in this world. Asking yourself a question everyday will serve to bring about a great sense in using these colors of Life which GOD has given us." If I were to die tomorrow,How would I live tonight?"

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

The Choice is Yours

Just yesterday my grocery store owner was whining.A customer had bought something from him and gave a Rs 100 note.However due to the rush hour by oversight the grocery store owner paid him the change for Rs. 500 instead of Rs. 100 after deducting the amount for the article.The customer cooly went away with the extra money and the store owner realized it after sometime that he had returned more money than he was to give back.

I pacified him and told him a story of a boy and a girl. There was this boy who was playing with his marbles.A small girl approached him seeing the beautiful marbles he was playing with. She asked him if he would exchange all his marbles for the sweets she had with her.The boy told her that he would do that but she must give him all the sweets she was having with her.The girl readily agreed. So they exchanged.The boy gave her the marbles and in return the small girl gave him all her sweets.But the boy most cunningly gave her only the worned out marbles and kept back a few nice one with him.And they went their own way.However, the boy could not sleep that night and kept on turning in his bed thinking whether the girl had given him all her sweets or had kept some from him.

So GOD says here...if you do a wrong deed your consciousness will always howl you inside and you will never be at peace.So why do something which hurts your own soul.I have given you a great life to lead with virtuousness.Follow what your heart says is right.Never ever get swayed by that momentary illusion.If something is rightfully yours and has been taken from you do not worry.It will come back to you but this time with the interest.Look what happened to Ravana.He forcefully took Sita away and his entire golden city was burnt to ruins and he himself also perished.So just let it go..!!

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Sadhna

The fire that lights the pyre can be yours tomorrow. To burn you of your sins with the Smokey mist of clouds carrying you lightly on their shoulders through the flames to some destination unknown. Leaving behind everything like the water flowing through the river and mingling with the sea to merge as oneness of the soul.

Closing your eyes and driving your thoughts to oneness cannot be all of a sudden. Much turmoil is experienced in the mind. Hundreds of thoughts flash off and on. However, continuous effort is required to stem yourself from the past and present and connect with your inner self. Connecting within without any outside thought will come with practice over a period of time. However, even before we starts towards the path to sadhna we have to try and practice the art of living life with purity of thoughts and action.

Sadhna takes many forms. It is not only limited to just closing your eyes to the world and seeking enlightment.If you see a hungry person buying him food to satisfy his craving is Sadhna of action. And mind you just buying him food will not be enough. You have to buy him food as you would eat yourself. Speaking good words without any feeling of malice to everyone is Sadhna of speech. Eating only that much which is required for existence without unnecessary filling your stomach with junk is Sadhna of food. Sharing a part of your income for the benefit of deprived is Sadhna of offering. Like wise Sadhna has many forms. You can develop more forms once you are on the path. It is completely up to you how you would like to adapt to Sadhna.

Sadhna is a continuous process. You have to keep doing Sadhna of various forms whenever you get a chance. It is not a one time activity but ever evolving to keep you virtuous in your path to seek divinity. Every life form which is existing on this planet should be treated with the same endurance, compassion, love and serenity of thought. This needs practice as I said earlier. Over a period of time you will start feeling a very nostalgic pain in your heart whenever you will come across creatures who need your attention. When your soul starts connecting with others and you start understanding their plight, a thousand stars will start shining within you, lighting up your inner self with the wisdom that the Supreme then gifts you as a small percentage of his own goodness. How far you would like to open this envelope of wisdom is entirely at your discretion.

There would be times when you might feel that nothing is happening and you are just wasting your time. But let me assure you that every second you have devoted to Sadhna as above has not got wasted. You are like the pitcher which is empty and it will take some time to fill the same with water of pious actions without giving a thought on how they will benefit you. You will have to keep at your efforts. The moment the pitcher is full, it will overflow. That is when through some divine blessings you will start feeling as if a whole new world has opened up for you. Something which you had never imagined. It would be like living in the present but breathing the Universe. The experience would be thoroughly mystical and satisfying.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Understanding Death

One should not be afraid of something which is certain.All who have been born on this planet will leave their body and travel to unknown at some point in time..This has been willed in the destiny of all living creatures.Death is as true as life.Something which we can see and feel causes us no fear.However, we fear only those incidents which we are unable to see in the present.

But let me ask you something.If you have faith in GOD then what is the reason for the fear.Are you afraid of going back to HIM and answering his queries on how you lived your life on earth.The work HE had entrusted you was not completed or even started.Are we afraid of the consequences which we may face after life.Over ages our minds have been tuned to various forms of tortures which we may have to face after death.The tuning has been done through various scriptures,pictorial dipiction,sermons by saints etc.How far is that true nobody knows. As far as I believe both heaven and hell are on this earth.All the consequences are faced by the living creatures on earth itself.The soul when it leaves the body goes back and merges with the Supreme as untouched and as pure it was when it had entered the body of a creature during birth.It is the body and the mind which suffers the pain.It is our thoughts which makes us see death as sadness and sorrow.What we actually look at is the lifeless body.We fail to recognise the fact that the soul which resided in the body is now free.Since we cannot see the soul our concentration is merely on the dead body and we brood.

We have become so engrossed with the materialistic ways of existence that the very thought of dying scares us. Let us look at it from a different perspective. We would find that death by itself is a wonderful boon for us in relieving us of our sufferings,pains and sorrows.It is the way of GOD to give another chance to be born again under different circumstances and relive our purpose which we may have not even thought of starting in our previous birth.I firmly believe that there are no 84000 births cycle before you get born again as a human being.A simple explanation can put to rest all queries in this context. As you cannot grow a rose from the seeds of a marigold flower, breed a lion from the sperms of a jackal,an eagle from an ant,a bird from a reptile, so similarly a human being will be born as a human being only.Otherwise how can you explain the phenomenon of rebirth where the child could remember his/her previous birth and relations.And there have been not one but umpteen cases which we have come across on rebirth.This further strengthens the fact that we will be born again as humans.

But the catch here is when & where..?? The answer is simple.Whenever GOD will want you to be born again and decide on your next family..You see all answers are there in front of us.And they are very simple.There is nothing which is complex.You only need to open up your inner mind free from all clutters and find the answers.Everyone is born with a certain number of breaths.Each one has been given a quota to live.After that finishes you have to depart.When one accepts the truth the reasons to get scared get completely wiped off.Why should we forget that we have come alone in this world and will have to go back alone.Actually speaking, over a period of time as we grow old, our varied attachments scare us of dying.We think of too many things at a time.Our imagination of the worst to happen to our family scares us.But this is not true.When we do not know of the future why should we spend a lifetime brooding on it.Acceptance of the present breath is what counts.Happiness is being with yourself today.If you are at ease and peace in the present you will be at ease and peace in the future as well.No amount of anxiety will defer your stay in this world.It will only reduce your stay on this planet. Look at death as you look at life.There is a very fine balance which you have to maintain.However, look at life more often but keep the other truth at the back of your mind.This will prompt you to experience a completely different perspective to all daily happenings you come across and actions you take.

Let me take you through a real incident which happened with me about 2 years back.I was returning to Chandigarh from Delhi with my family after attending a marriage of my niece.The previous night had been hectic and we were able to sleep only for a few hours.We started back at 5 AM in the morning.It takes about 6 hours or so by your own car to Chandigarh from Delhi.During the journey I stopped at about 3-4 places on the way to refresh myself since my eyes were heavy with sleep.As I was nearing Ambala I fell asleep while driving.My wife was also asleep on the next passenger seat and my daughter was asleep on the back seat.How far I had driven like that I do not remember.The sudden impact of the car on the barm which divided the road woke me up and everyone with a jerk and at a frightfully high heart beat. With whatever strength I had, I steadied my car and parked it at the roadside.For a few moments we all felt numb and then slowly we got down to look at the magnanimity of the incident.With weak legs and shaking hands I embraced my daughter and my wife to give them comfort that we are safe.My daughter was crying and there were tears in my wife`s eyes.We washed our faces with the water and sat down in the car.It was as if a lifetime passed without any words.Fortunately,the road had a divider for the traffic on both sides.My car had hit the divider while I fell asleep.Death was there only a few paces away.If there had not been a divider my car would have swung to the right and maybe a truck or any other vehicle coming from the other side would have banged my car sweeping away the life from all of us.I had faced death and come out unscathed by sheer blessings of GOD. Maybe I had to live some more time and attend to duties in life.

HIS ways are mysterious.How and when we are going to depart from this world has already been set by HIM.The clock is ticking.Each second is passing by.The certainty is there.Death is like a nectar waiting to be released and carried away by our soul to enter eternity, releasing us from the captivity of infinite illusion. To fly away without any inhibitions,affections and attachments and merge with the creator as his own.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Consciousness

While returning from the temple one day I noticed a bee lying in the middle of lane leading to my house.It was upside down and still fluttering.But all its efforts to get back on its tiny legs and fly away were in vain.I stood there for a few seconds and then taking a small leaf lying at the side picked up the bee and put it on the side railing of the adjoining park.I stood there watching what would happen next.Nothing happened for a few seconds as if the little creature was trying to understand the breather it got to its struggle of flying again.Then suddenly it shivered and spread its little wings and fluttered wildly as if in delight.Within seconds it was flying away and was gone.

I thought to myself what if someone had trampled it.It would be dead.But then who could do anything against what GOD had willed in the bee`s destiny.It was to get a new lease of life through me.Strange are the ways of GOD.The souls connect at very strange places and yet even more strange ways.Smiling to myself and thanking Almighty, I took a deep breath and went inside my house hugging my son tightly as he flew in my arms.

The other day I had gone to buy some sweets.During the time the sweets were getting packed, three young children came and stood at the gate of the sweet shop looking with great expectations.They were dirty and without any slippers.Maybe from a nearby slum.But believe me, one look in their eyes and you could feel something.My heart went out to them.I still remember the chirpy little sound and that smile which spread wide across their faces when I handed them a packet of sweets.Away they ran in full spirit as if they had got the world.And I got a huge sense of inner satisfaction seeing them happily running hand in hand.

GOD is everywhere and in every living creature.You just need to feel his presense.Everything we possess will be left behind.Even our own body which we so lovingly cherish.Why not then share some of your good fortune with others and try and make their life happy.Most of the time we keep ourselves busy cleaning the outer and forget the inner.Which is more important, you tell me? This answer no one can give for you.The question paper is yoursand the answer sheet is also yours.You are the teacher and you are the examiner.How many marks you need to give yourself each day you decide !!

Let us read very carefully some lines which are greatly inspirational." I expect to pass through this world but once.Any good things therefore that I can do,or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature,let me do it now.Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again"

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Experiencing Connection

One fine morning during walking on the terrace of my house I noticed one cute little squirrel running about in fast short gaps.It used to stop and nibble at something and then run again.Climbing up the wall and climbing down.Running on the railing and then on to the tree where the branch used to touch.It was extremely wonderful to watch her sitting on her two hind legs balanced with her tail and nibble holding some seeds with her two small front claws.

Next morning I decided to offer her some Millet seeds ( Bajra ) everyday and also put a earthen pot of water by its side.Nothing happened for the next two days but on the third day she was there happily nibbling on the Bajra.Any effort to approach her silently did not go unnoticed by her and she used to run away even on a small sign of approach.But after a few days she seemed to understand the intent that I was not there to hurt or capture her but just wanted to have a closer look at her petite frame and just enjoy seeing her eating her heart out.I named her Chikki and started calling her by that name.Whenever, I called her Chikki she would stop nibbling and get attentive as if she was trying to understand my voice.Surprisingly, after about a couple of days whenever I used to put the Bajra and called her she would come out from nowhere and enjoy her meal.

After about a month she gave me permission to touch her lightly by my finger and she would also eat from my hand.I had also started talking to her as if she was a human being.One day I was taken by surprise.She had a companion with her and from that day both used to come together to nibble at their meal.They were extremely playful and after having their meal used to run and play with each other.It was really pleasing to look at their funny tactics and my heart used to fill up with the warmth of their unmindful and selfless endeavor to please each other. My son used to run after them but they used to run faster and then sit on the roof and look at him and then jump and run away only to come back again and play.Both of them seemed or rather had become a part of our extended family.

This became a routine with me.Even in the evening I used to look out for them.Sometimes Chikki was there with her companion and sometimes I could not locate them.But in the mornings both of them were definitely present.Whenever, I could not see them it was as if something was missing.Chikki had become a permanent part of my life. But then nothing is permanent.Everyone has to go at some point in time from your Life.It happened with Chikki also.After few months I did not see her.Maybe she had found peace with herself somewhere.I still miss her a lot and would continue to remember her throughout my life.Her memories are permanently etched on the canvass of my mind.

You know what !! The ways of GOD are very mysterious.A part of HIM is present in all living beings and the connections are eternal.HE connects with you indirectly through his creations.But these connections can only be established through a pure heart and genuine feeling of compassion.Within a fraction of a second the connection gets established and behold,HE is there !! After that it is up to you how you want to evolve and get blessed.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

GOD HAS HIS OWN WAYS TO SPEAK TO YOU

Have you ever wondered that besides the people you know on this earth and communicate with,the Creator also has his own ways to speak to you.Everyday HE is trying to speak to you,not directly of course but through various means of communication which have life.HIS ways are very different and more concious.It is only we humans who are so engrossed in our own materialistic ways of living that we overlook HIS ways to speaking to us.Everyday we go to the temple and pray to HIM for whatever, but the moment we come out of the temple we become our own self.I have seen people going to Hanuman temple on Tuesday with Prasada and offering it to the deity.With folded hands they pray but the moment they come out,they shoo away the children who gather around them with cupped hand for the prasada.Why should we become so? In a second we forget that as a statue, GOD does not accept our offerings but through these small living souls.Why are we so bent upon taking the Prasada home for our own and not distribute it amongst these children.Most of the time it makes me sad and something breaks within me.Here GOD is trying to speak to you and asking for his offering and you just simply do not understand his ways and shoo HIM away.

We go and bathe in ganges,offer water to the sun and do all kinds of remedial measures dictated to us by the pundits but fail in our own understanding on the ways of GOD to make life more peaceful and worthy.I always have two or three new blankets in my car which are there for giving away to the poor who I come across in winters shivering with cold.If you feed the less fortunate children of GOD and have an attitude to help and share some part of your earnings with them,you do not have to pray and go to the temple for one single day.Everyday is your temple of prayers.Also I have seen well to do people parking their cars walking in the temple and sitting down to have langar.The basic premise of throwing a langar here gets defeated.It is for those who are less fortunate to get their daily meal and is not meant for those who have the means to earn their bread.If you are well off and still go to the temple to have langar you are burdening your own soul with a debt as you have deprived that many less fortunate people on consuming the meal which would have meant a great deal to them.

Let me tell you a short story written by me through my various phases of spiritual inclination.There was this gentleman who never knew what special moments are....one day he went to the park in the morning and sat wondering where GOD is and who GOD is and how GOD communicates and so on and so forth..and he kept on wondering.....!!

The morning breeze touched him lightly on his cheek..but he could not feel.......that was the touch of GOD.Somewhere the cuckoo crooned but he did not listen....that was GOD calling him.The leaves of the tree under which he was sitting made a sound when breeze passed through them but he did not hear...that was GOD`s angel talking to him.A rabbit came out of the bush and sat near him and looked at him but the man ignored him and kept on wondering.....that was GOD looking at him.There are important leanings from various religious books written by saints who have experienced GOD.One of them says that you do not know in which form you can find GOD.So never deviate from your path of being virtuous and being kind to everyone.You may never know that one kindness you have shown to someone may actually be your test of GOD and the blessings you will get will remove all your troubles.Even GOD wants people who are close to his creations to function as his own arms.

As a last parting word..have you ever wondered why people come to you and share their problems....Look deeper. It is GOD who sends them to you since you are more fortunate and HE is noticing you on how you deliver and help.You are HIS channel through which he helps those who need the same.GOD is everywhere and in everything.Only one needs to feel and observe.The moment we develop that instinct we are BLESSED.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Destiny

Why are we born on this planet earth ?? Who are we?? Where have we come from.?? Is it just a biological event which has been brought about through some explosion in the universe?? or is it something more complex.Who created all this wonderful existence of so many living beings.Not to forget the entire Universe where earth is only a small part .Hundred of unanswered questions still haunt us many times and we have not been able to find out the answers as yet.Not only living on this earth but death as well.Each one possessing life dies at some point in time.Young people,new borns,not so young everyone including others like animals and plants.Each one has a life span which is unknown.Many a times youngsters pass away sooner than the old. Why is it so.??After death where do we go..??Is there a written rule somewhere on the fate of each one of us.And by US I do not only identify humans but each living organism on earth.Maybe YES there is.Lets put a name to that written rule as Destiny and the unknown and mysterious as GOD or the creator.

Where you are going to be born,which family,place,time had been already written as also death.How you are going to be fed,brought up,engage and live,this also had been set for you.Who you are going to nurture,grow and flourish has also been dictated.Who all are going to come in your life and at which point in time those connections have already been linked up.It is just a matter of time sooner or later but is unknown to you right now.Just look back at the last 10 years of your life.Jot down everything which comes to you through the memory lane.You will be surprised at the sequence of events which fell in place when you never even imagined them during those early years.You lost touch with someone and the same person came back in your life again.You lost some money and it was returned to you when you had no hopes of recovering it.These are larger events which can be measured by you.What about food grains.Each grain itself is destined to be fed to someone whether an animal or a human.Many a times you have sat at your dinner table with the food completely laid out and you get a call leaving in a hurry without having your meal.Although, the meal was laid out for you but someone else was destined to eat it.Very complex but at the same time very simple to understand if you believe in destiny.

Some flowers are offered to the deity and some are offered to the dead.Some just wither away when the season ends.Even each flower has been put on the destiny line.Just notice a devotee at the temple plucking up flowers from the tree.It is a random action or is it so?? Think!!. Some get plucked and offered to the deity whereas some near the same spot just do not and they simply wither away.Similarly fruits.Some of them are offered to the deity are then cut into Prasada and offered to the devotess.Others are just eaten by us normally or animals or they simple rot away.What is the difference.First lot of flowers and fruits had an immensely satisfying and fulfilling purpose of life and it was achieved.The second lot just only existed.But then this was destined to be so for no fault of theirs.It was just a matter to getting plucked or picked.

What is destiny.A small explanation. It is a life path which has been drawn by the Creator offering us various opportunities,enlightment,means,connections ,energy and departure at different time periods.But all these are unknown to us.We can experience them only when we pass through that particular time segment.And each segment has a life span of its own.Nothing is permanent.What is yours today, will be someone else's tomorrow.This is the catch which most of us do not remember and forget .In other words actually destiny may be defined as a measure of GOD to evaluate us on our functioning on this planet.It is a reward system put in place depending upon one`s actions.Have you ever noticed that the fate lines which you are born with keep changing.These are images which you are carrying with you.The main frame computer is somewhere else .The corrections are made there and the reflections are seen here.

As the last parting words.One has to believe in GOD first and then believe in destiny.But then GOD says believe in your own soul first before you start believing in ME.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

GOD`s Silent Angels

When GOD created this universe, planet Earth was picked up by him to serve as an abode for his siblings. He created Adam and Eve and they created us humans. Billions and Trillions of years have passed from our first existence to the present one. God also created plants, birds, insects and animals to add to the beauty of earth and to give company to his first creation from his own soul. Not only give company but to evolve from just being mere creations to something which is worthy.

But have you noticed that there are certain creations which are mute which cannot talk and converse like us. We have plants, trees, flowers, soil and maybe many others which are silent spectators witnessing whatever we are doing. Have you ever noticed that after a hard days work when you stand or lie down under the tree, you feel cool? When you pass by a field of flowers you feel light just by the sweet smell of the flowers. Sometimes when you feel ill then through consuming some herbs you get relief. The smell of soil when it rains brings back nostalgic memories. All these are silent angels of GOD which through their effervescence try and bring you back to earth from the present level of greed,selfishness,illwill,anger,abuse,pity and one way thinking. And from a plane you are not supposed to go. They try and diverse you to look at the objective for what we are here on this earth. We are all workers hired by GOD to create one of the world’s which is earth. He has different plans for each planet. How it is going to look like and what it would have and who are going to work there. It is like one big conglomerate that he has and the transfers are imminent. Neither we have come to this place of work with anything nor are we going to take back anything except how we have proved ourselves. Accordingly then we will get placed at various positions in the other worlds. We may take birth in some other planet created by GOD and as per what HE has destined. It may be that we may get born in this planet again if we have failed to complete our work. And the chances are very high. But will it be at the same level like we are presently that remains a suspense. No one knows.

So try and observe God’s silent angels on what they are trying to communicate to us. The trees try and tell us to give cool shelter to others when they are suffering and relax them. The plants tell us to eradicate the sickness and depression from our fellow human beings. The flowers give us a message to try and spread a smell of goodness amongst all and make them happy. The soil or earth humbly guides us to remember our purpose of being born on this planet earth.

Well…I leave it to you to take what you can. It entirely depends upon you. However, let me remind you that you can never take back anything in kind to the other world. Try hard if you can.!!!!

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Sixth Sense

Some people call it the power of intuition and some term it as the sixth sense.However, not everyone has this special gift from GOD. Sometimes you wonder why is it that you thought about certain things and they actually happened in near future. Many a times it so happens that when you meet someone or visit a house you start feeling disturbed as if something is not right. You see a torn piece of paper and all of a sudden you can feel that this pertains to a certain event which is not true. Even if that piece of paper has only few words written on it and the rest is not known to you. What is more startling is that over a period of time, what you actually had visioned, that piece of paper had exactly that when someone mentions it to you.

Have you sincerely ever observed this phenomenon? If you have not then you must try and practice this. GOD has created earth and also created live organisms to live on this planet. We are also part of the same series but the only difference is that we are little more developed than others. Even ants have a sixth sense. Why only ants let’s talk about dogs. Their sixth sense is even more advanced than us. They can sense immediately a bad person who though poses to be your friend has an ill will towards you. This is one part. Second part is whenever; something bad is going to happen to you, the dogs take it upon them so that no harm comes to their master. I am a dog lover and have had a good fortune to get a company of pet dogs in my childhood since my father and grandfather both loved breeding dogs. I remember one instance though very vividly when I was a child. My father was not keeping well. One night I heard our dog Millie whimpering in pain. Over the next 2 days she was experiencing acute pain and used to lick her stomach. We took her to a veterinary doctor who diagnosed her with some incurable disease and administered her some medical doses.However, she could not survive and died after a few days. We could not bring ourselves to the fact that the so playful companion of ours was not there. Early in the morning she used to come and wake us up by licking our faces and jumped up in our beds to cuddle down at our feets.Her fur felt like silk to us and we used to push her but she was not the one to get down. Instead she used to lick our feets.The feeling of not having her with us now was overwhelming and tearfull.It was only after few weeks that my father told me that he was suffering from acute abdominal pain. Since he had nurtured and brought her up, it was like as if lightening had struck us. She had taken all the pain and suffering on to her. How can we forget her in our lifetime? Maybe, this was sixth sense with her which prompted her to help her master who brought her up and gave all the love and care like a child.

There was a parrot with us who we used to feed the chilies and he used to chirp and say

“Mithoo”.A little green cute bird with red beak and brownish red claws. Whenever, someone used to come to our house he used to shriek loudly and everyone became aware that we have been visited. At that point in time as a child I never used to understand his intent. But now crossing 46 I do. Whenever, someone good to us used to vist our house, the chirp was something like a joy and whenever someone with bad intent used to visit our house the chirp became a little shrilly. At that point in time we used to feel really angry and tried to shut him up. But he simply would not. He died after a few years and we felt sad. But actually I feel more saddened now since I remember why he used to cry so shrilly when someone visited us. The awakening has dawned only only when we have lost

some priceless piece of land to some scrupulous relatives by blood that used to visit us. The pictures is more clear now.HOWEVER, both heaven and hell are on this earth and one reaps what one sows.Understandbly so….!! Sure.

Even at your workplace you come across many acquaintances. I would call them acquaintances since they are not your friends and are linked to you only in terms of work related exigencies. Friends are your allies who are attached to you over a period of time and know you in and out. Are you really pally to everyone or to a certain few? Let me mention here that the term “few” would be even less than ONE. There are always people within your work set up who you are not comfortable about.Is`NT is so..?? I am 100% sure that each one of us feels and understands this fact.

Forget about all this.Look at the various Spiritual Channels.There are various esteemed gurus giving away their sermons.Watch them carefully.Try and activate your sixth sense.It will take some practice.What do you feel..?? I am not going to elaborate on this but leave it to you all to try and look at real facts of life through your sixth sense and not trust blindly what you are made to experience.!!!

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Ignorance is Bliss

Butterflies have a very short life span.Just a few days to 11 months.But it is ignorant of this fact.That is why it flutters its wings and flies with gay abandon.If it was to know that it would die shortly then the strength to fly would just go.It will brood and just think about its short existence.Suppose if the pupa was to know that when it becomes a butterfly it will only live a short life, then perhaps it would loose its will to grow and come out of the cocoon.If it was supposed to be that the world would not have had the pleasure to see various colorful butterflies.The very existence of the cute little beings would come to an end.GOD has given life to all but at the same time it has taken away the powers to look at the future.He has just given that much where we can see our present and think & plan about the future without knowing what will happen,We may plan things but whether our plan is going to succeed or not depends entirely upon his strictures.Here we should not confuse with the plan which we make within our own circle on this earth.The plan which we are talking about here is where your life will take you in future.Just think about your childhood.You never thought about how the money is going to come for your needs.You just played,enjoyed with your friends and did various things with gay abandon.Your parents made that arrangements.As you grew up to be a young man then you started thinking about the woman you will marry, where you will work and what you will do,That was thinking about your future.But as time passed by, most of things you had planned for yourself did not go exactly as you had thought.There came a change in every phase of your life.You thought about becoming a businessman but ended up working for someone at a job which you never thought you would be doing.But GOD had willed this in your destiny so you ended up doing what you are doing presently.Suppose if you had the power to see this in your early years just think about what would have had happened.Maybe, you would have gone into a deep depression,fallen sick and died.But it was not to be so.GOD keeps each ones destiny in HIS own hands.The power to see through the future of each one of us rests with HIM and him only.Just imagine if all of us today were to have the power of looking at our own future we would only increase our own misery.There would complete chaos everywhere.The bond, the love, the affection which we presently carry in our hearts for people whom we know would just go away.I am not going to elaborate on this but leave it to each one of you to just imagine the wildest things which would have had happened if you had a third eye.

That is why it is said that ignorance is bliss.Do not plan too much, just continue your journey on this earth and work with complete dedication,honesty, integrity and faith in whatever you are doing and leave everything to him.This way happiness will float with you and you will float with the knowledge that HE is watching you and making arrangements for you like a father will do for his children.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

You are in queue

Sometimes, when you are depressed,shattered and sad, take sometime out to watch the ants.These small creatures are found in each household so you do not have to go out in search for them.Particularly, as the winters approach they come out from their ant holes in search of food.Look at them carefully and you will observe that each ant is walking behind the other and together they form a long queue.All of them carry small fragments of food.There are two queues.One which is going to find the food.The other one which is coming back with the food.

The observation can lead you to concentrate on your conscience.Close your eyes and visualize the ants in the queue.Is it not after sometime you feel that this is the way of GOD.There are so many of beings on this earth and way of GOD is to give something to everyone but only as per the queue.You have to stand or walk in a queue to receive your share of good fortune.You will get the same only when your turn comes to receive it from the supreme soul.It is not his way to throw things in a crowd.If he was supposed to do that then the strongest will walk away with the most share of his blessings and the weak would be deprived of that.He of course cannot do that.So even in his kingdom he has devised a queue system to give away the goodies when the time is ripe and the turn comes for each one of us.

These are small observations but with a great meaning hidden within them.You have to open your soul eyes to understand the simple ways of GOD.

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold

Moving Incident

One fine morning,as I was taking a morning walk breathing fresh air , I saw a female dog with its pups playing unmindful of the cars and trucks which were passing by on the road.Whether you are a human or an animal the playful instincts and the love perhaps is the same.I do not think that there is any definition for this instinct which can be worded but only experienced !!.

I looked at them and a feeling of warmth and sadness engulfed me at the same time,The pups and the mother seemed weak and skinny.The pups were desperately trying to mouth their mother for the morning feed but she seemed to ward them off.Seemingly, she had nothing to feed them from its own skinny body.Most of us would just pass by since we are humans and they are animals.But the soul is within them as well like it is in us.As GOD has crafted each one of us,the same supreme being has given them life too.We can express our inability,greviances and hunger to each other and if the fate is kind to us we would get some help.But for these animals someone from among us has to actually see through their eyes , look at the plight and be kind.

I bought a few packets of milk and a bread and spreading the bread on a platic bag which I took from the vendor poured the milk over it.Putting it at their side I watched the pups and the mother devour the bread and milk. After few seconds the mother left it and let the pups enjoy the bread and milk.She had sacrificed her hunger for her puppies.I could see at the end, small white droplets of the milk on their whiskers and they were cleaning them up with their little pink tongue.A feeling of satisfaction could be seen on their faces.They looked at me and wagging their tail followed me for some distance as if to express their gratitude.But for me this was something which I had not done for any gratitude but from a sense of pleasing my own soul and satisfying theirs..I looked up at the sky and thanked GOD and prayed that these acts of kindness should always be a part of my presence on earth till such time I am there.

Experiences likes these need to be shared.There is a golden proverb which says " when you share, you care"

Sanjiv Gupta

Creator Merrigold