Weekly Meditations for the Writer

Take a moment to look back into your past because everything we are today in terms of our personality and the way we perceive life has been influenced by this. In other words, all the experiences we have had that include all the emotions we have felt through childhood as well as all good and bad things that may have happened to us, make us the person we are today. You see, as we grow up, our thinking is shaped by all of these messages, which has to a large degree prejudiced us. All children are born innocent and pure. They are sponges and will absorb whatever the parents, caregivers and society put in them. Look around and you will see some adults instinctively kind and generous whilst others are just angry, malicious and violent, yet all of them started from the same point. It is easy to blame them, yet in some ways they are a product of their conditioning. It is therefore very important we look at the past that has shaped us because it may actually be blocking the love and abundance from entering our life.

The laws of Karma will ensure that the more we accept our negative behavior, the more we attract chaos into our life! Since we all carry our prejudices, it is important to ask what is in our backpack. The very things that are stopping the “light” from entering our lives may be in this backpack! Past resentments, bottled-up anger and grudges are some of the obvious ones that are found in most backpacks, and it is time to empty out the pack and let them go or you will carry them to the grave. Forgiveness is a very liberating force!

There are of course some very important positive things in the backpack too. The experiences that have enlightened us, the love we have given and received, the lessons that have taught us—all these are blessings that need to be remembered. However, the bitterness of all the negative things we carry from all those past hurts and grudges block out the light. By emptying them from the backpack, all that will remain are the blessings, and these will in turn attract more of the same your life. Letting go of these past resentments is not easy and it is important that some time is set aside each day to empty out the backpack. This can be done through some focused meditations. Just remember that by removing all the negative attachments, we are changing our karma, and this will automatically attract more abundance and light into our life.

Anil Giga Bsc is the author of The Invisible Way (USA Best Book Award) and an Investment Professional in Calgary.

By Anil Giga

Many times we look at people around us and think how happy and contented they are. We form this opinion by glimpsing images of these people getting into a fine car, dining at upscale restaurants or because they are dressed in such a way that expresses success and contentment. Then we look into out own life and find all these problems: Someone you care about may be sick or has lost their job, there are financial problems and a lot of stress all around. The conclusion when this happens is pretty easy to guess. We feel “they” are happy and contented whilst our life is filled with chaos, making us unhappy. First, the thought that ‘they’ are happy and contented is in itself an image we have created and in fact may not be true at all. It is a known fact that some of the happiest and most contended people around are the ones we never notice! That’s right, they have nothing to prove, nothing to express and are not trying to make a statement by driving the right car, wearing the right clothes and being at the right places. To be truly happy and contended means that you are okay with your self and thus do not need to be someone you are not hence, you do not seek others’ validation and approval. This also means that some of the people we think are very happy because they project that state may actually be concealing their deep discontent. The fact is, the images we see of others never do tell the whole story. This might explain why one of the commandments is not to covet others’ possessions. Secondly, everyone goes through phases in their life, periods when things are going well and periods when we are struggling with problems. What we see really is a snapshot of one phase; therefore we really cannot tell what season waits for anyone around the corner. So focusing on whether “they” are happy is not only redundant but quite destructive because our real focus should be on our self. This means we have to accept who we are and our circumstance, warts and all! Being rich or poor, sick or in good health has nothing to do with real happiness, because this exists within the self, the soul. The soul does not get sick nor is it attached to material wealth. You see, each one of us comes into the world and is allotted a certain time. In this time we have to complete our very unique and beautiful tapestry. The circumstances that enter our lives are the stuff from which we discover the pieces and colors. That’s right; all the struggles, problems and good fortunes come to us for a reason and hide the lessons that will allow us to finish the picture. Just remember, in the same way that we often see the beauty and light from stars that are long dead, our legacy should be to complete our own special tapestry whose beauty will stay and inspire others long after we are gone. This happens when we learn to give, inspire and help others, no matter what obstacles are placed in front of us.

Anil Giga Bsc is the author of The Invisible Way (USA Best Book Award) and an Investment Professional in Calgary.

By Anil Giga

Karma is a Sanskrit word translated in English as “Action.” Since every action has a consequence, the law of karma refers to the simple spiritual principal of cause and effect. Therefore, everything we think, intend, say and do is the cause and the effect will at some point manifest into our life. So stop and take a look at your life today and remind yourself that, whatever situation you find yourself in now, whether you are contended or unhappy, you cannot change your present! Why? Because our circumstance today is the effect and the cause of it is rooted in the past. Hence we need to fully accept our present situation; it is exactly what it should be. However, since our actions today affect us in the future, the law of karma empowers us to create our future. This means that, through the sum of all our actions today, we are actually writing the script of our life in the years ahead. Therefore, if you are not satisfied with your life today, if you feel unfulfilled and incomplete, you can change it. Only in the last few decades has the western world encountered spiritual concepts which have existed in eastern philosophies for thousands of years. Indeed, while the West was pre-occupied in trying to understand and define our physical world, the East was exploring the occult. As the Western world mapped out every square inch of earth and discovered the scientific principles that operated there, the Eastern cultures were mapping out the human soul and how we could experience it. Today we have the unique opportunity of bringing both these perspectives together in the understanding that they are really two sides of the same coin. Let’s face it, excessive materialism has led to nothing but unhappiness, for we have yet to find anyone who was able to take their wealth with them at death. Similarly those submerged entirely in spiritual contemplation never did help the sick, feed the hungry or make our world better. Yet when the two come together, in balance, we find hope, happiness, purpose and meaning. Why is this? Because of the simple truth that we are both physical and spiritual in nature, and when we live our life in balance, we create powerful ripples; these are the seeds that will yield contentment in the future. So are you ready to transform your life? In future columns I will share with you the spiritual principles that will help us find our life balance.

Anil Giga Bsc is the author of The Invisible Way (USA Best Book Award) and an Investment Professional in Calgary.

By Anil Giga

It is fair to say that happiness is most likely number one on most people’s wish list. We all go through life and in our own way we are all seeking this “happiness.” The idea of what represents happiness is, of course, very different for all individuals. For some it is to find the right partner, get married and have a home with kids. For others it could be the achievement of success in a career or wealth. Some may observe their personal situation and feel that an elimination or reduction in the problems and obstacles they face would lead to happiness. What gets missed in all this is that our search for happiness has really become a paradox. First, happiness is undeniably a feeling; it is not a material or physical thing. Yet, for some ingrained reason, we continually seek happiness in material and physical things! That’s right: We look to other people, to worldly goods and possessions and external impulses to give us this feeling of happiness. This is the reason most people never really find happiness even though they may spend all their life looking for it.

Second, happiness already exists within each of us at the deepest level of the soul. There are no shortcomings or inadequacies in that sacred space within us. When we live our physical life with conflict and stress, this stifles that inner peace, creating imbalance and causing the inner voice to lament the lost happiness. The yearning for happiness we feel is an auto-response coming from within telling us that the way we are living our life, our priorities and our actions is creating a curtain around that inner light. We respond by looking for happiness in things and people, and consequently are doomed to failure and disappointment. We should recognize that the happiness we buy and achieve externally is nothing but temporary gratification. Some people indulge in a lavish spending spree; others might jet off with their partner on a sunny cruise. Yet chances are three months later, nothing will have changed much and that yearning for happiness will have emerged once again. The fact is that since happiness already exists within, we need to restore the balance and the conditions that will allow happiness to emerge from within once again. The reason why people do not find happiness is that, instead of simply stopping and rediscovering it within, they go out looking for it. Happiness has never been what we have, who we are or where we are, but rather how we perceive ourselves.

Is it not ironic that, when we were little children, a glass of milk and a broken Tonka toy or rag doll was enough, and that we found so much natural love and happiness in everything we did? As we get older, no matter how much we acquire or accumulate, nothing is enough and happiness is often illusive.

If you are searching for happiness:

Restore the balance in your life and it will emerge from within.

Remove the self-imposed curtains, and the light within will once again warm your heart and life.

Our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life, the way we respond to the circumstances and challenges that enter our lives, than on the nature of those events themselves.

By Anil Giga
A man recently asked this question: "How do I know if am leading an authentic spiritual life?" My answer to him was to ask a question; "Do you spend any part of the day in seeking the light"? If you do, then you are leading an authentic spiritual life. When we use the word spiritual we must have a clear understanding of what it means. The word spiritual comes from the Latin word spiritus and it refers the “breath of life.” Hence the word spiritual means “that which gives us life.” We live in a material world in which everything we can touch, see and feel will one day disappear. Our physical bodies became alive when this breath of life entered and this same body becomes limp and dead when this breath of life leaves because it is what makes us alive! There are many names given to this “breath of life.” Atman, spirit and soul are the more common ones. It is not born and does not die. The soul is not bound by time and the physical constraints of our material world, because it existed before it entered our body and will exist after its death. In other words, it is eternal in nature and originates from the divine breath. Therefore, when we use the terminology “seek the light” we are in fact seeking to experience the soul and in the process become illuminated and awakened to reality.

The soul emanates spiritual light, and the closer we come to it, the more we transform, because this light is sacred. As you have no doubt concluded, this sacred or spiritual light is not found without but within us in this “breath of life.” Therefore, to lead a truly authentic spiritual life, we must spend a part of the day seeking this spiritual life. Everything we have struggled all our life to collect, own and accumulate will one day be owned by someone else, no matter how seriously we struggled to acquire it. One day someone else will live in the home we live in and their names will also appear on our mutual fund and stock certificates. Is that not the reason why we write a will? To leave all our stuff to others! But the real us, our soul, continues, and becoming spiritual is about awakening to this.

To seek light should be an important endeavor for all of us. How do we do this? First, we have to disconnect from our material attachments like work, cell phones, computers, television, conversations and even family. Second, there are external and internal ways in which we can seek the light. External ways are indirect and they include: nature walks, reflections, spiritual readings and music. Internal ways are direct and more powerful, like meditation and contemplation. We will discuss these concepts in upcoming essays.