Setting Expectations In Life - Secret To Happiness?

Namaste, Hari Om,

''201. Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy.'' -Dhammapadda

To often we are let down by some and fall into emotional states such as depression, anger, and even hatred.

Even expectations from food, objects and places can effect our emotions. If our emotions are affected we often lose sight of our true spiritual goals.

Before we allow our minds to fall into this state we need to calibrate or set our expectations in life.

How do you unlock this secret to happiness? How do we set our expectations so that no event can pull us to emotional extremes?

The answer is easy, its found in the Bhagvadgita as mentioned by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar below.

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Be contented with whatever comes to you

Bangalore, March 03, 2012

Q: Guruji, please talk about gratitude. You have said that the more gratitude we have the more grace flows into our lives. How do I become more grateful every day?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First of all drop this more. More devotion, more gratitude, more joy, more happiness, we need to drop this, ‘I want more and more. First you are thinking, ‘I want more money, more joy, more happiness and more pleasure.’ Then you shifted your tendency to wanting more peace, more knowledge, more of this and more of that. As long as you are in the run for more, you are not going to settle. Unless you settle, there is neither peace nor grace. Got it?! So somewhere you should take this whole ‘I want more’ thing and dump it and say ‘okay, that is it! It is said in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Yadrccha-labha-santusto Dvandvatito Vimatsarah.’ Whatever is coming to you, you should have some level of contentment and with contentment comes gratitude. If you are discontent, how can you be grateful? If you are grumbling, you can’t be grateful, and if you are not grateful, how can there be grace? Do you see what I am saying? It all fits one into another. So now, don’t ask me how can one be more grateful? Just stop complaining! Know that this whole life is like a dream. It is all going to end and everything is going to finish one day. This very awareness will bring a shift in you. ‘This story is going to end someday and the curtains are going to fall’, knowing this suddenly a shift happens from the run to having more to contentment. It will come to that. 

Source: http://wisdomfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.ch/2012/04/be-contented-with-whatever-comes-to-you.html
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This is the answer to 99% of life's problems. Do not get effected by life's turns and bumps. Having single pointed faith will help you climb mountains. Always remain content.

More info and the source for the above picture at: http://phong.com/journal/dhammapada-on-contentment/

SimpleHinduBhai Quotes

Namaste, Shanti (peace),

Here is a collection of words from the past, in life we sometimes hear a voice of reasoning, or hear words of wisdom. This is our inner selves speaking to us, we all are here for a reason, there is a force, a power that knows why. We do not know why, but a part of us does.

Hope it makes your present moment happy, enjoy:

‎"Laziness, anger, frustration, sorrow, hate, jealousy, greed and confusion are like rain clouds, all derived from the sky (mind) but together can drown earth (life) if prolonged" - SimpleHinduBhai

‎"To some, spirituality is like a light switch, when life is dark and sad they turn it on, when there is light and happiness they turn it off. Why not keep the light on all the time?" - SimpleHinduBhai

‎"It is great that you can recite God's name so beautifully, pour knowledge of saints and swamis on to others, but there is no comparison to someone who implements the teachings silently into their everyday life, living by the sacred words should be our goal not just knowing it" - SimpleHinduBhai

‎"The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred." - SimpleHinduBhai

"Why do we focus on negativity? Secretly we are unhappy and pointing out the faults of others gives a false sense of gratification, yet the "pointers" are the ones who are unhappy" - SimpleHinduBhai

‎''At the root of sarcasm sits the truth'' - SimpleHinduBhai

‎"Apka savaal, apka javab hain. Your question is your answer. God is both formless and form. The power is complete and absolute, even at the same time. Our minds can not imagine or fathom how to tag or label and mold that power. Even if we read all the books we still can not come close to knowing everything. But the beauty is that (esp in Kaliyug) little efforts go a long way, just imagine great bhakti, nothing can stop you."-SimpleHinduBhai

‎"What if one day we had a view of the true inner beauty in everyone? A special glasses to view the innter truth. Would we continue to judge and take things for granted? No, inner beauty and truth sets us all free, search and you will find" - SimpleHinduBhai


‎"They say count your blessings in life, look at the glass half full, remember the good times. Why? Because it keeps negative thoughts away from your mind, neurogically we are inclined to focus on the bad, counter natural tendincies with positive energy" - SimpleHinduBhai


‎''No one said life is easy, when reason and logic run out, faith is your secret strength in the darkest hour'' - SimpleHinduBhai


‎''It is said loneliness draws the heart closer, why wait for loneliness to embrace love, tomorrow may never come, each day is a count down till we unite with our creator'' - SimpleHinduBhai


‎"Ego and standing by your principles are sometimes used in a wrong way, not doing or acknowledging something for a reason can cross both sides, be careful why you do things, ask, is it out of ego or principle" - SimpleHinduBhai


‎"Within us all is a blackbox containing knowledge and data from previous births, this data can be unlocked via meditation and silence" - SimpleHinduBhai


‘’The sun can give heat and light to the whole world when the clouds of pain shut out his rays. Similarly as long as anger and doubt veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it.’’ -SimpleHinduBhai


‎"Everything is within us, we just have to have the will to look within, the energy, guidance and love will come once we have the desire to look within." - SimpleHinduBhai



‎"Oh mighty Indestructible Goddess of the many worlds,
So strong is your eyes upon the land like the sun as it unfurls, 
Your caring voice eases all of my burning pains within,
With your graceful smile my sorrows can never begin,
Oh mighty universal Goddess I adore thee with ease,
Thou are part of me, as waves hug the ocean's breeze" - SimpleHinduBhai


‎"Dont worry, a true child of God could never be hurt. Those with evil minds/thoughts will build a burning house for themselves since they cannot open their eyes to walk out the door of ignorance. There is always a silent witness in every action and thought." - SimpleHinduBhai




Jai Shri Maa
SimpleHinduBhai.

The Path - Why Should We Care?

नमस्ते हरी ॐ,
Namaste Hari Om,

“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.” - Swami Vivekananda

Great words by the Swami Ji above, the first words are very powerful and simple, we are responsible for what we are. In life we blame things for happening to us, but as the famous saying goes, So you plant, so you will reap. Meaning, if we plant negativity (in the realm of saying or doing negative things) then we will be surrounded by negativity. We must walk a different path to avoid negativity.

We all want happiness and peacefulness in life, one way to find this is by being on the path of a bhakt - which means devotee. Those who think that they are in too much darkness or have never walked the path of a bhakt must not think so, the path of a bhakt has no perquisite - if you are yearning to become a great devotee, to become more spiritual, your want for this path is already a notation that you are on the path. Just as the great Vibhishan lived in Lanka, a place with many bad surroundings and darkness under the rule of Ravana who was an evil king - Vibhishan spoke the words of God, and was saved from darkness. No matter where you are, no matter what stage in life you are (i.e. student, post-college, parent, grand parent etc..), the path of a bhakt will bring happiness and peacefulness in life. It all starts with saying Gods name, when you started reading this, you even said God's name, Hari Om, saying God's name serves great importantce - without thinking about it you have walked the path. Another case, Namaste was written, this is a simple saying yet it has great meaning - literally In Sanskrit the word is namah + te = namaste which means “I bow to you” - But why would I bow to someone, even if I don't like them? Well we should not judge others but look at them with a smile as God is in us all, and we bow to them to show humbleness, and bowing to the God within them. Always knowing that God is in everything is also walking the path of a bhakt;

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham"

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I give what they lack in life, and I protect what they have."

With the above words we can derive many things, but I always believe in one thing - We should always pray for bhakti (devotion). We should always pray for the strength and mind to always have God's grace to discuss, sing and be one with the great name (teachings). On the path of a bhakt, we can only go up as we walk this path, and even so as we continue walking it will become harder for us to deviate as we realize the fruitfulness of bhakti.One great example of a bhakt is Shri Hanuman (pictured above constantly meditating on Shri Ram) - with a unwavering mind and every action in the name of Shri Ram (more to come on this prime example of a bhakt and Hanuman's great bhakti).

We should care about this path as it will bring positive energy and  a new way of viewing the world that will enlighten our lives - it all starts with the want/desire to walk the path. Tell yourself, "I am spiritual and I am walking the path of a bhakt (devotee)", and continue to improve everyday.

More to come on how to walk the path of a bhakt and how to improve...


On a last note, I have posted the Hindu Calendar, please check it out. Got this from a great site, Swaha International, will discuss further on the reasons and why we should pay close attention to special times in a future post.

Jai Shri Krishna,
Hari Om,