Life Manual: How To Live Life

LIFE
MANUAL
HOW TO LIVE LIFE
LIFE MANUAL
HOW TO LIVE LIFE
By
Copyright © AiR Institute of Realization 2020

AiR asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this book.
All rights reserved.
No part of the content of this publication (except images) may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publisher.
Publisher: AiR Institute of Realization

Kemp Fort Mall, No-97, Old Airport Road, Bangalore-560017
01 Explaining the Product – Life 01
02 The Body and its Functions 05
03 The Mind - Our Software 09

CONTENTS
04 Discover the Soul 13
05 There is No Warranty 17
06 Who doesn’t want to be Happy? 21
07 Everybody has Problems 25
08 Time Keeps Ticking 29
09 Starting the Day 33
10 Living Moment by Moment 37
11 How to get Peace of Mind 41
12 Life is like a Dream 45

13 Nothing Belongs to Us 49
14 Living with Ful lment and Contentment 53
15 There is a Way to Eternal Happiness 57

CONTENTS
16 We have a Choice 61
17 Material Life or a Spiritual Life? 65
18 Discover the Intellect 69
19 Success is Not Happiness 73
20 Money is Not Everything 77
21 Living with Detachment 81
22 Living in the World 85
23 Stress, Worry, and Anxiety 89
24 Live! Don't just Exist 93

25 What is the Purpose of Life? 97
26 The Quest – Who am I? 101
27 Death is Certain 105

CONTENTS
28 Karma – the Universal Law 109
29 Rebirth – Another Life 113
30 Overcoming Ignorance 117
31 Realizing the Truth 121
32 The Triple Suffering 125
33 Monkey or Monk 129
34 Let Go of the Ego 133
35 True Love is Bliss 137
36 Prayer and its Purpose 141

37 Where is God and Heaven? 145
38 Religion is just a Kindergarten 149
39 Realizing God Within 153

CONTENTS
40 Living as the Divine Soul 157
41 Being in Divine Union All the Time 161
42 Consciousness is Bliss 165
43 The Need of a Guru - A Spiritual Master 169
44 Our Ultimate Goal 173
Afterword 177
Life - Troubleshooting Guide 181
Life FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions 186
Poem 199
About the Author 208

Preface
After I completed writing my 30th book on Spirituality, Life,

Happiness, and God, with the mission of helping people
realize the truth, I stumbled upon a new realization. People
don't know how to live life. We wake up in the morning and
we just jump into the day. We all seek happiness, but we are
going the other way. Although we are given the gift of the
human intellect, we are slaves of our own mind and ego,
and thus we suffer.
We learn how to operate our mobile phones and our

laptops. We are quite familiar with the features of our
microwave and our refrigerator. Whenever we get a new
gadget, be it a Bluetooth speaker, an electronic clock or
simple earphones, we read the Operating Manual before
we actually start using our gadgets.
But have we ever read a Manual on Life? Is there such a

Manual? There is no simple document that tells us what life
is and how we should live. Thus, I decided to write a book
on how to live life and I titled it 'Life Manual'.
In this book, I will share my personal experiences in

life—how I faced problems and how I solved them. How I
dealt with different people, adverse situations and how I
made the best use of opportunities that I discovered on the
way. How I found everlasting happiness by overcoming
misery and how all the events and happenings that I
experienced made me understand what makes people
struggle through life.
People just zoom from womb to tomb, without realizing
who they are and why they are here. We are so busy
discovering everything outside that we have lost sight of
what is inside. We have gone on quests and discovered
continents, invented cures for diseases; we even yearn to
go into outer space to explore the universe, but we have
not stopped to contemplate and go within to realize our
biggest treasure.
Thus, we live and we die, but do we actually live? Most of us

think that life has a destination that we must reach. We
forget to enjoy the journey that is life. We think success is
happiness, and we keep climbing that peak of achievement
which in reality, is an illusion. Our greed overtakes our need
and we fail to live with contentment. We become attached to
our possessions and people, and then we cry. We don't go on
a quest to understand the meaning of life and we live in the
constant fear of death.
Of course, we learn to sail through our life's voyage by

facing hurdles and obstacles on the way. We stumble,
suffer and then learn. Like my mentor used to say, 'Every
fall is but a rise; to learn this is to be truly wise.'
Undoubtedly, through experience we discover new ways
to cope with the problems that strike us. But is that the best
way to live? Is it necessary that we make all those mistakes
and learn ourselves how to live life? Just like we get to see a
book of guidelines at the very beginning of purchasing a
product, how nice would it be if we could get a Life
Manual that would enlighten us to make the best use of
our life, and help us to make informed and wise decisions.
Unfortunately, most of us just live life without learning

how to manoeuvre through this journey called 'Life'. We
don't even know that life has a purpose. We set and
achieve goals, but we continue to remain thirsty as these
don't satisfy us. All the time, we want peace of mind, but
ironically, we do things that cause us anxiety. We continue
to get bafed by problems and sometimes give up. We
don't nd eternal peace and everlasting bliss.
We see good people suffering and then we wonder, 'Why

do bad things happen to good people?' We don't realize
that bad things can't happen to good people just like
apples can't grow on mango trees. There is a Universal
Law that makes this world operate – the Law of Action and
Reaction, the Law of Cause and Effect. The Law that states,
'As you sow, so shall you reap' – popularly known as the
Law of Karma. Thus, we do not take care of our actions but
regret and cry when the reactions unfold as the
circumstances of our life.
We live life as directed by the mind. Thus, our decisions

are mostly emotional because we don't take charge of our
intellect, the most important tool that a human being is
gifted with. Because we don't discriminate, we believe in
the myth and live with anger, fear, worry, and other
negative emotions that make us crave till we reach our
grave.
Life is our most precious gift. It is more precious than all

our possessions put together and all the beautiful
relationships that we enjoy with the people we love,
because if there were no life, then all these people and
possessions too would be of no use.
It's time to stop, to read the Life Manual and discover how
to live life. It's time to realize the truth and overcome the
myth that makes us live in ignorance. It's time to nd a
way to eternal joy and everlasting peace, and to experience
true love that is bliss. It's time to overcome our spiritual
blindness as we open our 'Real Eyes'.
We mustn't be one amongst those who try to live life

without reading the Life Manual, only to reach the end
with regrets, 'I would have,' 'I could have,' 'I should have,'
but 'I didn't'. You can't rewind life. You can't go back to
yesterday, but you can stop and discover life today. From
this moment onwards, as you read the Life Manual, you
can discover the true meaning of life and live a life of bliss
and peace!
A Manual guides us to use a product,

How to operate it step by step.
We just jump into this gi called ‘Life’,
And through it we are swept.
A precious book is this Life Manual,
It will help you reach your goal.
It will tell you what life is and how to live,
As each page you will scroll.
Chapter 01
Explaining the Product – Life
Life too is a product,

ere is a way to get the best of it.
But rst, we must read the Manual,
If we want to ll Joy and Peace in it.
When we go to buy a product, what does the salesman do?
He tries to explain what the product is. If we are buying a
mobile phone, he explains how the mobile has two special
cameras on either side. If it is a laptop, he explains how it is
the lightest laptop in the world, with a feather touch
screen. Whatever be the product, we try to understand the
features of the product before we buy it. If we are buying a
massage chair, we will compare it with other chairs in
terms of cost, functions, warranty and whatever else we
seek from it.
But what about life? It is one product we can’t choose. We

do not decide where we will be born and when; who will
be our parents and what will be our gender. All this is to do
with the product ‘Life’, but not many of us understand
who decides all this. Is it just by chance that somebody is
born in Africa or Japan? Whether we are born in a wealthy
family or one aficted with poverty; whether we are born
healthy or most unfortunately blind, all this is controlled
by the creator of the product called ‘Life’. Although there
is no scientic proof, but it seems quite obvious that just
like we believe in the Law of Gravity through inference,
life happens based on our Karma or our past actions. The
Law of Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect states,
‘What you give is what you get.’ It is this Law that ensures
1
that apples don’t grow on mango trees. The Law of Karma

seems to be universally in force in this world and it
controls the destiny of our life.
Nothing in life is certain. We may be happy or unhappy, a

success or a failure, healthy or sick, but one thing is certain
- death. Nobody can escape out of life alive. The day we are
born, we are sure that we will die, but we don’t know
when. How we are born and how and when we will die are
two things that are beyond our control unless we
unnaturally inict death upon ourselves.
We human beings are blessed with this gift of life. We are

the only unique ones who are given the gift of the intellect.
We can choose and discriminate between right and wrong,
good and bad, the truth and the myth. We have been
blessed with a choice to act based on our thoughts, our
feelings, and our decisions. This is the most unique feature
of the product, life. Animals can’t discriminate and
choose, nor can plants and trees, although they too live,
they too have a life, and they too die!
Unlike a product that pops out of a machine, a human

body is a unique creation of the Divine. Although our
conception is due to an act of copulation of our parents,
they are not in command of the creation of life in us. We
celebrate our birthday on the day we are delivered on
earth but our date of conception is about 9 months before
that. Our life starts as a zygote, a tiny cell that is formed
with the union of two cells after fertilization. The zygote
becomes an embryo and then the foetus. During this
process, all our organs are formed within the womb of our
mother. Therefore, we believe that it is our mother who
2
created us, although the key raw material came from our
father. Most of us don’t realize that life itself is Divine.
However much parents may try or want to conceive a
child, unless there is Divine intervention, this product
called ‘Life’ would not arrive on earth.
Life is a journey between birth and death. Although we

were kicking in our mothers’ womb, we start living only
after we are released into the world. Our journey starts as a
little child and our parents control our life till we grow up
when we take charge of our life. In that sense, our life
becomes our life only after we cross our teens. Till then, we
live, we play, and we have fun. But we don’t even know
what life is all about. Children don’t live with worries of
the past and fear of the future. Thus they are always in joy
and peace living life moment by moment.
There are many things that we can choose in life. While we

cannot choose our gender or the religion that we are born
into, we have a choice to believe or not to believe in God.
Whether we choose to or not, we are empowered to do
what we want, to go where we like, and to build
relationships of our choice. Everybody’s life doesn’t have
the same freedom. It is inuenced by our family, our
society, culture, religion and even the country we live in.
But one thing is sure, our life belongs to us.
There are some people who do not realize that the biggest
treasure that they possess is this product called ‘Life’.
There is nothing more valuable than life itself. Still, there
are many who just exist. They don’t truly live. They kill
time as life ows by like a river. It empties into the ocean at
death.
3
Have you taken charge of your life? Do you treasure the

biggest gift you are blessed with? Have you understood
the true meaning of life, ‘Who are you and why are you
here?’ For you to learn the art of operating this product
called ‘Life’, this Life Manual will guide you and show you
the way forward. Then it will explain everything about life
so that you can live a purposeful life. You mustn’t just drift
through life without understanding what it is and without
making the best of this gift called ‘Life’. This Life Manual
can be your most valuable treasure.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life is our biggest treasure. Not many of us know how

to truly live.
Ø Before we start living life, we must rst understand it.
Ø We must read the Life Manual and discover how to live
life.
Ø We human beings have a choice. We must learn to
choose wisely.
Ø Of all living creatures, only we humans are blessed
with an intellect to discriminate.
Ø We must make the best of this precious gift called 'Life'
by reading the Life Manual before life is over.
4
Chapter 02
The Body and its Functions
What is our Body? Who is this 'ME'?

Who is the one that can walk and can see?
e body has over 30 trillion cells as such,
Limbs to walk and hands that can touch.
If we truly want to live, we must do an anatomy of the
body to understand who we are and what we are made of.
We are aware of what we look like - our face, our hands,
our feet, and our body. We have 5 sense organs, eyes to see,
ears to hear, a nose to smell, a tongue to taste and skin to
feel. But that's not all that we are.
If we try to understand our body further, we have the

epidermis which is the outer layer of skin. If we peel the
skin, it reveals the dermis that has tissue, blood vessels,
hair follicles, and sweat glands. Unless we are students of
science, we will not bother to go deeper. But what lies
below the skin? If we cut our skin, we see blood. We also
see esh and muscle. And then there is the bone. Didn't we
learn in school that we have a brain that has millions of
neurons all across the body? We also have a heart that
pumps blood to every corner and every cell. The lungs
purify the blood through the process of respiration. The
oxygen from the air replaces carbon dioxide in the blood.
We also have kidneys that are responsible to remove the
waste products and excess uid from our bodies. This
process is so important that we are blessed with 2 kidneys.
The junk food that we take into our body is quite likely to
make one kidney fail. If one looks at the human body, it is
such a marvel! Along with the intestines and the stomach,
5
and all that we have listed above, it makes the human body
the most sophisticated machine invented on earth.
If one goes deeper to understand the functions of the body,

one can write an entire book on it. But the purpose of doing
an anatomy is to realize who we are. We are the ones who
walk and who talk. We are also the ones who eat and who
then digest the food, excreting the waste. To keep our race
alive, we are blessed with genitals and reproductive organs
that create life most naturally. These organs of action are
part of the functions of the human body.
Not many of us contemplate and thus, we just live and die.

We don't get amazed by the wonders that the body
possesses and instead we are abbergasted with the
wonders of the world. We don't look within and thus, we
don't discover who we truly are. How did the journey of
this body start? It started with just 2 cells, one from our
mother and one from our father that fertilized as if by magic
and conceived what became this most magnicent human
body. That one fertilized cell that is referred to as a zygote,
grew into an embryo. In a matter of a few weeks, the shape
of a little baby was visible. But it took 9 months for us to be
created.
It is fascinating to study this cycle, but that is not the

objective. It is just to make us realize that we were already
alive as a foetus inside our mother's womb, much before we
were delivered on earth. Then, one day, we were born, and
it started our life journey on earth. We grew from an infant
into a toddler. Then we went to a preschool and became
aware of our existence. In school, our ego developed, but it
only became full-blown when teenage took us into
6
university. It actually seems that our life started then. As a

young adult, we fell in love, we even got married,
produced children and life kept going on.
Ultimately, we grow old and we die. Death of the physical

body is certain. Nobody can escape death. But while we see
our picture and scream, 'That is me!' we don't even know
who we are. Our body along with our name is cremated or
buried and the game is over. But people say that we passed
away, we departed, or we moved on. Although the
physical body is right here, waiting for the nal rites to be
performed, it is blatantly declared that these are only the
'mortal remains' and we, the ones who were alive, have
moved on.
If we depart at death, then who are we in reality? This

physical body is just the habitat of who we truly are. What
happened to the one who was alive? What happened to the
power that kept the heart beating and the lungs breathing,
as the body was walking, talking, eating, digesting, and
even reproducing? We human beings live, but we don't
contemplate who we truly are. In fact, we don't live, we just
exist! We just consume this gift called 'Life'. And instead of
using our body to discover who we are and why we are
here, we abuse it in every possible way, not just by what we
eat and what we drink, but also by what we think and how
we live.
Some people realize that the gross physical body is made

up of ve elements - Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space.
Every living creature is made up of these. At death when
the life power leaves the body, the body returns to dust. The
air escapes into the atmosphere just as the water evaporates
when the re inside us leaves us. We become cold and
7
degenerate into ashes as the space we occupy shrinks and

our existence as the body comes to an end.
It's time to stop, to think, to introspect, and to realize that

the functions of the physical body are just what appears on
the outside. There is something on the inside that we are
blissfully ignorant about. If we break the bones of our
skeleton, we will nd bone marrow, but we will still not
nd the energy that gives us life. Isn't it time to discover the
truth beyond the body that we seem to be? Only then, we
will learn how to truly live.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Our body is not what we seem to be on the outside.

Ø Of course, we have 5 sense organs that make us see,
smell, hear, taste and touch.
Ø We also have several organs of action that cause,
amongst other things, digestion and reproduction.
Ø Our critical organs, like the brain, the heart, the lungs,
and the kidneys, facilitate our normal life.
Ø We have esh, muscles, blood, and bones beneath our
skin.
Ø But the most important thing that we do not realize is
what lies within.
Ø Who are the ones we truly are? We must realize this
before our life is over.
8
Chapter 03
The Mind - Our Software
Just like a computer needs so ware

That will process data to nd,
Our body too needs thoughts to think…
And that is the mind!
Life is impossible without thoughts. The moment a person
is brain dead and the thinking process of a human being
ends, then everything comes to a standstill. It is the mind
that creates thoughts that lead to feelings and then actions.
If we truly want to live, we must understand the 'mind'.
What is the mind? It is a thought factory. It is constantly

producing thoughts. It produces one thought practically
every second and this can sometimes be up to 50,000
thoughts a day.
While we are all aware of our mind, have we ever seen it?
The Mind seems to exist. It worries and it wanders. But
where is the mind, we cannot nd. While it is commonly
believed that the mind is in the brain, or is a part of it,
thoughts appear to us from every part of the body. Our 5
senses trigger thoughts and thus, even if our toe steps on a
moving creature, the mind triggers a thought. It seems that
all the neurons and the sense receptors of our body are
connected to the software – the mind.
The mind is both positive and negative. It creates thoughts

that are both productive and destructive, and this depends
on the raw material that we feed our mind. If we feed the
mind with NEP - Negative Energy Poison, then it will
9
produce poisonous thoughts. Some of the NEP emotions

are fear, worry, anxiety, hate, revenge, jealously, and anger.
Instead, if we feed our mind with positive emotions like
courage, condence, optimism, enthusiasm, faith, hope,
compassion, and love, our mind will produce PEP -
Positive Energy Power that will produce positive thoughts.
Therefore, we have a choice to control what we think,
although most of us are unaware of how our thought
factory works.
We also have another invaluable weapon which is the

intellect. While most people think that the mind is the
subtle part of our body and different from our hands, feet,
and head which is our gross body, we do not discover that
the subtle body is made up of 4 different entities: the Mind,
Intellect, Memory, and Ego. The intellect is the tool to
discriminate thought. It is a gift that only human beings are
blessed with and it facilitates us to choose as we differentiate
good from bad, the myth from the truth.
Therefore, while the mind often jumps like a monkey from

one thought to another, it is the intellect that can control it.
It also discriminates between the thoughts that our mind
creates. The mind has a habit of jumping into a past that is
gone, and a future not yet born. It is the intellect that can
stop such thoughts from becoming feelings that will make
us regret and worry and live with anxiety. The mind can
sometimes be a rascal as it produces aggressive thoughts
that create stress and anxiety for a human being.
Those reading this for the rst time may be surprised

because they have always thought that the mind is King, it
is everything! Unfortunately, they have confused the mind with
the intellect. Therefore, while the mind is a very important
10
aspect of our life, unless it is reined by our intellect, it will

gallop with the 5 horses of our senses and become
uncontrollable. It is only a properly disciplined and
controlled mind that can think right and lead us to our
destination.
A human body needs both hardware and software to live. If

the body had no mind, we would limp. And if the mind did
not have the body, we would not perceive it. But because of
the subtle nature of the mind, the world today questions the
existence of the mind. While it appears to exist, where it is
actually located, we cannot nd. We can look at a mirror
and see our eyes, nose, ears, hands, and feet. We can even
take an X-ray and see our heart, kidneys, and brain, but has
anyone seen a picture of the mind?
We human beings do not doubt the existence of our mind.

Not only does the mind make us act when we are awake, it
also causes fantasies and nightmares when we sleep. This is
supposed to be the subconscious mind that doesn't even
sleep when the body does.
To truly live a meaningful life, our biggest challenge is to

understand the mind and then take charge of it. The mind
can be a very powerful weapon if controlled by a well-
developed intellect. It is this mind that will ultimately
create thoughts on how we should live life. However, if we
want to make the best of our life, we must learn to control
the mind. We must make the monkey mind into a monk.
Then we can introspect and contemplate life, as we live
with peace, joy, and bliss.
Most of us who become the slaves of an uncontrolled mind

will be led astray in life, not only with wild thoughts but
11
miserable feelings, unwise actions and habits that would

make us wish that we get a chance to relive our life.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø The Mind is an integral part of our life, although it is

invisible.
Ø It is a subtle part of our existence and works like a
software.
Ø While most people think of the brain and the mind to
be synonymous, the mind is everywhere, not just in
our head.
Ø Millions of neurons all over the body may trigger
thoughts that will lead to action.
Ø The mind is a thought factory that constantly produces
thoughts.
Ø It is different from the intellect; the latter is a gift meant
to discriminate thoughts and control the mind.
12
Chapter 04
Discover the Soul
ere is a Power within,

It is the Spirit, Atman or Soul.
To discover the truth of this Energy,
Is our life's Ultimate Goal.
Who doesn't want to be happy? Every human being seeks
happiness but we all suffer. Any person born on planet
earth passes through a cycle of pleasure and pain. There is
only one way to escape from this suffering – to realize the
truth that we are the Divine Soul.
Most of us know nothing about the Soul. The only thing that
we talk of is 'good' Soul and 'bad' Soul - whether our Soul
will go to heaven or hell. When somebody dies, people
often say, 'Let's pray for the departed Soul,' but
unfortunately, we know nothing about the Soul.
The Soul is the power that gives us life. It is the energy that
is present in each of our over 30 trillion cells. The moment
we are conceived, the Soul seems to be present, although
many wouldn't agree with this theory. They believe that the
Soul arrives later, anytime between the fourth and ninth
month of our journey in the womb. While people have
different opinions about when the Soul enters, nobody
denies that the Soul departs at death.
Therefore, the journey of the Soul is from birth to death. Just

like a computer has the hardware, software, and the power
supply, the Soul is the power that causes our existence.
There can be no life without the Soul. Unlike the power in a
13
Discover the Soul
gadget, we have no idea where the power of the Soul comes

from and where it goes. Over 5,000 years ago, the Rishis and
the sages living in the Himalayas realized the Divine truth
that the Soul is Divinity that manifests as you and me. Thus,
they folded hands when they met one another as they
bowed down to the Soul that exists in everybody.
However, over the centuries, this got diluted into a
religious practice that prayed to a God with name and
form. The signicance of the Soul as the Divine got lost as it
gave way to rituals of myth and superstition.
Most of us are so busy in this material world that we don't

have time to discover the Soul. We are so consumed by the
cravings of the body and the wandering of the mind, that
our ego stops us from realizing the truth. While we believe
that we have a Soul, we think that it is just another aspect of
our life. Little do we realize that without the Soul we are
nothing.
The Soul is the cause, we are just effects. Our body doesn't
receive a Soul after it is created. Rather, it is around the Soul
that the body is formed. Where does the Soul energy come
from and where does it go? To understand the Soul, one
should take two pieces of dead rubber balloons. They seem
to have no life. But suddenly, when we blow air into them,
they distinctly stand out as blue and white balloons, both
bouncing with life. If we deate the balloons, can we
retrieve the air that was in the two balloons separately?
'Impossible!' you would say. The air in the balloons has
merged with the air that is everywhere. So is it with the
Soul! When the Soul leaves the 30 trillion cells, it departs in
a ash to merge with the Soul that is everywhere. It is Maya
- the cosmic illusion that makes us believe that there is a
Soul within us. It would rather be more apt to think that we
14
Discover the Soul
are in the Soul. The Soul is everywhere, inside us and

outside of us, just like air is not just in the balloon, but also
all around it.
Somehow, we think of the Soul as a distinct entity. We don't

realize that it is one power that makes us all live. It is just
like the power that comes to our house. The power is
distributed to the lights, the television, the air-conditioners
and all the other gadgets in the house. Each of these is a
separate entity, but the power is one. So it is with us. You
and I seem to be different, but the power within us, the Soul,
is the same.
If we truly want to live life, we must decode the mystery of

the Soul. We must not believe that we have a Soul as is most
commonly thought but rather realize that we are the Soul.
The moment we realize this truth that we are not this body
that is constantly changing, nor are we the mind that seems to
have a subtle existence, we will evolve in our life journey. It is
when we realize that we are the Divine Soul, that we will
truly learn to live life. This realization is not easy. But reading
this book may open the door to such enlightenment. If we
don't overcome our ignorance and realize that we are the
Divine Soul, we will continue to live as a physical body and a
subtle mind, and will continue to suffer as the ego. We must
go on a quest of the truth to realize who we are and why we
are here. This will help us discover how to live life.
Because the Soul is such a mysterious subject, people

believe in the mummifying of bodies and perform all kinds
of rituals after death, believing that the Soul is present as a
ghost. The mysteries of the Soul have created so much
confusion that what the Soul is and what its real power is,
elude us. The Soul is God, but those who read this will
15
Discover the Soul
never understand this. We have to realize this truth by

overcoming ignorance. When we proceed on this journey
as the Life Manual unfolds, we will hopefully reach a point
of our spiritual 'aha' and see the light of truth. Then, we will
realize the Soul as the God power within.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø While we think we have a Soul, the truth is that we are

the Divine Soul.
Ø Because of ignorance, we do not realize the truth and
we believe in all the mysteries associated with the
Soul.
Ø The Soul in you and the Soul in me is not different. It is
one power.
Ø We think that the Soul becomes a ghost and goes to
heaven or hell.
Ø We also believe that there are 'good' Souls and 'bad'
Souls.
Ø Little do we realize that the Soul is the very power that
causes us to live from birth to death.
Ø When we realize the truth about the Soul, we will
discover the secret of how to live life.
16
Chapter 05
There is No Warranty
You may get a warranty for your car,

And with insurance, be reckless and drive far…
But there is no warranty for life,
Anybody can go rst, husband or wife!
One may take insurance for their life, but the fact is that life
has no warranty. Nobody can guarantee life. You may get a
one-year warranty for your washing machine or a three-
year warranty for your car, but life has no warranty. It can't
be replaced by anybody on earth. Birth and death are not in
our hands. When, how, and to whom we are born is not in
our control, just as death is in the hands of the Divine. There
is no guarantee that I will nish writing this book. The
warranty for life is only for the present moment. Therefore,
we must learn to live life in the 'now', moment by moment.
Most of us live taking life for granted, believing that we too

will live at least for 70 years which is the average life
expectancy. But is there any guarantee? Some people die
even before they can walk. Some meet with fatal accidents
in their teens. Then there are others who are aficted by
some terminal disease and they die even before they are 25.
While most people go on to live, some have an extended life
span. They even live till they are 100. Of course, there is no
assurance that our life will be healthy and happy but
human life has been so designed that we can live for about
70-80 years on an average. Turtles live for over 120 years,
whereas dogs don't even live till they are 13. Golden eagles
live for 30 years and elephants may live up to 70 years. It is
said that some trees live for 5,000 years. Only the Creator
17
knows why our life span is what it is.
Who decides all this? Who is the Creator of life on earth

who decided how long human beings must live? Who has
designed all the beautiful butteries, the gorgeous
amingos and playful dolphins and penguins that exist in
different parts of the world? The Creator is most powerful,
and the power exists all around us. Unfortunately, we are
blind. We don't see the power of the Creator in all His
creations, His manifestations.
Creation is unique and therefore, if we really want to live

our life with peace, joy and bliss, we must learn to live our
life moment by moment. Our mind makes us swing to the
past which is gone and then makes us jump into a future not
yet born. Alas, we lose the present moment called 'Life'! The
'now' is so precious that people call it 'the present'. Instead
of making the best of our life moment by moment, we lose it
to our regrets and our fears and before we realize it, it is
over.
While there is no warranty for life, life also has no rewind

button. Unlike an exciting moment in sports on television
or a beautiful song on YouTube, that can be replayed, life
cannot be revisited. Therefore, many people in this world
do not live life the way they should, and thus they end up
regretting their past, 'If only I had my life to live all over
again, I would learn to play the guitar, I would play more
sports, climb more mountains, watch more sunsets.'
Unfortunately, nobody can go back and relive their life. A
life that has passed is like a river that can't go back on its
path.
Therefore, it becomes so important to read the Manual of

18
Life, to understand what life is all about, and to live it. Some
people see life escaping them and they regret but then it is
too late! Nobody in this world, neither the richest man on
earth nor the most powerful man in the world can rewind
even one moment of life. Still, although we know that life
has no warranty, nor can it be replayed, we waste this
beautiful gift called 'Life'.
We don't prepare for the end, which may come anytime. We

live with ignorance, without even realizing what life is all
about. We don't know who we are and why we are here. We
just live, we exist, and we die. Very few people even bother
to open the Life Manual. But those who do, discover how
life must be lived and live it. They are the ones who are truly
happy.
It's strange that people are very busy insuring their life.
They are preparing to give away what belongs to them to
their near and dear ones. It is funny that they don't spend as
much time preparing to live as they do planning their
legacy. What we don't realize is that we cannot control what
will happen after we die. Once we are dead, we will not
carry a remote-control button to manage what happens on
earth. All we can do is to live well before we die. We should
have no expectations of what will happen once we are gone.
There is no guarantee that people will respect our wishes,
our preferences and our directions after our death. If they
do, we will be lucky. If you look around, you will nd, as is
popularly said, 'People are dead and gone!' Therefore, it is
time to stop and realize that we must learn to live before it's
too late. Let us learn to do what we want to do before this
journey of life comes to an end, which it will—sooner or
later.
19
Death is certain. The one thing that has a guarantee, is

death. Nobody can escape it. And while there is no
warranty for life, we should always be prepared for death,
which is a certainty and which could be just around the
corner. This does not mean we have to constantly worry
about death, but we must be prepared for it even if it comes
today, for there is no assurance when it will come.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life has no warranty. Nobody can guarantee life.

Ø We may take an insurance cover for our life, but this
does not guarantee how long we will live.
Ø A human being is expected to live for 70 to 100 years,
while dogs are expected to live for 10 to 13 years and
some trees for over 5,000 years.
Ø The Creator is unique and has created this unique
world.
Ø But the Creator has not permitted us to rewind life.
Nobody can replay life. Therefore, we must learn to
live each moment with joy.
Ø Death is certain. It is guaranteed. It can come at any
moment.
20
Chapter 06
Who doesn’t want to be Happy?
e whole world is seeking happiness,

We all want to be glad.
But in this chase for pleasure,
Most of us go mad.
Everybody wants to be happy, but not everybody is. We
live life like a merry-go-round as we pass happiness and
sorrow in cycles. Just like there is loss and gain, there is
pleasure and pain.
Man hasn't understood the meaning of true happiness.

Therefore, he constantly desires pleasure. Happiness is not a
product that we can acquire. It is not a person that we can live
with, nor is it a place we can go to. Happiness is a state of
being. Therefore, the moment we say, 'I want happiness', we
fail to be happy. Desire ultimately leads to disappointment.
As we full our need, our greed takes over and thus we are
never happy.
Is there a way to happiness? Is there a recipe to be happy?

Yes! If we take an exit from the highway of achievement,
there is a possibility for us to be happy. As long as we
believe that it is only achievement that will give us joy, we
will live and die with this illusion, without being truly
happy. Those who stop climbing this illusory peak of
achievement that is based on pleasure, attain a state of
peace.
Peace is the foundation of happiness. Pleasures are a

paradox. They may make us happy for a while, but soon,
21
we are thirsty again. Once we start to live a life of contentment

and fullment, we will experience far more bliss and joy.
Most people are looking for happiness. They shuttle

between yesterday and tomorrow and live with regret and
fear. They don't realize that happiness is in the NOW. You
can't be happy in the 'yesterday' that is gone nor can you be
happy in the 'tomorrow' not yet born. Instead of being
blissful and peaceful in the present moment, NOW, we lose
this moment by either living in the past or the future, and
then once again, we start chasing happiness.
Happiness is like a shadow. The more you chase it, the

further it goes away. But if you stop, you will nd
happiness is with you wherever you are. As we go through
the Life Manual, analyzing who we are and understanding
life, we will discover a way to live a happier, healthier and
wealthier life. But we must read the Manual and follow its
operating instructions. Otherwise, like some of our gadgets
with which we experiment without following the complete
procedure, our life too shall experience a short circuit.
There is nothing wrong in seeking happiness. But there is a

way to be happy. Most of us don't realize that we have
happiness within us, but we are searching for it outside. We
live and die like that musk deer who is searching for the
fragrance of the musk that is inside its own navel all along.
Ultimately, it falls off the cliff and dies. Unfortunately,
many of us in the pursuit of happiness live and die without
truly experiencing Ananda or bliss.
We all experience suffering and this interferes with our

happiness. We experience physical pain of the body,
misery of the mind, and agony of the ego. Those who go in
22
quest of the ultimate peak of happiness are enlightened

with the truth. They experience Divine bliss that is far
beyond happiness that comes from pleasure and peace.
They discover the true meaning of life and with that, live a
life of eternal peace and everlasting bliss as they escape
from the triple suffering of body, mind and ego.
It seems like the whole world just has one goal – to be

happy. While different people dream of different goals to
be achieved, nobody wants any achievement that will make
them miserable. The ultimate purpose of all achievement is
happiness. But no sooner do we achieve one goal than we
jump into chasing another. We keep happiness for a later date.
Before we realize it, our life is over. First, we want wealth and
we run behind it. Once we achieve wealth, we spend the
rest of our life and our wealth to take care of our health. We
forget to discover true happiness and to live.
Do you want to live a life of bliss, peace, and joy? Then stop
and understand the meaning of life. Realize who you truly
are and what your purpose on earth is. Don't just jump into
life as if it were a swimming pool and you keep swimming
till you hear the whistle blow. We are 'human beings', not
'human doings' and unless we realize this, we will keep on
doing without being happy. There is a way to enjoy pleasure,
to live with peace, and to nd purpose in life. Once we do,
we will arrive at a state of Satchitananda, a state of eternal
bliss that knows no sorrow. We will become conscious of
happiness every moment that we live.
But this is not for everybody. It is only for those who realize
the truth about life. They are the blessed few who stop
seeking happiness. They are the ones who live in an ocean
of joy, conscious of their Divine self. They seek nothing, but
23
they are the happiest people in the world. You too can be
one amongst them.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Everybody wants to be happy, but not everyone is.

Ø Most people are chasing success and achievement
because they think that wealth and pleasure will make
them happy.
Ø Few people are lucky to take an exit from the highway
of achievement to live a life of contentment and
fullment.
Ø While happiness comes from pleasure and peace,
ultimate happiness is when we discover our life's true
purpose.
Ø There is a way to eternal happiness and everlasting joy
– a state that knows no sorrow.
Ø Very few people understand life and live moment by
moment being conscious of the happiness that is
within. They are the truly happy ones.
Ø They live a life of Satchitananda, being conscious of the
truth and their life is full of bliss.
24
Chapter 07
Everybody has Problems
Problems are guidelines,

Problems are not stop-signs.
If only we learn how to deal with problems,
Our life can be full of smiles.
How does one traverse through life with so many
problems? Whether or not there is rainfall, there is always a
shower of problems in life. Everybody has problems. It is
not unique for you and me. A problem-free life is an
illusion. It is like a mirage in the desert. It doesn't exist.
How does one deal with problems? How do you live life
when there are so many problems? Maya had a good job. But
her husband made her quit because he wanted her to take care of
their child. Thereafter, every day he would insult her and accuse
her of being useless. There was a constant ght. Because they
lived in a small house, their child would hear his parents arguing
and ghting all the time. Soon, another problem followed. Her
husband quit his job and forced Maya to go back to work so that
the family could survive. By now, Maya was so frustrated doing
all the household chores and being insulted by her husband that
she was eager to get back to work and start her new career. But
problems never stop, do they? They keep knocking at the door. It
was only a matter of time before her husband found another job
and once again, he asked her to quit and take care of the house and
the child. She refused, and the problems only magnied.
Maya's life is not a rare example of modern-day full-of-

problems life. Those who don't have problems with money
or their better halves, have issues with their in-laws or their
health. It seems like life is a journey of problems and our
25
primary focus each day is to solve the problems of life.
But those who learn how to live life, learn how to deal with
problems. They realize that just because we have problems,
it does not mean we should not be happy. They learn to put
their problems in a proper perspective as they view life
with the paradigm that problems are like zooming trains.
While they come, they don't stay. They go away! Yes, there
are people who have learnt to deal with life and its
problems, without problems defeating them. They face
their problems with courage and condence and more
often than not, defeat their problems and live blissfully.
Then, there are those people who know how to live without
creating problems. They identify the cause of their
problems and avoid creating new problems. Raj knew that if
he questioned his wife on her expenses, there would be a problem.
They would argue and ght. He had learnt to avoid all such
discussions. Many of us aggravate our problems. Not only
do we suffer a cut on our hand, but we also scratch it till it
festers and becomes a bigger wound. But is life all about
problems? Have we come to planet earth just to face
problems, to live and die resolving them? It starts with
problems in school and gets only more complicated as we
get into college. Then further on, there are nancial
problems and family issues. Once we grow older, poor
health is added to the list. Life is consumed with dealing
with problems and solving them. But that is not the case
with one who understands life and learns to live it.
The wise ones don't get paranoid with problems. They

understand that problems will come, and problems will go.
This life is just a show. Therefore, they anticipate problems,
26
they welcome them, and they deal with problems with a

game-playing attitude. They laugh at their problems and
look at each problem in its micro-size. They don't let the
wolf look bigger than it is. They learn to say, 'For every
problem under the sun, there is a remedy or there is none. If there
is one, try to nd it. If there is none, never mind it!'
While such people are the ones who don't get overly
hassled by problems, there are people who don't get
affected by problems at all! They realize the true meaning
of life. They understand that problems are challenges and
whatever happens in our life, is not happening by chance
or luck. It is our own past actions or Karma, the fruit of our
past deeds, which is unfolding as problems. Thus, they
deal with issues of life without being overburdened or
defeated. They put on a positive coat and ght life's battles
in the best way they can. They realize that problems have a
limited life span.
These people realize the truth about life. They realize that
nothing is real. Everything is like a dream. Even though we
are awake, and it seems that whatever is happening in our
life is real and the problems are not imaginary, they realize
that nothing lasts forever. This drama of life will come to
end and so will our problems.
We must live life as observers of a big drama that is

unfolding on the earth-stage. While we are actors and we
must do our part and face the challenges of life, we must
come to the realization that soon the show will be over.
Thus we should live as the audience and enjoy the drama
called 'Life'. We should view both comedy and tragedy as
an exciting part of the drama of life.
27
Those who read the Life Manual, learn the art of managing
problems. They learn the uselessness of worrying about
problems. Why? Because if there is no problem, then there’s
no need to worry. But even if there is a problem, there is still
no need to worry. For when there’s a problem, there are
only two options: one, we can do something about it. If so,
then, why worry about it? And two, if we can’t do anything
about it, then why should we worry? Therefore, they
realize that it is useless to worry. Whether there are
problems or not, life must go on. They are the ones who
truly live life!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø A problem-free life is an illusion. It does not exist.

Ø Problems are guidelines, not stop signs.
Ø Those who realize the truth about problems, face them
courageously.
Ø Problems have a limited life span. They don't last
forever.
Ø The wise understand that problems are our own
Karma or past actions returning to us.
Ø They welcome problems and deal with their issues
without being defeated.
Ø Those who realize that life is a drama, live with bliss
and joy despite their problems. They know this just a
show, we come and we go.
28
Chapter 08
Time Keeps Ticking
Time in a clock,
May come to a stop,
But only Death is capable of
Stopping a heart’s throb.
We think that time is something we can't stop; it keeps
ticking. But have we stopped to understand the meaning of
time? Time is just a measure, the difference between then
and now. When this moment becomes the next moment, a
second has passed. Some people may watch time passing
by the breath, whereas others have created a more scientic
method of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months,
and years. Of course, it doesn't stop there! We have also
created pentads, decades and centuries.
But what is time in reality? Time is life. If the entire world

were to die, then everything would come to a standstill.
Time records the birth and death of generations and makes
it easy to understand history.
But stop for a moment and contemplate – is time actually

ticking? The earth rotates on its own axis once in 24 hours.
Each hour is broken down into 60 minutes, each minute
into 60 seconds. Ancient civilizations created the week, a
period of 7 days so that we could go to our God at least once
in 7 days. For Christians, that day is – Sunday and Hindus
go to different Gods on different days. How then did the
month come about? The month came about looking at the
moon and its journey from a new moon to a full moon.
Twelve months tted into a year; the time taken for the
29
Time Keeps Ticking
earth to nish one cycle around the sun.
Most of us don't realize that this is all what time is. It is just a
measure to monitor moments as they pass, moments that
grow from minutes to years.
What is important in all this is that our life is passing. That

is the only thing that we must take away from the ticking of
time. Every time the pendulum swings, one moment of our
life has lapsed. Every time we take a breath, we are closer to
destination death.
Just like most people don't understand what time is and

will not bother to discover what all this is, a majority of
humanity is indifferent towards what life is. Their time on
planet earth just passes away and they don't discover how
to live life.
Can we stop time from ticking? Can we pause life? We

can't! Even when we sleep, time is ticking, the earth is
rotating and revolving as we are breathing or are sound
asleep. But ultimately one day arrives when the breath
stops. That day is our nal day. The moment we are dead,
our life on planet earth is over. But time keeps ticking for
the rest of the world. The Drama called 'Life' goes on. We
are like actors, we come on the earth stage, do our part and
go. Nobody can escape death; it is certain. Just like we
cannot control the moment we were born, this too is
beyond our control.
But who controls all this? Who controls our time and life on
earth? Who decides our death and our birth? Who has
created the universe with so much precision that scientic
30
Time Keeps Ticking
clocks match up to Divine laws that cause the earth's

rotation and revolution?
We human beings are so lost that we have no time to stop, to

think, and to contemplate. We are so busy buying our Rolex
watches to see the time, that we forget to realize that time
and life will soon be over. Instead of discovering who we
truly are and why we are here, instead of nding out our
true purpose, we kill time till life is over! We are so zapped
by this world of attractions and we are so lost in the
wanderings of our mind, that our ego doesn't realize that
we are nothing. We come with nothing and we will go with
nothing. We live and die in this ignorance, without realizing
the truth.
When will we stop and watch the clock tick? When will we
value the 60 seconds in a minute? When will we spend a
few minutes in silence? When will we take charge of the
1440 minutes we are gifted with each day and the 168 hours
we are blessed with each week? When will we stop in the
moment to be conscious of our breath, to watch our
monkey mind jump?
The moment we are able to be still, we have conquered time

and life. We have discovered the secret and started our
journey of true consciousness that will lead to ultimate bliss
and joy.
Don't let time pass without meaning and purpose. Time is

life and life is our biggest gift. We are conscious of time, but
plants and animals, most probably, just exist without
understanding what all this means. Only human beings are
blessed with an intellect. We can learn to make the best use
31
Time Keeps Ticking
of our life. Before our journey of life comes to an end, let us

read the Life Manual and learn how to live life. Otherwise,
it will just escape us. There is a way that we must spend our
time and if we do so, we will realize that we are the Divine
Soul and achieve our ultimate goal and purpose of life.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø What is time? Time is just a measure between one

moment and another.
Ø Seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, and years
take us through, from birth to death.
Ø We are gifted with this human life and we must make
the best of each moment.
Ø We are blessed with an intellect so that we use time
and not waste it.
Ø Before our time is over, we must realize the truth of
who we are and why we are here.
Ø The clock can constantly remind us to stop, to think,
and to introspect.
Ø It can make us conscious of our true self and teach us
how to live.
32
Chapter 09
Starting the Day
ere is a way,
To start the day.
But most of us, just jump into it,
And before we realize, it is time to exit.
Each day is precious, and the most important thing, if we
really want to learn how to live life, is to understand how
we must start each day. Technically, the day starts at
midnight when the clock declares that the date has
changed. But we have not even started our day. In fact,
many of us have not even ended the previous one.
Our real day starts when we wake up in the morning. What

do most of us do once we wake up? We jump into the day.
We give over the day to our mind and we lose the day! The
mind picks up all the chaos that we went to sleep with and
starts bombarding us with thoughts. We visit something
that happened the previous day, which may have a
connection with our past. Then we jump into something
that we have to do today and the many things that face us.
We don't realize that we have already lost the day! We have
given over the day to our mind and lost control of it.
But there is a way to take charge of each day. As the day

starts, we can be conscious of the beginning of a wonderful
new day. The best way to start the day is to start it with the
sunrise. The fresh air of the morning skies and the chirping
of the birds make us realize that a new life has bloomed.
The light of the sun takes away all the darkness of doubt
and despair that may have appeared the previous day.
33
Starting the Day
Very few people are blessed to start each day with the
sunrise. Is there any other better way to start the day than
this?
To be able to steal a few hours or even minutes before dawn

can be a priceless gift, a time where the whole world is
asleep and all we can hear is the whistling of the breeze and
the swaying of the trees. The sky reveals that the day will
soon break, but one must sit in complete silence and be
conscious of who we truly are. One must not let the mind
start its monkey business. We must be still, aware and
conscious of the Divine surroundings.
Most of us miss the early day and we just jump into the day
either with a late start or a stressed-out mind. To add fuel to
the re, we bury our heads in the morning newspaper or
glue our eyes to the breakfast television show where we
drink in all the misery of the world. We watch how some
people died, how someone was murdered, and all the other
evils that unfold on the news. Then we read about how the
stock market went up and down. We are attracted to
products advertised that trigger desire in our senses and
even before the day can start, we are lost in it.
What next? Then, we zoom through the day. Some of us are

so busy that there is no time at all, while others are bored to
death because they have nothing to do. We mostly fall into
one of these two categories. But both kinds of people miss
enjoying the gift of each day.
If only we become conscious of the day and what our

purpose is for the next 24 hours, we would look forward to
an exciting and fullling day. If only there was a purpose,
34
Starting the Day
then we would enjoy every moment of each day. There are

some of us who are achievers and we start the day with
excitement, looking forward to the day's success. But we
don't realize that the way we are starting the day, will
ultimately get us to a dead end. We may think that success
and achievement is all that each day must create, but we
have never stopped to realize what true success is all about.
We human beings have become like machines. Although

we are 'human beings', we live as 'human doings',
constantly doing things that start when the day is born. It's
time to change our life and start each day in a new way. It is
time to realize that every time we sleep, we wake up not
just with the gift of a new day, but a new life. We mustn't
just jump into the day, nish it, and consume it. We must
catch hold of each day and try to discover life. We must use
the day to make the best of this journey called 'Life'.
The next time you start a day, don't just jump into it. Stop!
Become conscious of your surroundings. Look up at the
skies, ponder about all the beauty that is around you,
become conscious of your own heartbeat and your life. As
you count your blessings, be still and contemplate – Who
are you, why are you here? What is the purpose of your life
and your day? Is this day just going to be another day that
will pass away? We have a choice. We can start and nish
each day, day after day, and before we even know it, life
will be over.
The way to start living is to learn how to start each day. If

we can become aware of a day, then we will become
conscious of life itself. We will not let our mind jump into
the day, even before our body does. We will shut it down as
35
Starting the Day
we live with awareness and consciousness about the day

that is about to begin. If only we can learn how to start a day
and live it, we can discover how to live life.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø If we really want to learn how to live life, we must learn

how to live each day.
Ø To live each day meaningfully, we must not just jump
into it.
Ø When we start the day, we must be conscious as a new
day, a new life begins.
Ø If we just rush into the day, it will be over and so will
life.
Ø The best way to start the day is to wake up before dawn
and spend time being conscious of our Divine
surroundings.
Ø Those who miss starting the day with a sunrise, don't
just lose the day, they lose life itself.
36
Chapter 10
Living Moment by Moment
Life is all about Moments,

It's Moments that create the hour and the day.
ose who lose a Moment,
Lose life itself, they say!
What is life? It is the period between birth and death. But
can we live our entire life in one shot? People say, 'You
can't eat an elephant in one bite. The only way to eat it is
one bite at a time.' So it is with life!
If we stop to analyze life – what is it? It is made up of years,

years that are broken down into months, weeks, and days.
Each day has 1440 minutes that form the 24 hours. Each
minute has 60 seconds. Before we even realize it, the
second is gone! We can't stop the second from passing, but
we can be in the moment. We can be in the 'now'. When we
live moment by moment, life seems to stop for us to live.
The clock's ticking doesn't matter as we become conscious
of our life moment by moment.
What are you doing now? Chances are that whatever you
are doing, your mind is not still. Like a monkey, it's
jumping from thought to thought. It is the mind that stops
us from living in the 'now'. Because it jumps here and
there, we lose the moment – in fact, many moments. We
lose life itself!
How does one live life moment by moment? By letting go

and by surrendering to each moment as it unfolds. Can we
control everything that is happening around us? We can't!
37
Then what is the point worrying about it?
Those who live moment by moment, accept and surrender

to the Divine will. They don't constantly ght with
everything that unfolds. They realize that whatever is
happening, is unfolding as per a Divine law. While they
cannot change the circumstances around them, they can
change what is happening within them. Thus, they take
charge of their life moment by moment. They try to enjoy
the 'now', rather than living by regretting the past and
worrying about the future. They realize that they can't go
back to yesterday, nor can they live in 'tomorrow'.
'Tomorrow' never comes! They realize it can come only as
'today.' Even 'today' cannot appear as a chunk of 24 hours.
'Today' can unfold moment by moment. Those who live
their life with hope and wonder are not as happy as those
who accept and surrender. Thus, the ones who live moment
by moment believe in the philosophy – Accept, don't
wonder! Replace hope with Surrender.
What happens when you keep on hoping? You create

expectations and more often than not, these expectations
are not met. Consequently, we become disappointed and
instead of enjoying the moment, we mourn our
disappointments.
Somebody very aptly called this moment as the 'present'. It

is a gift to us. If we don't use it, we lose it. It is up to us to
make the best use of the present because if we don't, it will
soon become the past that will be gone forever. However, if
we grab hold of the present, and live it moment by moment,
each moment will be a gift to treasure and to be happy.
Not everybody lives life blissfully. They may live moment

38
by moment, but they may ll each moment with regret and
misery. They may ll their moments with fear, worry,
hatred, anger, and revenge. This is not living life moment
by moment, rather it is destroying life by the moment. To
truly live life in the present, we must develop the art of
being happy in the 'now'.
Everybody wants to be happy, but not everybody learns

how to be happy. Happiness is not about getting pleasure
or joy. It is experiencing a state of peace and bliss and it is
only possible to be happy in the 'now'. You can't be happy
in the past, nor can you try to be happy in the future
because neither the past nor the future exist. The only thing
that exists is 'now'. Those who develop the art of being
happy, do not lose even a moment in misery and sorrow.
They make it a resolve to be happy as every moment
unfolds in their life. Then, this becomes a habit – to be
happy, moment by moment. There are others who lose the
opportunity of these joyous moments. Unfortunately, they
don't realize that they are not losing a moment of
happiness. They are losing life itself.
Resolve to live in the 'now'. Resolve to live blissfully,

moment by moment. Don't transact your moments for
anything else because your moments are your most
priceless possessions. I know people who yearn to go to the
turquoise beaches in the Maldives. Once they are there,
they become lost in their laptop, their mobile phones, and
social media. Then soon they are back home, only to regret
that they lost those beautiful moments on the white sand
beaches. They missed some Divine sunrises and sunsets
because they were busy planning a party at night and
waking up late the next morning. They forgot to live life in
the moment!
39
Every moment has its own purpose. Let us live fully in that
moment. Let us give our moment all our life without
diluting it. Let us enjoy and savour each moment fully,
extracting the most of every moment of life.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life is made up of moments. But most of us don't

realize this and lose this precious gift called ‘Life’.
Ø Instead of living in the present moment, we jump to a
past that is gone and a future not yet born.
Ø The moment is priceless. That is why it is called the
'present'. It is a gift.
Ø Our challenge is not just to live moment by moment,
but to be happy.
Ø Those who develop the habit of being happy in the
'now', truly live life.
Ø There are some who put off living for a future moment.
Not only do they lose the moment, but they also lose
life itself.
40
Chapter 11
How to get Peace of Mind?
People spend their entire life,

Peace of mind to nd.
Alas! They don't realize the truth…
e thief is their own Mind.
We human beings are searching for peace of mind, but it is
the mind itself that steals our peace. By constantly
producing thoughts, the mind is creating stress, worry, and
anxiety. In fact, in the beginning, we are very peaceful.
Recall those days when you were a child. You had all the
peace of mind that you could dream of. Then what
happened? Then came alive the rascal mind and stole your
peace away. It produced so many thoughts that eventually,
your peace broke into pieces!
We all want peace of mind. Then, why do we lose our

peace? What causes turbulence in our still life? We human
beings are designed in a manner that we have 5 senses. Our
eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and skin are constantly sensing
and triggering thoughts. Each sense creates ripples in our
still life. It creates desires and may also cause jealousy or
other negative emotions like anger to erupt. What do these
negative emotions do? They rob our peace of mind. How
do we control our senses? We must learn to tame them. We
must learn to discipline our senses so that they can help us
live a happier life, rather than cause stress, worry and
anxiety. There will be times when we are able to tame our
senses, but the monkey mind will not sit still. It will still
create ripples of thought that will disturb our peace and
tranquillity. Somehow, we grow up believing that it is these
41
desires of the body and mind that will make us achieve

happiness. We don't realize that we were already in a state
of peace and bliss. When the body and mind create ripples
of excitement, we disturb our peace, the very foundation of
our happiness.
Sometimes we full our desires and feel a sense of

achievement and the peace returns. But that peace was
already there. We had momentarily lost it, creating ripples of
desire, excitement, and achievement. After all that, we only
returned to our original state of Ananda, Divine peace that we
were already experiencing before.
It is our foolishness to lose our peace of mind and crave and

desire. We are ignorant about the truth that peace is the
foundation of happiness. Where there is no peace, there can be no
joy and bliss. Therefore, creating turbulence in our life for
achievements only makes us go round and round in circles
where we rst lose our peace of mind and then restore it.
Those who are blessed to understand the importance of

peace as the very foundation of happiness, do not become
slaves to their desires. Unlike those who crave till their
grave, they don't let their need become their greed. They try
to create peace in their mind as they discipline their senses
and faculty of thought. How do they do it?
The mind is constantly producing thoughts. These aggressive

thoughts create a lot of anxiety which steals our peace. It is
like throwing several rocks on a still lake and creating
many ripples that disturb the calmness that prevailed.
Unless we stop this agitation in the mind, we will never be
able to create the stillness that is needed to be peaceful.
42
To attain Peace of mind is not difcult, if only we realize the

truth about how we can achieve that state. If we program
our life and live it with contentment and fullment, we will
largely be peaceful. If we realize that life is not a race, for us
to chase and be an ace, then we can live with grace, with
peace and tranquillity. It is not impossible to live a peaceful
life. But this is only possible if we make the 'monkey' mind
into a 'monk'.
The moment the mind stops jumping like a monkey from

thought to thought, creating ripples that destroy our peace,
we can regain our tranquility. If we make the monkey into a
monk by silencing the mind, by reducing this constant
thinking, rather than worrying, craving, hoping, and
desiring, we can reach that point of stillness where we will
experience Divine peace. It is for us to realize that it is the
mind that robs our peace.
Today, the whole world is talking about meditation. They

believe it is some magical way of attaining peace and
tranquillity. What they don't realize is that true meditation
is not about sitting in some fancy posture and doing some
exercises of the body and mind. True meditation is making
the mind still, using any method that can calm the mind. It
doesn't matter how we bring the mind to a halt. What
matters is to stop the aggression, and this is what true
meditation does. Those who succeed in meditation attain a
state of peace and tranquillity. They contemplate a thought
and experience bliss that comes from being conscious of
their Divinity within. While it seems easy, the problem is
that most of us do not know what peace of mind truly is and
how we can attain that state of blissful tranquillity.
How does one attain peace of mind? One must become

43
conscious of the truth. We human beings live in ignorance,

and because of this, we lose our peace and tranquility. We
believe in the myth and this hides the truth. This is the
main cause for the mind to be agitated. If we want to
overcome the agitation of the mind, we must evolve into
that state of consciousness where we become the witness,
the observer, and we watch the mind jump from thought
to thought. This is consciousness and this is guaranteed to
give us peace.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We all seek peace of mind, but most of us live stressful

lives.
Ø We don't realize it is the mind that robs our peace.
Ø Our senses are constantly triggering the mind as they
crave.
Ø The mind is like a monkey, constantly jumping from
thought to thought.
Ø If we want peace of mind, we must make the monkey
mind into a monk by silencing it.
Ø Today most people use meditation to calm the mind.
However, true meditation is not about a fancy body
and mind exercise.
Ø If we can still the mind, we can nd peace and
tranquillity.
44
Chapter 12
Life is like a Dream
Dreams are not real;

ey are the mischief of the mind.
For when we wake up om a Dream
It was just an illusion, we nd.
We human beings are intelligent, and we understand the
difference between being awake and dreaming. We know
that when we are awake, our body and mind are both
conscious. We walk, we talk, we scream, we shout, and we
go about with our usual duties and responsibilities in life.
But after all this, the body needs rest and restoration. It
needs to be re-energized and so the Creator has designed that
we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we lose consciousness of
what is happening around us. Earlier the eyes could see, the
ears could hear, and the skin could touch and feel. But
when we sleep, our senses stop perceiving unless
provoked and we wake up. But we are still alive. After we
sleep, we wake up.
While asleep, we are unconscious but our subconscious

mechanism continues to work and makes us breathe. Our
body goes to sleep, but our mind doesn't. It wanders into
distant lands, even into the unknown with dreams. We
experience images, ideas, emotions, and sensations in a dream
which may seem very real. Dreams happen when we are
asleep, and when we wake up, they dissolve into nothingness.
We may have a couple of dreams every night and dreams may
last for a few seconds or even up to 20 or 30 minutes.
But dreams are dreams. They are not real, unlike what
45
happens when we are awake. Suppose I borrow one

million dollars from you today. After we sleep and wake
up, does the loan remain, or it disappears? ‘Of course, it
remains,’ you will say. You have taken my signature and
have documented the transaction, and I cannot escape it.
You will hound me till you collect both principal and
interest of the loan. But suppose I borrowed one million
dollars from you in your dream when you were fast asleep.
When you wake up and realize that it was just a dream, will
you still approach me to return the one million dollars I
borrowed from you in your dream? Ridiculous! You
wouldn't even try. You clearly understand that this was
just a dream and in reality, I had not borrowed the money
that you had dreamt of.
While we human beings clearly understand the difference

between the ‘waking state’ and the ‘dreaming state’, we
don't really learn how to live life because we don't realize
that even the waking state is like a dream. Thus, we suffer.
To truly live, we must realize the truth – life is like a dream.
How can life be considered a dream? Let's analyze. A

dream is not real. It is just an imagination, a projection of
thoughts, be it a fantasy or a nightmare. When we wake up,
the dream dissolves. But life is different. While the dream
gets over in the sleep during the night, our life doesn't get
over every time we go to sleep. In the dream, I might have
married a princess, but when I wake up, the princess is
gone! However, if I married the princess when I was awake,
the princess will be there when I get up from sleep. There is
continuity in life, day after day, unlike in a dream. The
dream is not real, it appears and disappears. But while we
clearly understand that the dream is an illusion, we rmly
believe that life is real.
46
When we were born, what did we bring with us and when

death occurs, what will we take with us? At birth, we are
born into a family and we build relationships. But at death,
all relationships come to an end. Life too is like one big
dream. The only difference in the life dream is that it starts
when we are born, and it ends when we die. But because we
don't realize that life is but a dream, we scream, we shout,
we ght, thinking everything is real, when in reality, it is
not.
If we contemplate, we will come to the realization that just

like a dream, life too is nothing but projections that seem to
be real. Finally, there is no doubt that life will end just as a
dream ends. Our journey on planet earth will dissolve into
nothingness just like a dream does. Then, why do we take
life so seriously?
Because we don't realize the truth that life is no more than a

dream, we get possessive about people and possessions.
The ego builds its identity remaining ignorant of the truth.
We are quite intelligent when it comes to dreams and we
realize that dreams are just dreams. However, we are
ignorant that even life is a dream. The moment we realize
this truth, we will discover how to live life.
While it sounds very simple, most of us continue to live in

ignorance throughout our lives. We think dreams are not
real, but we think life is real, it's not a dream! Because we
live and die in this cosmic illusion, we suffer. We become
miserable because we misunderstand the true meaning of
life. We know the truth beyond doubt that death is certain,
and everything will dissolve like a dream. But we are
unable to realize this truth and accept it.
47
Because we don’t realize that life too is like a dream, we

take life too seriously. We account for every penny and we
bargain. We cheat. We ght. All because we think, ‘This is
my business, my money, my family,’ when in reality,
nothing is ours. The moment we realize life is like a dream,
we will transcend the ego and we will discover true peace
and bliss.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We think life is real and a dream is just a dream.

Ø What we experience when we are dreaming dissolves
into nothingness.
Ø But what happens when we are awake continues day
after day. It seems very real.
Ø However, the truth is that life is also a dream, a long
dream that starts at birth and ends at death.
Ø Because we don't realize that life is just a dream, we
suffer.
Ø As long as we do not realize this truth, we will not
discover how to live life with peace and bliss.
48
Chapter 13
Nothing Belongs to Us
We spend our entire life making money,

But to this truth we are blind…
We ght, we cheat, we do everything we can,
But ultimately, we will leave everything behind.
Isn't it strange? We human beings think, 'This is my house,
my car, my money, my bank account. Of course, this is my
business, is there any doubt? This is my family.' Throughout
life, we live with this myth that everything belongs to us.
But ultimately, nothing will be ours. We will leave
everything behind.
Is there any doubt about this? If there is, consider the death
of the richest people in the world. What are they taking
with them? Nothing! Although everything seems to belong
to us, we take nothing with us when we depart. We spend
our entire life collecting possessions and creating and
building relationships with people which we will nally
leave behind.
Dave was a millionaire. He spent his entire life chasing success. He

moved from business to business, working 18 hours a day, 7 days a
week. He had interest in real estate, hotels, the mining industry and
he had just started a logistics business. He had a life coach who often
advised him, ‘Stop. Realize that ultimately, nothing will belong to
you.’ But Dave, like many of the millionaires and billionaires of the
world, was blind to the truth. As he was discussing his new
business with his mentor, the coach told him, 'This is my
favourite Montblanc pen. Can your logistics business pack it and
deliver it to me after I die?' Dave was so preoccupied with his
money and success that he just took the package. Later in the
49
evening, he thought, ‘How can our logistics company deliver this

pen after his death? We can deliver it anywhere on earth but can't
give it to him after he dies.’ Dave was struck by a big realization.
He stopped running after his business and started contemplating
life. He asked himself several questions, ‘What am I actually
seeking? What do I really want in life?’
Most of us live life without realizing that ultimately

nothing will belong to us. Life is like a game of monopoly.
We may buy railroads and hotels, and collect all the money,
but in the end, the game will be over, and we will put the
monopoly board and the money back in the box and close
it. So does it happen in life. The game of life will soon end,
and the lid will close over our head. Everything that we
collected throughout the life we lived, will all be left
behind.
We may earn and earn, but the truth is others will burn
what we earn once we die. Whatever belongs to us is only
ours till we die. If we don't use it, we lose it. Therefore, the
wise ones don't just live, earn, and die. They spend before
their end and when they die, others cry for the kind of
amazing life they lived.
Why is it that we all live our life without realizing this

simple truth? Although the reality stares at us in our face,
why do we continue living our life, believing everything to
be ours? We make more money than we need as we are
overtaken by greed. Not just one beautiful house, we buy
several homes in several cities, and even several holiday
homes. To secure ourselves, we have stocks, shares, bonds,
and deposits in the bank. We are constantly accumulating
wealth, be it in gold or diamonds. Why do we forget the
simple truth that none of this belongs to us?
50
It seems that all of humanity is living in a trance. We are all

enveloped by a myth that all this belongs to us. Thus, we
cannot see the truth. In the bargain, we spend our entire life
chasing money, success and wealth and we forget to live
our life.
A rich man who recently died in a Hong Kong hospital told his
trusted friend, 'If only I had spent my life spending my money,
rather than just making it, I would have died a happier man.' The
Hong Kong millionaire is not alone in his thoughts. Most
people seem to live, but in reality, they just exist, and they
die. They zoom from their womb to their tomb without
realizing the truth that nothing belongs to them.
Isn't it time to wake up? Should we not realize that life is a

short journey. We come without anything and when we go,
we will go empty-handed. While we do need resources to
live, why should we invest our entire life creating more and
more resources which will be ultimately left behind? Those
who realize this truth start living in the true sense.
The majority of humanity sees life escaping them as they

continue in their treasure hunt, even though they have
passed the ripe age of 70, or 80 or even 90. The wise ones,
however, stop and go on a quest. They earn to full their
needs and they accomplish noteworthy success, but they
live with the realization that nothing is theirs. Everything is
like a loan given to them. It is a trust that must be handed
over when their life journey comes to an end. Such people
really live life. They are detached from their possessions
and though they love people, they are not attached to them.
Their paradigm of life doesn't view anything as theirs. They
live happy and peaceful lives.
51
What about you? How are you living your life? Do you
realize that nothing belongs to you? Or are you imprisoned
by your ego that believes this is ‘mine’, and that is ‘mine’? If
that is the case, it is time to stop and make a U-turn.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life is a journey that will eventually end.

Ø We come with nothing and when we go, nothing will
go with us.
Ø Unfortunately, most of us don't realize this truth. we
spend our entire life making more money and chasing
success.
Ø In the bargain, we forget to live life, and life escapes us.
Ø Why do we earn and earn, for others to burn what we
earn?
Ø Because we live in ignorance, we just run and run till
life is done.
Ø Very few people realize that nothing belongs to them.
They live a life of detachment. They are the ones who
have learnt how to live life.
52
Chapter 14
Living with Fulfilment and Contentment
ere is a way to live,

With Bliss and Ful lment.
We will have Peace, Joy, and Bliss,
If we live with Contentment.
Why is it that we human beings are unhappy? Throughout
our life, we have desires, expectations and we want more
and more. Somehow, we are never satised. First, we have
a need and we work hard and full our need. Then our
needs increase. We don't realize, but the need becomes
greed. We seek more and more, and, in the bargain, we see a
few achievements, but many more disappointments.
There are a lot of people who think success and achievement

give happiness. They think of life to be a peak and they must
climb to the top. Therefore, though they full their need, their
greed, disguised as goals, dreams and passions, makes them
continue climbing the peak of achievement. They move from
success to success, but suddenly life is over. They never reach
the top! In fact, there is no such peak. The peak of
achievement is an illusion.
John was an achiever. Although he was rich and famous, he

wasn't happy. He was stressed as he overworked himself to keep
up with the image the world had of him. He enviously eyed those
who lived blissfully with contentment and fullment and used to
tell such friends that he too will get out of the rat race and would
stop after he completed his current project. But he never did.
Years passed, but John was caught in the maze to be an ace. One
day, he died as a rich and famous but unhappy man.
53
Living with Fullment and Contentment
Those who learn how to live life, take an exit from the
highway of achievement. They realize that life is not a race.
They stop the chase and switch over to a life of
contentment. They have achieved enough for themselves
and they learn the secret of not letting their need becoming
their greed. They live a life of contentment and fullment.
What is it to live a life of fullment?
Those who live a life of fullment are rst of all, fully

satised and content. Their thirst doesn't make them burst.
They would rather enjoy a life of peace and bliss, than
waste their life accumulating money and fame. Having
achieved noteworthy success, they shift their focus in life
from making money to making a difference. They touch, trigger
and transform people's lives as they ll their life with
positive emotions. They share love and laughter as they
live with faith, hope and enthusiasm. Their inspiration is
contagious. They don't consume their life pursuing their
passions. Instead, they nd a greater purpose and their life
becomes more meaningful. They build a universal
connection with the Divine as they live a life of liberation
and freedom. They are the ones who truly live with
tranquillity and peace. Their life is full of bliss and joy.
But such people are rare. A majority of humanity wants

success and wealth. People trade their happiness for their
dreams and goals. What would you choose? Would you
like to live a life that is fuelled by your passion and
consumed by your desires? Of course, you will experience
excitement, but this would also be accompanied by stress,
worry and anxiety. Most of us get carried away when we
look at successful people, the rich and famous of the world
and we wish we too could be like them. We don't realize the
misery they carry on their heads; the challenges they face to
54
keep up with the expectations of the world. They are

ogged by their own desires, and rarely enjoy peace and
tranquillity. We have a choice. We too can climb that
illusory peak of achievement or choose to live a life of
contentment and fullment.
Life is a gift given to all of us, and we have an intellect to

make choices. If we don't understand the true meaning of
life, then we too will become like machines producing
success. We will not have the time to experience life or
enjoy it. Soon, before we realize it, life will be over.
It would be interesting to ask some rich and successful

people what they would possibly change if they had their
life to live over again. Most achievers would wish that they
had spent more time doing the things they love. They
would not regret that they did not work hard enough or
that they should have achieved more. Now that they have
reached the sunset of their life, they realize how they
should have lived. We, who are still in the prime of our life,
must not follow the herd. We must realize that there is more
to life than success, achievement and money. While these
will give pleasure and temporary happiness, they will not
give eternal bliss that comes from contentment and
fullment. Unfortunately, because we are driven by the
mind and the ego, we too want to be one among the Forbes
Fortune list. We too fall prey in the trap that was set for
those who preceded us. Even if we are the best in that race,
it's still a rat race and of what use is it to live and die like a
rat?
It's time to stop and treasure this gift called 'Life'. We must
discover how to live with bliss, joy and peace. We must
enjoy our life before it escapes us, not consume it and then
55
regret that we did not live our life to its best.
It is far better to live a life of fullment and contentment

than to be caught in the whirlpool of achievement, where
we go round and round in circles, till nally, our life is over.
When we live with fullment and contentment, we go
beyond the ordinary pleasures of life and enjoy peace, the
very foundation of happiness. It is time for us to stop
running towards achievement and enjoy the bliss and
peace that comes from fullment .
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Most people live a life pursuing their passions and

success.
Ø They think life is a peak called achievement, but they
never reach the top.
Ø Some people realize this is an illusion and they take an
exit on the highway of success.
Ø They switch to live a life of contentment and fullment.
Ø Instead of being controlled by their greed, they achieve
noteworthy success and stop after they full their need.
Ø Those who live with fullment, are not only content,
they also live a life of peace and tranquillity; their life is
full of love and laughter and positive emotions.
Ø They develop a universal connection and live with faith
and inspiration, living a life that has meaning and
purpose.
56
Chapter 15
There is a Way to Eternal Happiness
e whole world is seeking Happiness,

We want Joy, Peace and Bliss.
But as long as we don't know how to Live Life,
is treasure we will Miss.
There is a way to eternal happiness, a life of seamless joy
and everlasting peace. Somehow, we human beings have
got into living life like a merry-go-round. We keep going
round and round in this journey called 'Life' as we pass day
and night. We experience pleasure and pain, loss and gain,
sun and rain, and we do this again and again. Before we
realize it, life is over! We believe that this is life, that this is
the way life is meant to be and so, we struggle through life.
Not only do we struggle through this life, but our
ignorance also makes us live as body and mind, that
suffers physical pain and mental misery. As the ego is
agonized and lives in anguish, we are trapped in a prison
of misery.
Our ignorance makes us suffer as we believe that eternal

happiness is just a dream. We think nobody can experience
everlasting joy and peace. Just like every rose has a thorn,
every pleasure must end in pain. Not only do we live
through life experiencing suffering, but we also die
without realizing the truth. Then, we are born again to
suffer once more, and this never ends. The suffering goes
on and on and we don't discover the way to eternal
happiness.
What is the way to eternal happiness? What is eternal
57
happiness? It is that state of bliss and peace that is not

interrupted by misery and suffering. It is like being at the
North Pole on a mid-July night, with the sun never setting.
There are 24 hours of sunlight. Is there a state where we can
actually experience such everlasting joy? There is good
news. There is a way to eternal happiness. We must learn
this art before death makes us depart.
We all know the way to be happy, to live with pleasure, to

experience bliss. But no sooner than we are enjoying life,
that there are disappointments. Our desires, expectations
and cravings are not fullled all the time and thus, our
heart breaks. We cry as we lose that state of joy. So, is it
enough to give up all desires? Will that give us everlasting
happiness? While it will reduce our disappointments and
misery, it will not give us eternal peace.
Some people think they have learnt the 'secret'. They stop
chasing success and start living with fullment. They are
fully satised and content. Do these people experience
eternal happiness? While their life is peaceful and blissful,
they are not insured against suffering and the world
continues to throw sorrow at them.
As long as we live as a body that experiences physical pain,

as a mind that becomes miserable and as an ego that
screams and shouts in anger and anguish, we can never
experience seamless happiness. Seamless happiness is only
achieved when we realize who we are and why we are here.
Then we are transported to a new state of consciousness.
What is this consciousness that guarantees eternal

happiness? A rare few blessed people are graced with the
realization of the truth that they are not the body, mind and
58
ego that suffers. They become conscious of their true self.

They realize they are the Divine Soul. The Soul doesn't
experience any suffering. It is a manifestation of the Divine,
the very life that makes us walk and talk. While all other
aspects of our life, both our gross body and the subtle body
suffer, the Soul is devoid of all this as long as we live with
Soul consciousness. The moment we are able to transcend
the body and its senses, the mind and its wanderings, the
ego and its passionate craving for its identity, we
automatically experience a state of Ananda. Such a state
makes one feel that they are oating in an ocean of
happiness, where there is nothing else except happiness.
To reach such a state, one must be committed to the

realization of the truth and one must develop a resolve to
live life moment by moment being conscious of their true
identity. As long as we live as the Divine Soul, not the body
that we wear, as long as we are able to keep the monkey
mind tamed as a monk, and as long as we realize we are not
this – the body and mind, and we are That, the Divine Soul,
we are blessed with eternal happiness and everlasting
peace.
Do you want to achieve a state of Ananda? Then stop living

a miserable life. Stop being fooled by sensual attractions
that take you away from true happiness. Stop being a
prisoner of the mind that makes you jump from the future
to the past. Overcome the ignorance of the ego that only
lives to make us suffer. Become conscious of our real
Divinity, become an observer of this drama called 'Life'.
View every comedy and tragedy with equanimity and you
will be oating in Ananda as you live life moment by
moment in joy and bliss, far away from the suffering of this
world.
59
Remember, while there is a way to eternal happiness, there

is a price we have to pay for it. We must transcend the ego
and the mind, just as we must control the cravings of the
senses of the body. This is the price to pay for eternal
happiness but it is denitely possible. There is a way to
transcend all suffering and to live a life of bliss, peace and
joy. If we read the Life Manual and we learn how to live life,
this will be one of our biggest gifts - eternal happiness.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Most people live a life that has joy and pain, sunshine
and rain, loss and gain.
Ø We think life is such and there is no way to eternal
happiness.
Ø But there is a way to seamless joy and eternal peace.
Ø If only we transcend the body, mind and ego, we can
experience bliss as the Divine Soul.
Ø Those who live as the manifestation of the Divine,
become conscious of their true self and are free from all
miseries.
Ø If we live in Divine consciousness, we can experience
eternal happiness.
Ø But if we lose the battle to the cravings of the body and
the wandering of the mind, then we will live and die as
the ego that suffers.
60
Chapter 16
We have a Choice
Life is a wonderful gi …
To the intelligent and to the wise.
ey use the gi of the intellect,
And they make the right choice.
If we don't use it, then we lose it. Life is such! We have the
opportunity to choose. Nobody stops us from making a
choice. But most of us don't use this gift of choice.
Somehow, we believe that it is a gift only to a few that are
wise. But the reality is, we are all given the intellect and we
are all gifted with the tool of discrimination. Most of us live
and die without even knowing we possess it.
Most people think they are doomed by what they call 'bad
luck'. They look around and they curse. Their circumstances
are hateworthy and they dread every moment of life. They
don't realize that life has two critical aspects – one, our
circumstances, which we cannot change. And two, the
opportunity to make a choice. Let's delve into both. There
seem to be some things in life that we can't change. We can't
choose our date of birth, our place of birth or our parents
and the nationality or religion we are born into. Whether
we are male or female; white, black or brown - all these
seem to be something we are gifted with, and we don't even
understand why this has happened. Unlike common belief,
this is not just luck, fate or serendipity. These
circumstances are all part of the universal principles, the
Universal Laws that prevail in the universe. There is no
doubt that we can't change these naturally, but we have a
choice to make a change.
61
We have a Choice
Can we change our nationality? We can! If we want to

change our religion, nobody can stop us. Time has come in
the modern world that we can even change our gender. The
fact is, we have a choice. Most things in life are open for us
to choose – what we eat, drink, we wear, is all up to us. We
can choose to educate ourselves the way we like. We can
decide who should be our life partner. All this is a choice.
But do we exercise it?
There will be many in this world who live and die like
Tommy. Tommy is my friend's dog. When I rst went to meet
my friend, I asked him, 'Why is Tommy groaning?' The dog
continued its constant 'Grr….grrr…… grrr……..' 'Oh, don't
worry,' said my friend, 'Tommy is sitting on a nail.''Why does he
not get up? Why is he groaning again and again?' I asked. My
friend smiled and replied, 'Because it is not hurting that much.'
Many of us live through life groaning and moaning. We
accept things as they are. We sit on the nail of life, although
we have a choice to get up and to move.
We must not be like Tommy, moaning and groaning

through life. We must not let anything stop us from making
the right choice. Finally, there is only one entity that can
stop us from choosing – we ourselves! We must realize that
while there are things in life that we can't change, we can
choose everything we do in life and this controls our
happiness more than our circumstances. We can't control
people's actions, but we can control our reactions because
they are ours. If we react negatively and we suffer, we
should not blame our circumstances.
Sometimes, we blame others. We believe that there are

people who stop us from making a decision or there are
limitations that do not let us make a choice. A few of us, are
62
We have a Choice
under pressure, either from family or friends and that stops

us from making that wise decision. Whatever be the reason,
that is another choice – to let faces, fences, forces or farces
stop us from our choice. Suppose we believe a farce, a myth
and we continue to suffer, who is to blame?
If we truly want to make our life meaningful, we must

awaken to the reality that life is a choice. Of course, we must
also learn that whatever is unfolding as our circumstances
is not luck but is returning to us as our Karma. Even Karma
doesn't stop us from making a choice. A human being is the
only gifted creature of all living organisms who has the free
will to choose. We must develop this willpower to be
stronger as we move forward in this journey called 'Life'.
Choices, not chances determine the destiny of our life.

Don't blame luck. Remember, your life doesn't depend on
luck. It depends on pluck! You can mourn as you wait for
others to bring you roses or you can get up and pluck your
own owers. The choice is yours. If you really want to live
life to its best, then activate your power of choice. Become
conscious and aware of everything that you can choose.
You must remember, however, that there are things you
can't choose! You can't choose whether a tsunami, a
typhoon or a hurricane will destroy you. But you can
choose to take a ight to a safer destination.
There are two types of people in this world, one who choose
and the others who lose. If you decide not to choose, then be
prepared to lose this gift called 'Life'. Then things will
happen to you and you will think that they were beyond
your control, when in reality, it was your inaction that
caused it.
63
We have a Choice
Today, you have a choice. You have a Life Manual in your

hands. It is telling you how to live life. It is up to you - you
can decide to read it or you can just dump it - the choice is
yours. It is a Manual that can give you bliss, joy and peace.
It can help you overcome problems. But if you believe that
it is just junk, then nothing can help you make the best of
this gift called ‘Life’. Remember, the choice is in your
hands. Use it or lose it!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life is a choice. If we don't choose, then we will lose

this gift called 'Life'.
Ø We are blessed with an intellect that has the power to
choose.
Ø Some people develop willpower and make wise
choices.
Ø Others live and die as they blame luck. They forget to
pluck.
Ø If you want to make the best of your life, then don't
blame circumstances that you cannot change. But
whatever you can, change it.
Ø Make the right choices because it is your choice that
determines the destiny of your life.
64
Chapter 17
Material Life or a Spiritual Life?
Material life or Spiritual life,

You have to choose one of the two.
Most people live a material life,
Spiritual bliss is a blessing for a few.
Human beings are in essence material in nature. We
believe, we are the body, mind and we have a Soul. We are
driven by our material desires; our senses see something
and seek it. We hear about a new mobile phone and we
want it. We see the pictures of food and we crave for it, just
as we smell a lovely fragrance and want to buy it. It is very
common for a human being to be carried away by the sense
of the skin, to touch someone and then fall in love. If it is not
the senses, the mind can make us wander. This is normal
for any human being. But this will not give us true
happiness. While the majority of us live and die in the
material world, we don't discover the world of real bliss
and joy.
There is another world – the spiritual world. This is a very

different experience. It happens when we realize that these
material pleasures are making us sink in misery, life after
life. We realize that we are not the body that we wear. We
are the ones that wear the body. We come to know that we are
not a human being who is having a spiritual experience. We are
in fact, the Spirit having a human experience.
What is material life? We are born and before we realize it,

we become a slave of the material world. We are attracted
by material pleasures that give us temporary happiness.
65
But we become puppets as we fall prey to advertisements

on the television and brands on huge hoardings on the
streets. We base our life on fullling the need of the body
and mind and before we realize it, the need becomes greed.
We set material goals and we get to see only the outer
surface of life. We are unable to go beyond and deeper to
realize the spiritual world. We are covered by layers of
ignorance that act as dark clouds that stop us from seeing
the clear blue sky and the beautiful sunshine that lie
beyond. We live as the body only to die, and we don't
realize the Soul.
Even those people who live a material life can be divided

into two categories– rst, who just believe that they are the
body and at death it is 'game over!'. They live a purely
material life and sometimes lack love, kindness, and
compassion as they are blind to what others feel. The
second lot believes in the Law of Karma. Though they live a
material life, they somehow believe in the words of the
scripture – As you sow, so shall you reap. Thus, they try to live
with ethics and values, being kind and compassionate,
although they live a material life. Still, they suffer due to
ignorance of the truth.
These people live as the ego and are responsible for their
Karma, their actions. At death, the body returns to dust but
they are reborn in a new body. The mind and the ego, that
was the driver of their actions is rewarded or punished for
their past actions in the new life that they will begin.
Spiritual life is very different. It is believing in the Divine

Spirit, that is the very life within us. It often starts with
being religious and believing in God. The baby steps are
faith, hope, trust and enthusiasm. However, even those
66
living a material life may follow these baby steps as they

live in a material world. Spiritual life takes one deeper. It
makes one ask questions and investigate the basis of our
existence. It tries to go deeper to understand the Soul or the
Atman. It doesn't blindly follow religion and scripture.
One who lives a spiritual life, slowly transcends the body

and the senses knowing that these are the causes of
suffering. While material pleasures are attractive, those
who live a spiritual life choose a life of peace and
contentment, as they let go of material desires and
cravings. They seem to have different aspirations. Their
focus is to realize God and thus, they start on the journey of
self-realization. Not everybody who lives a spiritual life
attains the ultimate goal of spirituality.
While a majority of the world lives a material life, it is the

ones who live a spiritual life that experience true peace and
happiness. They discover the meaning of life as they
overcome the illusions of the material world. They accept
death as a reality, and unlike those who are prisoners in
their material world, the spiritual ones enjoy liberation and
freedom from misery and sorrow.
We all have a choice, not only to do what we like to do, but to

choose our path of life. While most of humanity is on the
highway of achievement, seeking success, money, wealth,
name and fame, there are a few that take the road less
travelled. They tread on the spiritual path and start their
journey towards achieving their ultimate goal of life. To the
material ones, life is just to live - eat, drink, and be merry. To
the spiritual ones, there is a deeper meaning and purpose in
life. They don't get carried away by the attractive pleasures of
the material world that are transitory. They seek everlasting
67
bliss and eternal peace.
Each of us must make this choice. Do we want to live life

and just consume it as we zoom to our tomb? Or do we
want to stop and realize the truth? Are we willing to trade
momentary pleasures for eternal happiness? That is our
choice. That is the right way to live. We must activate our
intellect as we discriminate and make the right choice.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We have a choice. We can choose to live a material life

or a spiritual life.
Ø Most of humanity is carried away by sense pleasures.
They experience only momentary happiness.
Ø There are a few amongst these who live with prayer
following the Law of Karma.
Ø However, very few are fortunate to go on the spiritual
path, to realize the truth.
Ø They are free from the prison of material pleasures,
desires, and cravings.
Ø They are the ones who overcome all misery and attain
eternal bliss and everlasting peace.
68
Chapter 18
Discover the Intellect
Of what use is it to discover,

What lies on Mars and in the Stars,
If Man does not discover the Intellect,
e weapon of discrimination that is ours.
We human beings are busy discovering how to nd a cure
for the heart and the brain. We are constantly trying to
improve technology for the train and the plane. But we
have not stopped to realize the biggest gift that we are
blessed with – the intellect.
Scientists around the world know of the brain, but because

they seek proof for everything, they have not discovered
the subtle body. Spirituality talks of this as MIME – the
Mind, Intellect, Memory and Ego. Because there is no
scientic proof of the MIME, we only record what we know
of as the brain and nervous system. How then can science
justify the presence of the intellect?
Thousands of years ago, spirituality tried to awaken our

ancient civilizations to man's biggest gift – the power of his
intellect. The ancient sages spoke about how plants too
may have life, but they don't have a mind and thus, do not
respond. Animals respond as they have a mind. They even
feel pain. Human beings are the only living creatures, the
most advanced of all, who have an intellect. The intellect
can discriminate what is wrong from what is right, just as
we can discriminate black from white. Through the power
of the intellect, man is gifted with the ability to distinguish
between the truth and the myth, the good and the bad, and
69
after contemplating, he can make the right choices.
For centuries, we have confused the mind with the MIME –

the Mind, Intellect, Memory, Ego. Somehow, we have
believed that all this is the mind. But the faculty of memory
and intelligence is not the same as the mind. The mind only
produces thoughts. But it is the intellect that discriminates
what we must do and what we must not, just like the
memory has a very different function. Its purpose is to
record whatever is happening in our life and to be able to
recall it when we need to. However, most of us believe all
these faculties are that of the mind. This is a myth.
While man is gifted with the power of intellect, which is

very unique and special, man does not use it all the time.
We are not conscious that we have to develop this faculty
and put it above the mind. Most of the time, the mind
bombards us with thoughts and the inactive intellect
remains a powerless spectator as we are swept away by
thoughts and feelings that seem to develop into our
emotional choices. If we activate the intellect, we stop this
barrage of emotional reactions, then we begin to use the
power of the intellect to understand, evaluate, discriminate,
and choose. We live with intellectual choices rather than
emotional ones. This is the right way to live.
What should we do to live a life that is controlled by the

intellect? The rst step is to realize that the mind is a rascal.
It is a monkey that keeps jumping. The mind is not the king.
It is foolish to think that the mind is everything. The mind is
only a thought factory and it will produce thoughts based
on the emotions that we feed our thought factory. If we feed
the thought factory with negative emotions like fear,
worry, hate, jealousy, anger and revenge, then our mind
70
will produce negative thoughts which are poisonous.

However, if we feed our mind with positive emotions, like
faith, hope, trust, love, courage, enthusiasm and
condence, then our mind will produce positive thoughts.
Who decides what raw material we should feed our mind?
It is the intellect. The intellect is the tool that helps us
choose. It is like a valve that stops the mind from pushing
us into living a life of negative poison. The intellect can
choose thoughts that will ultimately become feelings and
make us happy as it will make us live with faith and be
optimistic. While the mind may force us to live with fear, it
is the intellect that brings forward the facts and helps us
contemplate. The intellect discriminates between fear and
danger. Unfortunately, not many of us develop the
intellect.
The moment we have a well-developed intellect, we are no

more the slaves of the mind. Otherwise, the mind acts like a
dictator and pushes the body to act without intelligently
choosing what we must do. If we realize the truth about the
intellect, then not only will we discover its signicance, but
we will make it in charge of our life.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that our body is like a

chariot with 5 horses – our 5 senses. These are controlled by
the reins, the mind. However, unless there is a charioteer
who holds the reins, the 5 horses will go wild. The
charioteer is the intellect. The intellect controls the mind
that controls the senses.
When will we realize that our biggest wealth is our

th
intellect? Adi Shankaracharya, in the 8 century, wrote a
book – Vivekachudamani. Translated, this means – the
intellect is our most valuable treasure. He explains how
71
man must learn to be free. Our ultimate goal is liberation.

We are prisoners of our own mind. If we want to be truly
happy, we must be free from the clutches of the mind and
the cravings of the body. Only then, can we live a life of
peace and joy. For this, we must live our life making our
intellect the Master over the mind.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Man is the only living organism who is blessed with an

intellect.
Ø Plants and animals do not have the faculty of
discrimination.
Ø Unfortunately, man has not developed his intellect.
Most of the time, we are the slaves of the mind.
Ø The mind makes us live with our emotional decisions.
Ø Until we discover the intellect and activate it, we will
not make intelligent choices.
Ø If we really want to be happy, we must put the intellect
in charge of our life. Then we will discern what is right
and choose the way we live.
72
Chapter 19
Success is Not Happiness
Success is not Happiness,

Happiness is Success.
ose who mix up the two,
End their life in a mess.
We human beings are taught right from the time we are in
school, that we must be the best. We must come rst in
class. We should succeed in cricket, in debates, and in
quizzes. We have been indoctrinated into believing that
Life = Success! We grow up being programmed to believe
that we must be an achiever because achievement will give
us happiness. But this is a myth. This is not true.
If success was happiness, then all the successful people in

the world would be happy. But is this so? If we look
around, we see misery in the homes of the rich and famous,
which sometimes ends in suicide. If success was happiness,
then the rich should be glad, not sad. Somehow, the world
has grown up believing in the illusion that success is
happiness.
There is no doubt that success gives us name and fame and

it also creates wealth that gives us pleasure. But is pleasure
happiness? Pleasure is only momentary happiness and
although we may love a pizza, but if we are served 3 pizzas,
chances are that we will be fed up. There is a Law of
Diminishing Returns when it comes to the things we crave
for.
Success is not bad, and everybody must work towards
73
achieving something in life. But when we believe that only

success can give happiness, we head in the wrong
direction. We let our needs become our greed and we want
more and more. For us human beings, enough is not
enough. We live with desires and we crave till our grave,
seeking happiness, but not being happy.
Then, there is the 'Paradox of Success'. While the Olympic

champion celebrates victory with a gold medal, the one
who gets the silver with half the prize money cries, because
the expectation was to be the champion. Paradoxically, the
one who received the bronze dances with joy because there
was no expectation to win. Even when we achieve success
like marrying the person we love or getting a dream job or
the target that we were aiming at, we soon lose the
excitement and yearn for something else.
Life is not just about achieving success. Once we achieve

noteworthy success, we must learn to live life with
contentment and fullment. If we make success the
philosophy of our life, we may end up being an achiever,
but we will not experience true happiness. We will be so
busy chasing our dreams and heading towards the
destination, that we will forget that life is a journey, not a
destination.
Even if we achieve success, we end up being stressed and

anxious, either protecting the title or the wealth we possess.
Thus, we hardly enjoy it. Then we compare our success
with that of others, and we become jealous and unhappy.
What about those who fail? They end up being the most
miserable! Right from the beginning, success creates stress
and makes our life a mess. Somehow, the world believes
that success is everything and somebody reading this for
74
the rst time, will think all this is garbage. Unless we

introspect and contemplate the true purpose of life, we too
will continue climbing the peak of achievement, which is
an illusion. One day, we will fall off the cliff of that illusory
journey, into our graves. Then life will be over.
Can we take our success with us? Nothing belongs to us. In

the end, our success will dissolve and the very thing that
promised us happiness will disappear. Alas, all that it did
in the bargain was that it stole our life away!
Life is meant to be lived. Life is not a success chase. A very

few people are fortunate to stop and understand the true
meaning of life. They discover that the equation that they
have been taught is wrong. Success is not happiness.
Happiness is success! All through life, we seek to be
successful, because we believe that success will give us
happiness. But it doesn't! If we realize the truth that
happiness is success, then we can develop the art of
happiness and be happy without pursuing success.
The wise ones achieve the objective of success without

wasting their life creating it. They live far more peaceful
and blissful lives. They learn to achieve noteworthy success
and then stop. They take an exit from the highway of
achievement and live a life of contentment and fullment.
All this because they realize the truth – Success is not
happiness.
If we really want to live life, we must break the myth that

the world lives with. The whole world is seeking happiness
but chasing success. How will they ever nd it! Happiness
is not about achieving bliss. It is all about being happy. We
must remember that we may have everything and still be
75
unhappy, just as we may have nothing, but be very happy.

If you are in the mad pursuit of success, it is time to stop and
to live before life is over.
Finally, ask yourself this question - can you be successful all

the time? You can’t. But can you be blissful all the time? You
can. What would you choose?
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Success is not happiness. Somehow, we are taught this

myth and we grow up believing it.
Ø We chase success and before we realize it, life is over.
Ø The wise ones realize that the equation is wrong.
Success is not happiness. Happiness is success!
Ø They take an exit from the highway of achievement
and live with contentment and fullment.
Ø Those who keep chasing success, forget to live their life
and then, it’s too late.
Ø It's time to stop seeking success and to start being
happy.
76
Chapter 20
Money is Not Everything
Of course, money is important...

It helps us make a living
But we must discover the truth of life,
at money can't buy everything.
There is a big debate in the world on the importance of
money. Even a fool will agree that we need money to live.
Life without money would be a tragedy. We need money
for our food, our clothing and our home. Money is very
important, but unfortunately, we start believing that
money is everything. We become so blind that we keep
chasing money. We even make money our God!
There are different types of people in this world. There are

those who develop the art of being happy, eating a simple
cheese pizza. But there are others who go to an expensive
restaurant to eat imported crabs and lobsters to ll their
stomach. There are women who are satised buying a
designer bag at Zara or Charles & Keith, but there are some
who will crave for a Louis Vuitton or Bottega Veneta
handbag. We may desire many things and to full these
desires, we can make money the ultimate objective of our
life. But where will this take us? Even if we get this branded
merchandise, will we be satised?
A man was eying the new Mercedes Benz and had saved all his
money to get it. But the next day, after he had celebrated his new
car with a glass of Champagne, he was heartbroken, because his
neighbour had bought an even better car, the latest model of
BMW.
77
We human beings tend to believe that money is everything,

when in reality, it is not. We somehow are unable to choose
a balanced way of life where we give importance to money
but don't believe that it is the only thing that we should
focus on.
Somebody said it very well that with money you can buy a
diamond ring, but you can't buy true love. With money you
can buy an expensive mattress, but you can't buy sleep.
With money you can buy all the medicines in the world, but
you can't buy health. Yes, while you can buy many things in
this world, you can't buy life.
Life is priceless. It is our biggest gift. But unfortunately, we

make money a priority in life, so much so, that we are
unable to understand the signicance of life. Because the
whole world salutes those who have money, we tend to
follow the herd. In fact, some people are so poor, the only thing
they have is money. As we read this contradictory thought,
we may start wondering and even worrying what life
would be without money. We should immediately stop
and put our thoughts in perspective. Nobody ever said that
poverty is a good thing. Each of us is blessed to earn our
money and to live. But is the objective of life to make more
and more money?
Does becoming rich guarantee that we are going to have a

better, happier life? Unfortunately, those who don't have
money look up to those who do and wish that they could be
in their place. In fact, they spend their entire life trying to
make money, and sometimes, life is over in the chase of
cash. If you look at those who have a lot of money, most of
them are so enamoured with their plastic life, that they seek
to continue to make money, as they fear the loss of nancial
78
resources will not only make them lose their standard of

living but also their name in society.
Then there are those who have so much money that they
are stressed managing their wealth. Their money may be in
cash, in banks, in stocks or shares, in business or even in
expensive jewellery and merchandise they stock at home.
Their life is spent dealing with their anxiety of having too
much money and managing it. They live and die with the
myth – Money is everything. But is it so?
Those who treasure life and want to make the best of it, stop
and introspect the role of money in life. Neither do they
condemn money as evil, nor do they make money their
God. They correct those who read the Bible wrongly –
Money is the root cause of all evil. This is not what the
scriptures say. Love of money is the root cause of all evil.
Those who escape from this craving of money and wealth,

lead far more peaceful lives. They may not have all the
riches to live in expensive bungalows and drive the world's
best cars, but they sleep peacefully at night. After all, isn't
that more important than money?
We have a choice. We can start our life with a goal and

ambition to make a certain amount of money and then,
continue to be greedy, wanting more and more. Or we can
make sufcient money to live a decent life and then, make
the best of this gift called 'Life'. It is most unfortunate, that
very few people are blessed to do so. We are attached to our
possessions and we want to please the people in our life
with all the expensive things that need money. Thus, we
exchange our life for money and soon, we are left with a lot
of money, but no life!
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Of course, it will be foolish to say money is nothing. But it

will be even more foolish to believe that money is
everything. Money has a place in life but we can’t take
money with us when we depart from this world. We must
understand the meaning of life, that is far more important
than just living our life in pursuit of money. Peace, bliss and
joy are greater treasures and what is more important is to
achieve the ultimate goal - to realize we are the Soul and
unite with the Divine.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø To truly live a meaningful life, we must realize that

money is not everything
Ø While money is important, it has limited uses.
Ø Money can buy a bed, but not sleep. It can't buy
everything.
Ø Poverty is not a good thing and we need money to live.
Ø However, we should not spend our entire life making
money.
Ø In the end, we will have money, but life will be over.
Ø We must learn to live our life, valuing money, but not
making it our God.
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Chapter 21
Living with Detachment
What is living with Detachment?

Should we give up everything?
Sure we can love our 'loved ones'
But not be a slave of any being.
In this journey of life, a lot is spoken about being detached.
What does it mean? What is detachment? Why should we
be detached? Why is detachment even a subject in the Life
Manual?
Attachment is a common attribute of a human being. We

human beings get attached to people and to things. Where
does this come from? It starts with desire. Suppose we
desire a Ferrari car, we dream of it, until one day, after a lot
of hard work, we buy our dream car. This car is something
very special to us. It is not like any other car. We love it! We
seek it and we are possessive about it. We even clean it with
our own hands, because we don't want anyone to scratch it.
We are attached to it. People may be attached to their
Ferrari car or their Montblanc pen. Some are so attached to
their mobile phone or laptop that they won't let you touch
it. Why? This is a personality trait of a human being. Based
on certain emotions, it is natural for a human being to be
attached to things.
More than being attached to things, we human beings are

attached to people and we think it is love. But love is very
different. When we are attached to somebody, we become
overly protective, overly cautious and very possessive
about them and their life. The fear of losing them is
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immense and we try to please them all the time. It is not

something we do but rather we just become attached to
some people.
It is very difcult to analyse why we become attached to

specic people. We are not attached to all our friends, but
there may be one friend we are specically attached to, and
he or she becomes our best friend. Sometimes, we are
attached to our parents or children. It is very common for a
mother to be attached to a child she gives birth to. So, what
is wrong in being attached? Why must we learn to live with
detachment?
There was once a man who was very attached to his teenaged
daughter. One day, she did not return in the evening and he
rushed to her college only to nd that no one was there. He
frantically started calling everybody he could think of—her
teachers, her friends, the neighbours but nobody could trace her.
His attachment was so intense that it led to fear and he called the
police and asked them to start a search. His anxiety heightened
and he started calling all the nearby hospitals one by one, checking
if anybody with her description had been admitted but he could
not nd trace of her. Later that evening, a car stopped outside the
house and his daughter walked into the house. He was aghast!
‘Where were you?’ he screamed. She smiled and replied, ‘I told
you last week that I had a new Buddhist friend and I will be going
for chanting and meditation for a few hours. That's why my
phone was switched off.’ He was so relieved. He loved his
daughter. But his love was not just love, it was attachment. That
is why he got paranoid, instead of peacefully awaiting her return.
What does attachment do? It makes us possessive of people

and things. It leads to fear and anxiety, as we worry about
those people and things we are attached to. Is this the right
way to live?
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The learned sages of the world have written a simple

prescription for peace and happiness – Live with
Detachment. Unfortunately, we have not learned to do so.
Not only have we ignored an invaluable suggestion but we
have also misunderstood it. Living with Detachment does
not mean we must not love our near and dear ones. It just
disciplines us into not being attached, because the problem
is our attachment. Fear of losing our loved ones makes us
miserable. A woman was so attached to her beloved husband,
that she became possessive about him. She began to doubt him and
eventually lost him. He too loved her, but he was attached to none.
He lived a life that appeared as love on the outside but detached
within. This is a lesson for us to learn.
When we become attached to people and things, we

become a slave to them. They control us and our wellbeing
is held to ransom by our own attachment. If only we live a
life of detachment, we can be free and liberated. We will
overcome the fear of losing the person or the thing we are
attached to. This is the way to live.
People misunderstand detachment as not loving anybody

or anything. We can be madly in love with a person and
even express our love, but being detached means, not being
a slave to that person's actions and words. Attachment
makes us hurt at everything the person says or does, and it
emotionally drains us. We must learn to let go from the
inside, even as we tie strong bonds on the outside. That is to
truly live with detachment. Those who live with detachment
enjoy life without being enslaved by the fear of losing people
or the things they love so much. We must learn to live a life
of detachment if we want to live in peace.
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This Life Manual will teach us the art of joyous living

without attachment. As we realize the truth we will live
with peace, conscious of the truth that everything is a
drama. Nobody belongs to us. Nothing is ours. We come
empty handed and when we go we can take nothing with
us. It is better that we live with detachment and not lose our
Peace of Mind.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø It is very common for human beings to be attached.

Ø We become attached to some of our favourite things.
Ø We also become attached to people whom we love.
Ø When we are attached, we tend to become miserable as
we become over-possessive.
Ø Attachment also makes us fear losing those whom we
are in love with.
Ø If we really want to live a life of peace, we must learn to
live with detachment.
Ø Detachment does not mean we don't love somebody.
Ø There may be tremendous love on the outside, but we
can be detached inside.
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Chapter 22
Living in the World
ere is a way to live in this world,

Which most of us just miss.
We seek, we crave, we desire, just these...
Happiness, Peace, and Bliss.
How should one live in the world? Most of us don't live life.
We just consume life chasing success, achievement,
wealth, name and fame. Ultimately, we want happiness,
peace, and bliss. But we don't achieve these. We are so busy
trying to get to our destination, that we forget to enjoy the
journey.
What is life? It is the journey between birth and death.

Nobody can escape death. Ultimately, we will have to go.
This is just a show! But we don't realize this. Therefore, all
that we do in life is to earn and earn and earn, only for
others to burn what we earn. We are so busy doing things,
that we put off happiness for a later date. For reasons
unknown, man lets his greed take over his need and wants
more, more, and even more. Eventually, he has too much,
much more than he needs. Finally, he will leave all this
behind.
Although all of us know this, we don't realize the truth.

Like the generations that have gone before us, we too
continue to live in ignorance and ultimately, we suffer the
triple suffering of body, mind, and ego. We don't discover
how we should live in this world.
We human beings have come to planet earth with a reason,
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Living in the World
a purpose. It is perfectly alright to seek happiness and to

enjoy this world. But instead of doing so, we sink into this
world and forget to discover our purpose of life. If we want
to truly live in this world, we must understand what this
world is, who we are in reality and what this life is all about.
Eventually, the body will die, but what happens to the one
who was alive? Because we don't ask these questions, we
continue to live with ignorance, and we don't attain the
happiness that we seek.
Those reading this philosophy and book for the rst time will
encounter a few questions, 'Isn't life just to have fun, to enjoy
with friends, to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries? Isn't
this beautiful world for us to make merry, to eat, to drink and
to indulge?' Most of the world believes that life is about
earning and spending, falling in love, enjoying sex and
romance, getting married, having a family, travelling the
world and then leaving the world! Sure, there is no harm in
doing all of this. But while we live in this beautiful world,
should we not discover who we are and why we are here? Or
should we just exist till we die, without realizing why we
came to planet earth?
Most of us pray to the God of our religion. But there are not
many who understand who God is, where God is, what
God is. They mumble something, but they don't know what
they say when they pray. And then, there are others who
are so lost in this world, that they forget God. Should we
not stop to ponder on who created this planet, the stars in
the cosmos, the mountains, the rivers, the seas, the birds,
the animals and the trees? Sure, our parents caused us to be
born, but who created the life that makes our heart beat?
Who decided the time and place of our birth or the country
and religion we belong to?
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Living in the World
Does everything in this world happen by magic, or is there

some intelligent design that has created the gorgeous
owers, the beautiful birds and the exotic underwater
world? How did these playful dolphins come about and
who created the penguins? Isn’t life meant to discover the
truth before our journey is over or must we just live, exist,
and die?
We have a choice on how we will live in this world. A book

like this may come into our hands and we may ing it or
decorate it on our library shelf. But there will be some
people who will read such a book, ask questions and then
realize what life is all about. They are the ones who truly
live.
The majority of humanity lives in this world without a clue

about their life. Reading a Life Manual is a far-fetched
thing. They are not even interested in listening to
somebody who is explaining what life is and how it must be
lived. After all, unless we learn the secrets and realize the
truth, how will we attain true bliss? How will we
experience eternal peace and everlasting joy?
There is a way to live life. Just following the protocols of our

religion, our society and our family like a herd without
realizing what we are doing will take us nowhere. We must
y like a bird in the open skies of life trying to discover life.
To truly enjoy this gift called 'Life', we must learn to ask
questions, to investigate the various options and to realize
the truth. We must use the gift of our intellect and the
power of will and choice, to choose the way we want to live.
Either, we too can just exist, enjoy and nally exit the world
or we can stop to realize the truth.
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Living in the World
Life comes to us but once. We must make the best of it. If we

don’t use it, we will lose it. We cannot save our life like we
save money in a bank. Life has to be lived. We must make
the best use of each day. It has 1440 invaluable minutes
which are ticking away. Alas, we don’t use our life and
soon it is gone!
How would you like to live life? Are you the one who will
destroy a beautiful new gadget before you read the
Operating Manual, or will you study what the treasure is
before getting it to work? The choice is yours.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We all think that we live. But unfortunately, we don't

realize that we just exist.
Ø We come into this world, and ultimately we will die.
Ø We don't discover what life is really all about because
we don't ask questions.
Ø We just follow the herd and before we realize it, life is
over.
Ø To live a life of bliss, joy, and peace, we must
investigate and realize the truth.
Ø There is a purpose, a deeper meaning for us appearing
on earth.
Ø While it is good to celebrate and enjoy life, we must not
forget to discover what life truly is and how to live it.
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Chapter 23
Stress, Worry, and Anxiety
Why do we worry? Why do we fear?

Why do we let stress and anxiety appear?
Because we don't realize that the cause is our mind,
e rascal plays havoc, and peace we don't nd.
What is the use of living with stress, worry, and anxiety?
Why do we fear, regret and live with these emotions again
and again? Do we do it by choice? It seems we are helpless
prisoners who are enslaved by these negative emotions
and we live and die with them. We don't realize that
emotions are 'Energy in MOTION'. They drive our thought
process.
Many of us realize it is useless to fear. It is meaningless to

live with stress, worry, and anxiety. These make us miserable
and we feel so helpless when these take charge of our life.
However, we don't go on a quest to nd a way out. There is
a way to eliminate these negative emotions.
It is our own mind that produces negative thoughts and

these trigger negative feelings. They cause us misery
because our mind bombards us with these thoughts again
and again. Thoughts create feelings and the feelings manifest
as our actions and our life.
Many people feel so helpless. They hate these negative

emotions, but they don't realize that they have a choice to
eliminate them. They have not learnt the art to ip over
from NEP to PEP. What is NEP? It is Negative Energy
Poison. Many emotions in our life create poison, like anger,
89
hate, jealousy, revenge, and fear. These emotions become

the raw material of the factory that produces thoughts – our
own mind. Our mind produces thoughts depending on
what we feed it. If the raw material we feed the mind is
negative, then obviously, the thoughts will be negative,
and they will poison our entire being. It will create stress
and anxiety.
But suppose we ip over from NEP to PEP; PEP is Positive

Energy Power, we feed our mind with positive emotions
that create power. Emotions like faith, hope, trust, love,
compassion, courage and condence. These emotions act
as the raw material and the mind will start producing
positive thoughts. Then there will be no stress and anxiety.
We must learn how to ip over, how to change our

emotions. This is a choice. We are all blessed with an
intellect which can discriminate and then, execute through
our willpower. If we choose positive emotions, we can
wipe out the messengers of misery that are constantly
produced by our mind. We can eliminate poisonous,
negative, toxic emotions and replace these with healthy,
nourishing, positive and powerful emotions. But this is a
choice.
Those who learn how to live life, do not feel helpless when
they are bombarded with negative thoughts. They realize
that they can take charge of their mind. They have learnt the
art of minding the mind and so, they control the negative
monster and make it a silent monk. They use the power of
thought effectively, as they eliminate the useless negative
emotions. Not only do they take charge of their thoughts,
but they also take charge of their feelings and actions. They
develop positive habits that build the foundation for a
90
positive character and destiny. However, this is a choice.
But what about the common man? He continues to say, 'I

am worried, I am stressed out! I fear.' He doesn't realize that
it is his mind that is experiencing these emotions. He has
not learnt to separate himself from the mind. Those who
become conscious that they are not the mind, but rather,
they have a mind, they don't suffer the misery of the mind.
They watch the mind as it experiences fear, but they don't
become fearful. They observe the mind generating worry
and stress, but they become immune to such negativity.
They just let these thoughts blow over like the breeze and
not defeat them. They realize the uselessness of stress and
anxiety. Not only do they overcome worry and fear, but
they stay away from hate, revenge, jealousy and envy. They
become conscious that their mind is their enemy and it
produces these negative thoughts to make us suffer.
Because they have learnt the art to live, they bounce back
with faith, enthusiasm, courage and condence. When hate
comes, they replace it with love and when the mind creates
despair, they shoot back at it with hope. They replace fear
with courage, just as they choose to forgive and to forget.
Their life becomes a garden of roses as they eliminate the
thorns of life. Such people are always cheerful. They smile.
But it doesn't take long to look at a person and know that he
is drowning in depression because such a person is a
prisoner of his own mind. Unfortunately, such people do
not realize that all it takes to get out of this mess, is to
understand life and live it.
Life is beautiful and there will be situations in this drama

called 'Life' that may cause us anxiety. But once we realize
how to deal with it, we will just let go. Not only will we
91
surrender and accept, but we will replace the negative with

the positive as we learn to laugh through life. Eventually, it
is just a drama and we will face the nal moment of ‘The
End’. Then why live with stress and worry, and not enjoy
life?
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Our life is in our hands. We can choose to be negative or

positive. It's our choice.
Ø If we choose negativity, we will drown with worry and
anxiety.
Ø If we ip over from NEP to PEP, then we can live with
courage and condence.
Ø NEP is Negative Energy Poison and PEP is Positive
Energy Power - the negative and positive emotions.
Ø Those who learn to live life, learn to enjoy it as they take
control of their mind and its negative thoughts.
Ø They replace the negativity with positive emotions as
they live with faith, and laugh with enthusiasm.
Ø They choose a life of Optimism over Pessimism and
overcome all stress, worry and anxiety.
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Chapter 24
Live! Don’t just Exist
Life is a precious gi ,
Given to us to live.
Alas, many of us just exist!
Neither do we give, nor forgive.
What is life all about? All of us live, but many of us in reality,
just exist. We go through the motion called 'Life'. We
breathe, we wake up in the morning, we eat, we make merry
and we sleep. Eventually, we die. We forget to live life. We
human beings have been given the most precious gift of a
human life. Can a tree choose what it can do? It is bound to
the ground. It is meant to exist, not live. Animals are luckier.
They can move and explore the world. Some of them can
love and be loved. They become our darling pets and wag
their tails or use the gift of their voice to communicate
through their sounds. They seem to have some kind of an
instinct, but they too can't choose how to live. They survive,
till one day they die.
But human beings are unique. We are gifted with an

intellect. The intellect discriminates as it helps us choose.
Then, we use our willpower to decide. Some of us truly live,
while others, we just exist! What is it to live and not to exist?
Life has a purpose. We did not come to planet earth for

nothing. Unfortunately, we have not realized the purpose of
life. In fact, all living creatures and organisms have a
purpose. Plants were created to provide oxygen for human
beings. If there were no plants, how would the carbon
dioxide that 8 billion people breathe out, get converted back
93
into oxygen. Plants also provide food, building materials,

medicines. But we human beings haven't stopped to realize
what our purpose is.
The Creator has made a unique world and if we stop to

introspect, we will be amazed at creation. The fascinating
world of the birds, the amazing animals in the jungle and
the glorious underwater world must inspire us to realize
there is a purpose for us human beings. Unfortunately,
these creations of the Divine have a purpose, but they don't
need to nd their purpose. Through certain laws of nature,
the Divine has organized the world in such a way that
things happen automatically.
However, there is one thing that other living organisms

don't have and that is the gift of the intellect. It is this gift
that lets us discriminate and choose what we must do. We
are the only living beings who can decide what we want.
This is because it was meant for us to discover our purpose
and not just exist or survive like the rest of creation.
Many people just exist. Of course, they choose what they

eat, what they wear and where they go. But they don't
contemplate life's purpose. While it seems that they live,
they exist till they die. A very few people actually stop to
live. They stop to wonder what life is all about. Not only do
they appreciate the beauty of nature and creation, but they
also fold their hands and bow down in prayer, expressing
their gratitude to the Creator. This too is a choice and we are
blessed to pray, although not everybody does. Have you
ever seen a dog, a cat or an elephant, fold its hand in prayer?
That is probably why they were designed with 4 legs. Do
we even realize that we have 2 hands that are precious and
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meant to do things? This is a unique gift to us humans!
A human being is very unique. Unfortunately, we take

things for granted. We, sometimes, simply sway like the
trees without realizing that they don't have a choice, but we
do. The trees go by the breeze, but we can choose to conquer
the seas. We can do what we want, go where we like and
even discover our purpose on earth.
Look around and observe how many people are truly

living. Most of them are having a blast with life till it lasts.
They think life is all about being merry, eating, drinking,
enjoying and above all, being happy. But humanity is not
happy. We experience pain and suffering, only because we
forget to live, we forget to discover the purpose of life. The
few people who decide not just to exist, but to truly live,
they live life moment by moment as it should be lived. They
are conscious of every moment, as they experience a state of
blissful consciousness. They discover the purpose of life.
Do those who exist even realize that they are just existing?
Are those people who are not truly living life even aware
that they have not made the best of their treasure called
‘Life’?
James had moved to a town from a small village. He was given a

smartphone and he was amazed. Smartphones were unheard of in
his village. Even cell phones were rare. James loved the idea of
calling folks back home and thought it was a great device. But he
had not discovered all the features of his handset. When Robert
started explaining that he could also make video calls, he could
browse the internet, he could use so many apps, he could stream
live videos on social media and do so much more, he was
abbergasted. He had not discovered the true potential of his gift.
95
We human beings may laugh at James but aren't we too like

him? We have been given this beautiful gift called 'Life'. We
have not explored the possibilities as we have not
discovered our purpose. We think life is great when in
reality, we haven't used any of life's possibilities!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life is a gift. We must not just exist, rather we must

live.
Ø Most people think the purpose of life is to be happy, to
make merry.
Ø A very few people realize that there is a deeper
meaning, a purpose in life.
Ø Life has far more possibilities, but we have not
discovered these.
Ø We are not like the trees and the animals that just exist.
Ø We have been blessed with an intellect to discriminate,
to make choices, and to discover the true purpose of
life.
Ø When will we stop existing and start living? When will
we discover the true potential and purpose of life?
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Chapter 25
What is the Purpose of Life?
Do you know
Why we came to planet earth?
Have you discovered
The purpose of this human birth?
Many people nd this to be a strange question – why did
we come to earth? Why did we take birth? Did it happen
just by chance? Nothing happens by chance. It all happens
by design. We didn't land upon the earth without rhyme or
reason. Our birth is controlled by the Law of Karma. Once
born, we are in command of our actions. Either we can drift
through life and reach our end, or we can discover the
purpose of life.
What is the purpose of life? Life is the journey between

birth and death. Neither can we control birth, nor can we
control death. But we are in charge of everything that
happens in between. If we don't discover the purpose of
life, then we will just come back to planet earth again and
again. We would have a new body, but as per Karma, we
would experience the triple suffering as we visit this planet
again and again.
Is there a way to escape this transmigration, this constant

cycle of death and rebirth? The Buddha, the Enlightened
and the Awakened One shared his realization, that is
known as Nirvana. It is an escape from this cycle through a
process of self-realization. Different saints have given this
different names, but it means the same–that one ultimate
goal—our life's purpose. The purpose is to discover who
97
we are and why we are here. Most human beings don't have
a clue about the purpose of life. They don't believe that
there is something called Karma or rebirth. They just live
and they die, and they think life is just to have fun. We too
can live life without believing it has a purpose. By doing so,
we will experience all kinds of suffering as we come back to
planet earth repeatedly.
The purpose, if discovered, has a reward. It liberates us

from coming back to earth and by doing so, from the
constant suffering of life as a visitor to planet earth.
Most of us don't like this idea of living with discipline. We

like life to be free-owing. There should be no questions
asked, no purpose to discover. We must just chill and enjoy
this journey. And as we do just that, we forget the existence
of the one who created this universe. We don't realize that
the Divine is within us. We don't express our gratitude.
Therefore, there are times when we are so lost in the world
and misery strikes us. Then, when we are helpless, we are
forced to think of the one we call ‘God’.
Is it not a simple truth to realize that all this magic

happening around us has some logic, some meaning and
some purpose? Can the entire universe unfold day after
day without a reason? Are we all meant to come to earth
and consider life a picnic so that we can have fun and then
leave? Don't we have a responsibility to nd out the
meaning of death and what happens thereafter? Should we
not introspect on why some children are born blind and
some born into families with wealth and happiness? Most
of us are zapped by what happens, till we face 'the End'.
Even when it is time to go, we don't stop to think about the
98
mystery called death. Do we ever stop to ask, 'Before my

body loses its breath, what am I supposed to achieve?'
A few people are lucky. They discover the purpose of life.

They go on a quest and they realize the truth. Self-
realization not only makes their life meaningful; it also
liberates them from all kinds of misery and suffering. It
shows them a way to communicate with the Divine, just as
it liberates them from the constant cycle of death and
rebirth.
Not many of us are fortunate to discover our life purpose.

In fact, the majority just follow the herd. A rare few open
their wings and y like a bird up in the sky alone, searching
for answers. It is amongst those few who search that a few
nd the purpose of life.
It is most unfortunate that religions only teach us the basics

because that doesn't help us evolve in discovering our life
purpose. Even our education system teaches us so many
things but it doesn't help us realize who we are and why we
are here. We give importance to success and wealth, to
rituals and superstitions. We are so lost in this world that
before we realize it, life escapes us. Then, because we have
not discovered the purpose of life, we are reborn in a new
life, to go through one more cycle. We continue living, cycle
after cycle, without discovering the purpose of life. We
struggle through life just because we have not paid
attention to nding out the true meaning of our life on
earth.
Do you want to make the best of your life? Then pause for a
moment and understand what life is all about. Realize there
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is a deeper meaning to this gift called 'Life'. Ask questions,

and don't accept everything people say. Investigate what
you read, till you nd out the truth. If possible, nd a life
coach, a Spiritual Master, who will guide you forward on
this journey called 'Life'. Don't just consume life, thinking
that you are having fun, till you suddenly realize one day
that life is done.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Life has a purpose. We have not come to the planet for

a picnic.
Ø We must discover who we are and why we are here.
Ø Only a few people are lucky to discover the purpose of
life.
Ø The rest just drift through life. They live and they die,
to come back again and again.
Ø Those who discover the purpose of life, not only
escape from the triple suffering on earth, they also
escape the cycle of death and rebirth.
Ø We must not just zoom through life. We must pause
and nd out our purpose
Ø Those who do not discover the purpose of life, don't
learn how to make the best of it.
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Chapter 26
The Quest - Who am I?
Who am I? Go on a Quest.
Put all your prior beliefs to test.
When you realize the truth, you will nd,
You are not the Ego, Body or Mind.
Everybody lives. But not everybody discovers the truth
about life. A rare minority goes on a quest. They try to nd
out who is this 'I' that says, ‘This is my body, my hand, my
head.’ Why do we say, 'My mind is wandering?' If the body
and the mind is not me, then who am I?
The rest of humanity is racing through life. There is no time

to think. They believe, 'I am who I am. I am a white
American, aged 34, who is a lawyer living in New York city.
My parents are British, and I have 2 beautiful daughters who
go to school. I am a Christian and am not yet a millionaire,
but hope to be one soon. I know everything about myself,
why do I have to go on a quest to nd out who am I? Is this
some kind of a joke?' Most of us may tend to agree with this
argument. There is no need to go on a quest to discover
ourselves. But the fact is that a majority of us, do not see the
truth. Only 1% of this world is visually blind. 99% is
spiritually blind. We do not discover that we are, in fact, the
Divine Spirit, the Soul. The moment we realize this truth,
our life transforms. In fact, some people go through a
metamorphosis when they wake up to the truth and
achieve self-realization.
All through life, our ego says, 'This is me' and 'This is what I
want', and 'All these are mine.' We don't realize that
101
nothing is ours. We start our life without anything and

when we end, we take nothing with us. Still, throughout
life, we are constantly living with the illusion, that this is
my car, my house, my family. This illusion is caused by our
mistaken identity about ourselves. We get angry and upset,
we worry and get anxious, all because of what we think we
are. We get so attached to people, that it is not uncommon
to get possessive about them. This life of attachment breaks
our heart and makes us cry. All this is because of our
ignorance - we don't know the truth, 'Who am I?'
If we truly want to live life, the key that will open the door
to the truth about life is a quest. It is about going on a search;
it is about asking questions, and investigating the truth,
before realizing the self. This body, which has said a
thousand times, ‘I am here, can you see me?,’ will suddenly
realize ‘I am not the one I thought I was all through my life.
This is only a habitat. I have lived in this body for decades,
but this is just my body, it is not me.’
What else will the quest reveal? It will bust the myth of the
mind, the one that says, ‘I needlessly worry, I am so afraid,’
will suddenly be relieved of all anxiety when we realize we
are not the mind. In fact, if we try to nd our nose, our eyes,
our ears, we can. We can even nd the location of our brain,
our heart and our lungs in a scan of the body. But where is
the mind, we can never nd! The mind is an illusion. It does
not exist. It is just a bundle of thoughts. These very thoughts
make a fool of us throughout our life and stop us from
living life the way we must.
Who is the leader of the body and the mind? It is the ego, the
one that says, 'I'. Along with the mind, it becomes the ME –
102
Mind and Ego, that makes us go round and round in circles

and live life as if it is a merry-go-round, till one day, we stop
and realize that life is over, that the joy ride was just an
illusion, that we were neither the ego, the body nor the
mind. We were something else. The quest reveals the truth
that most of humanity is oblivious to. Because we don't
realize the truth, we don't live life the way we should. We
just consume this gift till one day, it's time to go.
Why is it that most of us never go on this quest? It is

because, the moment we do, it threatens the existence of the
ME, the Mind and the Ego. Once we realize we are not the
Mind and the Ego, they cease to exist. Therefore, the mind
and the ego push us to believe the myth, as it hides from us
the Divine truth. They make us pray to a God in the distant
skies, although in reality, it is within where the Divine lives.
The ME brainwashes us and we don't treasure this amazing
gift called ‘Life’. We just seek to be happy and chase
happiness, when in reality, the ocean of bliss is within.
Those who live life after going on a quest and realizing the
truth, live in a state of eternal bliss and peace. They discover
what is known as Satchitananda, the truth that makes them
conscious of the Divine within. This state of Ananda or
Nirvana is bliss beyond description. Very few people are
gifted to even know of it. This is because they have not read
the Life Manual.
In the Manual of Life, one of the most important chapters is

this – to go on a quest and discover, 'Who am I?'. This will
create a paradigm shift, just as it will transform the way we
think and live. It will change the very person who was alive
all along. Instead of being a prisoner to our thoughts, we
103
will start living as the Divine consciousness that we truly

are. It will bless us with a sense of peace and tranquillity,
unknown to the common man.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We human beings don't even know who we truly are.

We just live and we die.
Ø A very few people go on a quest to nd out 'Who am I?'
Ø They discover that they are not the body and mind that
they always thought they were.
Ø As they overcome the ego that says, 'I,' they realize the
Divine truth - We are the Divine Soul.
Ø Very few people are blessed with this self-realization.
Those who are, live a life of eternal peace and
everlasting joy.
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Chapter 27
Death is Certain
e death of the body is certain,

No 'body' can escape om it.
It's not the end but just a bend,
Not many bust this myth.
Death, in the true sense, is an illusion. It seems like
somebody has died. But in reality, only some 'body' has
died. Death happens only to the body, not to the one who
was alive inside. Because we don't realize this truth, we
suffer through life. Most of us never learn two major
lessons about life and death.
First of all, the body is only an instrument of action. It acts

at the behest of the ME – Mind and Ego. What I want to do,
and what my mind thinks and feels, is enacted by the body.
The body through its actions creates Karma. Based on these
actions, our life unfolds day after day as per the Law of
Karma.
Death is certain. One day, the body will die. The life in our
body will escape, and the one who was alive, the person
with a name and an identity, will not exist any more. But
death is not ‘The End’. It only nishes one chapter for the
ME – the Mind and Ego, who ‘passes on’, who ‘departs’,
and who we believe is ‘no more’. The ME will start a new
chapter in a new body. Because we don't realize this, we
don't live life the way we should.
Those who understand the truth about death, try to live a

life of good Karma. They know that there is life beyond
105
Death is Certain
death, and they realize that they are in charge of their

destiny. They understand the Law of Karma. They accept
and surrender to it. But there are others who view death
very differently. They mourn and cry when they see a
person die. They don't realize that nobody can escape from
death. When we are born, nothing is certain, except death.
Then why do people fear death? Why are people unable to
face the nal moment of life? It is because we have not
understood Life. We have ignored some important facts
about the truth of life and death which are covered in this
Life Manual.
There are a few people who go beyond understanding life

and death. They realize that there is a way to escape from
rebirth after death. They learn how to overcome the triple
suffering of the body, mind and ego. They realize the truth
that will liberate them from returning again and again as
the ME - Mind and Ego, birth after birth, based on its
Karma.
Those who realize the ultimate truth about death, don't

mourn death. In fact, they celebrate it because they realize
that death is the doorway to our ultimate destination. Not
only do they understand that nobody can escape from
death, they also realize that death is the only way for a
human being to be liberated from the cycle of death and
rebirth and to ultimately unite with the Divine.
Why then does the whole world suffer from the fear of
death? Why do we cry when we see somebody die? There
is no way for anybody to escape from the reality of death.
Moreover, aren't we clear about the fact that when we see
the mortal remains of somebody, we know that the dead
body is not the person who was alive? It is just the mortal
106
Death is Certain
remains of the one who was alive! Although it is

absolutely clear to us, why are we gripped with fear at the
moment of death?
Death teaches us many lessons. It shows us that the one

who was alive leaves everything behind. It opens our eyes
to the fact that all relationships are temporary and
transitory. It reminds us that nothing belongs to us, and
there is no sense in being attached to possessions and
people. Death also reveals that all our problems and
suffering will ultimately end one day. Most important of
all, death teaches us that the end of life, is not 'The End', it's
only a bend.
Still, although all this is crystal clear, we continue to live in

ignorance, and we suffer. We suffer through life and we
suffer death, although, life and death are both to be
celebrated. The moment of death which is certain must be
accepted in surrender and every death that crosses our
path, as we traverse the journey of life, must remind us of
the lessons about the reality of death and beyond.
The wise ones prepare for the ultimate moment of death as

they live. They are ready to die, although they know that
death is in the hands of the Divine. When and how we will
die, seems predestined, not based on fate or serendipity,
but on our own past actions, our Karma. While we have
the free will to choose our actions, it seems that we do not
have the liberty to choose our death.
Some people end their life by committing suicide. They

think that by ending their life they can escape from all their
problems and miseries. What they don't realize is that when
we put an end to our life through a death which is not as
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Death is Certain
per our destiny, we are interrupting the natural law. This

act will inict upon us an equal amount of suffering, if not
more than what we were experiencing when we were
alive. We may have ended the life of our body by
committing suicide, but the ME, the Mind and Ego will
take rebirth and suffer. We will have to face our carried
forward Karmic account. There is no way to escape from it.
Such is the law of life and death.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Everybody who is born, has to die.

Ø Death is certain, nobody can escape from it.
Ø But death is not the end; it's just a bend.
Ø The body dies, but the one who was alive inside moves
on at death.
Ø Death is not in our hands; it is controlled by a universal
law.
Ø It is only through death that we can be liberated from
suffering again and again on earth.
Ø Because of our ignorance, we mourn death, we cry
when we see somebody die.
Ø Because we have not learnt the lessons death has
taught us, we don't make the best of our life.
Ø Some people even try to commit suicide due to
ignorance not realizing that we can’t escape from our
suffering.
Ø We celebrate life and mourn death. Realization of the
truth will help us reverse this.
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Chapter 28
Karma - The Universal Law
Karma is a Universal Law on earth,

It applies to one and all who take birth.
e law states, 'As you sow, so shall you reap,'
ose who commit sin, are sure to weep.
The world operates by certain Universal Laws. We are
aware of the Law of Gravity. When we throw something
up, it doesn't y away into the sky. Why? We infer that this
is because of the Law of Gravity. Just like the Law of
Gravity, there are many universal laws that preserve life in
the cosmos. The Law of Cycles ensures rotation of the earth
exactly once in 24 hours, just as it manages revolution and
the seasons that it causes. There is a Law of Opposites and
several other Universal Laws.
One such law that controls everything that happens on

earth, is the Law of Karma. It is also known as the Law of the
Boomerang – what goes around, comes around. The law
states, ‘What you give is what you get.’ How does this law
work and what is the proof of its existence?
Have you ever seen apples growing on a mango tree?

Impossible! The Universal Law will not permit it. This
explains the simple principle, what you sow, you reap. It is
not only the seeds that we plant which will bear fruit but
also the deeds. ‘Whatever you do, will come back to you’ –
such is the law!
Karma means Action. Therefore, the law has to do with our

action. Every action of ours is recorded and will be
109
redeemed. Either it will be redeemed in this life or if not,

then it will unfold in the next life. This makes us
understand that whatever is happening in our life today, is
not what we popularly think as luck or chance. Everything
that is happening in our life, is a result of our own past
actions. It is not luck; we pluck our destiny based on the
actions we perform. So, we must not regret whatever
happens to us in life. It is our own Karma returning to us as
per the law. We must realize this.
The Law of Karma doesn't end at death. The body dies, but
the real doer of action is the ME – Mind and Ego. Thoughts
of the mind and decisions of the ego make the body act.
The body, mind and ego experience results of past Karma.
Then the body perishes. But our Karma doesn't.
If our cumulative Karma is bad at the time of the death of

the body, the ME will be reborn, either as a child that is
blind or in utter poverty and misery. This is just an
example as the Karmic Law can only be inferred and not
fully known. However, we can clearly infer that birth
happens for a reason. It is not chance - when, where and to
whom we are born and in what circumstances is the
unfolding of Karma. Thereafter, Karma continues to
unfold every day that we live. This may be due to our past
or present actions which accumulate to unfold as our
destiny day after day.
While we have no control over our past Karma and it

unfolds in our life as good or bad circumstances, we have
complete control on our present actions. This will
determine our future destiny. While the law is very simple
and straightforward, many people do not understand it.
They wonder how Karma is carried forward from one life
110
to another. They do not realize that death is not the end, for
the ME - Mind and Ego, which is reborn carrying its
Karma. Thus, they celebrate life and make merry without
paying enough importance to their actions. Such people
eventually suffer because their bad deeds become the
seeds that sprout in the future as their suffering.
The Law of Karma is a Universal Law. Nobody can escape

it! We control our destiny through our own actions, but
because we do not realize this truth, we become the cause
of our own misery and suffering.
Those who study the Law of Karma, realize that it has 3

accounts. The rst account is the corpus, the carry forward
account, which is the cumulative Karma of all our lives.
When we nish each life, our closing balance or net Karma
gets added to our Karmic corpus. The second account of
Karma is what we start at the beginning of every life. It can
be considered as our opening balance. We take some
portion of our cumulative Karma to start a new life, not all
of it. It is as per this opening balance that our life unfolds.
Everything happens in life based on the Karma that we
carry with us. Then, there is a third account – our present
actions. This is our current account. It keeps recording all
our actions and adding it to our Karmic account. It merges
with the opening balance and causes our life to unfold. At
the end, whatever is the balance, it gets carried forward
and added to the corpus at death. Based on the Karmic
corpus, our next birth is decided.
Those who understand the Law of Karma, learn to live in

Divine surrender, accepting everything. They control
their actions and do their best so that they create good
Karma for the future. However, the truly wise ones who
111
will read the Life Manual and follow it, will learn to escape
from this cycle of death and rebirth by dropping all the
Karma in their corpus. This will happen as they will realize
the truth that they are not the Mind and Ego, the ME, that is
creating new Karma. They are the Divine Soul. This
realization will lead to liberation from all past Karma and
with it freedom from the constant cycle of death and
rebirth. All of us who live in the world are controlled by
the Law of Karma, irrespective of our religion or
nationality. Our ultimate goal is to transcend Karma and
unite with the Divine.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Everything that happens in this world is controlled by

the Law of Karma.
Ø It is a Universal Law and it states, ‘As you sow, so shall
you reap.’
Ø Whatever is our action, so will be the reaction.
Ø Our deeds become the seeds that bear fruit in the
future.
Ø Therefore, we are in command of our destiny.
Ø The body dies, but the Mind and the Ego, ME, is reborn
in a new body based on the Karma.
Ø Nothing happens by chance. Everything is controlled
by the Law of Karma.
Ø A few wise people realize the truth that they are not the
Mind and Ego, ME and are liberated from the cycle of
death and rebirth.
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Chapter 29
Rebirth - Another Life
What is it that creates birth?

What brings us back to planet earth?
It is our actions, our Karma that will decide,
How and where we are born a er we die.
Many people ask the question, 'Is rebirth real? Will we be
born again?' Let's analyze.
Is birth real? Do we see people being born? Yes, of course.

Are these people born by luck or by chance? Some are blind,
some are healthy, some in rich families and some in abject
poverty. What causes birth? When, where, and to whom we
are born is not micro-managed by God. The Creator has
commissioned Universal Laws by which this universe is
controlled. The earth rotates once in 24 hours. It revolves
around the sun in 365 ¼ days. Is somebody sitting up there
and doing all this? Seasons change, just as the Law of
Gravity pulls everything back to earth. While we cannot
prove these Universal Laws, we infer that they exist.
Therefore, without doubt, there is the existence of a Law of

Action and Reaction, the Law of Cause and Effect. As
discussed, this Law of the Boomerang is known as the Law
of Karma. What goes around, comes around and as we sow,
so shall we reap. There is no other way for Karma to be
executed other than rebirth.
Death is a reality. It is certain everybody has to die.

However, the person who has died has performed certain
deeds. These have to be settled. But the person is no more.
113
Who died? Only the body! The one who was alive, the Mind
and the Ego - ME departed. Don't we say, 'He passed away,
moved on, expired or left the body?' Where has the person
gone and how will that person settle all past actions that
remain unsettled? How will the law unfold? The answer is
simple, through rebirth.
Therefore, if we contemplate life, it becomes obvious that

death is not the end, it is just a bend for the one who was
alive in the body. There is no rebirth for the body. We see
that it is cremated or buried, and it returns to dust. But what
about the one who was alive? If we use our intellect, we can
realize the truth that the one deceased is reborn.
Who are we in reality? As we live, we are a body, mind, ego,

and Soul. The body is gross and physical. It is made of 5
elements - Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space. At death, all
the 5 elements disintegrate and return to earth. The ME that
was alive, the Mind and Ego, has to settle its past actions as
per the law and is reborn as per its Karma. The Soul is the
power that gives us life. It is the Divinity that is with us
from birth to death. Unfortunately, we don't realize the
truth of all this. We live and die in ignorance and thus, even
question the occurrence of rebirth.
Because of our ignorance that rebirth is a reality of life, we

live as the body, mind, and ego and we suffer. We don't
discover the truth. We don't realize we are the Divine Soul.
If we really want to live a life of peace and joy, if we want to
be liberated from misery and sorrow, if we want to
overcome fear and worry, we must realize the truth about
rebirth.
114
Modern-day science and technology is making it possible

for people to identify case studies where a young child
remembers its past life. The Mind and the Ego, ME that is
reborn, carries with it the ashes of memory and in rare
freak cases, people remember their past life. One can study
the case of Shanti Devi in India or the Japanese Navy ghter
pilot James Leininger who it seems knew of their previous
life as they were reborn. Many such cases have become a
subject of study in many universities around the world. But
they are still to coin a clear explanation about how this
happens.
Long ago, in ancient India, there was a prince named

Siddharth Gautama. He saw the world as full of suffering.
He gave up his kingdom to go in quest of the truth - How
can we escape from this constant cycle of death and rebirth?
He was awakened and thus, after his enlightenment,
became known as the Buddha. He advocated the concept of
Nirvana, to escape from this cycle of rebirth. The Hindus
called it Moksha, the Western world, enlightenment and
salvation. Most of the religions in this world preach that we
must ultimately become one with God. We must escape
from suffering on earth. We must be liberated from taking
rebirth.
How can we escape from being born again? As long as we

have unsettled Karma, we have to return to redeem our
past actions. When death happens, it happens all of a
sudden. It does not give us the opportunity to clear all
Karma. Be it good deeds or bad deeds, we have to be reborn.
However, there is a way to escape from rebirth.
Those who go in quest for the ultimate purpose of life,

realize that we are not the body, mind and ego. Therefore,
115
our actions are not our actions. They are not our Karma. We
are only instruments that act on behalf of the Divine. For
such realized people, there is no Karma, and therefore,
there is no rebirth. In fact, all the past Karma, carried
forward over many past lives, dissolves and disappears the
moment we realize the truth that we are not the ego, mind
or body, we are the Divine Soul. This only happens if we
learn to live life overcoming our ignorance. Then we can
escape from rebirth.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Rebirth is a reality. It is not some mystical belief.

Ø Death happens when the life energy leaves us.
Ø The body dies, then who takes rebirth?
Ø The one who was alive, ME - the Mind and Ego departs
at death.
Ø It carries with it its past Karma that needs to be
redeemed.
Ø Thus, we are reborn in circumstances depending on
our past actions, our Karma.
Ø There is a way to escape from rebirth and not to suffer
repeatedly on earth.
Ø For this, we have to realize the truth by overcoming
our ignorance. Then we can be liberated from rebirth.
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Chapter 30
Overcoming Ignorance
We human beings are ignorant,

We don't realize the truth.
We suffer on earth again and again,
We don't get to the root.
While we human beings think we know everything, the fact
is that we know nothing. What we know as compared to
what we don't, is a tiny fraction. Unfortunately, we are
ignorant about our ignorance. As long as we don't
overcome our ignorance, we will not discover how to really
live life.
What is life? It is a journey on earth between birth and

death. Death is certain. We come and we go. Alas, we don't
realize that this is just a show!
This Life Manual has already opened several doors for us to

contemplate life. But it is just the beginning. We have
discussed the body, mind, ego and the Soul. Everybody
wants to be happy, but we are so busy sorting out our
problems, that we become miserable. Before we realize it,
life escapes us.
By now, we have learnt how to tame the monkey, our mind

and how to live, moment by moment. Don't we know that
nothing belongs to us, then why is it that we continue to
hoard and collect things that we will ultimately leave
behind? Why have we not learnt the art of giving? It is
because of our ignorance.
117
We all want to be happy, but we are prisoners of our

material desires. We don't use our intellect. We let our
emotions take charge of our life and continue to let
negative toxins poison us. We live with hate, anger, fear,
worry and jealousy, only because of our ignorance. If only
we realize the true meaning of life, we will not only forgive
those who harm us, but love one and all, as we overcome
our ignorance.
What is the cause of our ignorance? It is our own mind.

Along with our ego, the mind becomes the ME that keeps
us lost in this cosmic illusion. This is often known as Maya.
Maya has two powers – it conceals the truth and projects
the myth and we just believe it. Our mind and ego are
slaves to the cosmic illusion, and we don't realize the truth
because we don't use the gift of the intellect. Thus, we
continue to experience suffering as long as we are alive.
If we want to be truly happy, if we want everlasting peace

and tranquillity, we have to overcome our ignorance and
realize the truth. We have to use our intellect to
discriminate, just as we live with discipline and with
detachment. This is the way to live a life of bliss and joy.
Unfortunately, because of our ignorance, we continue to
suffer. Not just during this birth, but we are born again and
again to repeatedly suffer due to our ignorance.
Statistics show that about 1% of the world is visually blind,

but it seems that 99% of us are spiritually blind. We cannot
see the truth because of a 'spiritual cataract'. Just like we
need a cataract surgery for our physical eyes to see, we
need a spiritual awakening to overcome ignorance and see
the truth.
118
We human beings are lost in this world of attractions and

distractions. Our senses are attracted by all the allurements of
this material world as our mind is distracted by thoughts and
emotions that keep us caught in a trance of the cosmic
illusion.
Although we have the gift of the intellect and we are

privileged as human beings to ask, to investigate, and to
realize the truth, we don't use this weapon effectively. We
follow the herd and believe in whatever we read or hear.
We don't question our religion which only teaches us the
basics about God, and we remain distant from the Divine
because of our ignorance. We let the mind and ego get the
better of us as we suffer each day that we live.
Is there a way to overcome suffering? There is good news. If

only we overcome our ignorance of who we are and why
we are here, if only we see through the cosmic illusion, we
will be able to discover the truth that is beyond and be free
from all suffering.
What does ignorance do? It acts like a blanket of dark

clouds that blocks our vision of the truth. Our ignorance
continues to make us live with an opaque vision as it blinds
us from reality. We live and die, again and again, life after
life, being ignorant about the truth. If only we overcome
our ignorance, we can escape from Karma and rebirth. For
this, we must realize the truth.
To realize the truth, it is necessary to let go of our false

beliefs. We human beings are programmed to believe and
live in a particular way. Just like we reset our laptop or
mobile, we have to wipe out all our ignorance and
reprogram our thought process with a fresh spiritual
119
philosophy. We must remove all the mythological viruses

that continue to create ignorance. Most importantly, we
have to learn to investigate as we go in quest of the truth.
Only then, will we overcome our ignorance and realize the
truth about life.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We human beings suffer because of our ignorance.

Ø Our biggest problem is that we are ignorant about our
ignorance.
Ø Due to a cosmic illusion, we do not see the reality that
lies ahead.
Ø We seem to be spiritually blind due to a 'spiritual
cataract'.
Ø Unless we eliminate our ignorance, we will continue to
suffer as we are born again and again.
Ø To overcome ignorance, we must learn to ask
questions and investigate till we realize the truth. We
should not just believe in myth and superstition.
Ø We have to reprogram our life with a fresh spiritual
philosophy to realize the truth.
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Chapter 31
Realizing the Truth
If we want to realize the truth,

We must get to the bo om of the root.
All through life, in ignorance we cry,
We suffer on earth as we live and die.
How many people who live on earth even realize that the
purpose of life is to ‘Realize the Truth’? We just live and we
die. We believe that life is about being happy. We console
ourselves that as long as we don't hurt others, we have
achieved the object of living. We pray to a God and hope
that by offering our Lord money and gifts, we will be
forgiven for our sins and be liberated to heaven. We are not
to be blamed. It is not our fault, because this is what we are
taught. Unfortunately, we do not use the gift of our intellect
to overcome our ignorance. We don't ask questions like,
'Who is God, where is God, what is God?' We don't go on a
quest to realize the truth of what happens after death.
What do we do when we see somebody die? We just cry.

But why? Because we are ignorant. Since we lived with
ignorance, we became attached to the one who has
departed, just as we get attached to our possessions and
then become angry and miserable when our treasures are
taken away from us. We have not contemplated the reality,
that nothing comes with us and nothing will go with us.
Our instant reaction is, 'Of course, we know this. Who

doesn't? Which fool doesn't know the truth that we will not
take anything with us when we go?' Why then, do we
human beings continue to earn and earn, only for others to
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Realizing the Truth
burn what we earn? It is ignorance and though we know

the fact, we don't realize the truth.
There is a difference between knowledge and realization.

We know that we have a nose on our face, just as we know
how to drive our car. But we don't realize we are the
Divine Soul. We don't realize the true purpose of life. For
that realization to happen, there is a 3-step process. First,
we must listen or read about the truth. Once we know
about it, then we contemplate the knowledge and become
convinced of the reality. Still, it is knowledge. When we
get a spark within, then the knowledge becomes
realization. We don't just know that we have a Soul, we
realize that we are the Divine Soul. We realize the truth
about life, about death and about God. This realization
will result in a transformation. When knowledge becomes
realization, it is natural for us to change not just the way
we think, but also the way we live.
Most of the world is so busy, lost in the world, that there is

no time to go in quest of the truth. There is no time for
silence. We are so busy doing things that don't matter that
we don't have the time to do what matters. This is because
of our ignorance. Somewhere, there must be a spark in us
to seek the truth. Unless we start the journey of
questioning and seeking, we will continue to live in the
darkness of ignorance.
The light of truth will reveal so many things about life. The
truth that nothing belongs to us will make us detached and
dispassionate. The moment we realize that our mind is our
enemy, we will activate our intellect and live with
discrimination. Once we realize the truth about death, we
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Realizing the Truth
will start living as the Divine Soul.
Realization is a rare gift and it is not everybody's blessing

to come face to face with it. But that is our ultimate goal - to
overcome ignorance, to realize the truth, and to be
liberated from all suffering.
Most of us live life without understanding what it is all

about. It is just like playing with the most sophisticated
machine, understanding nothing about it. Therefore, the
importance of a Spiritual Master who can make us
understand what life is all about. We need a life coach,
who can explain the Life Manual to us, so that we can make
the best of the product called 'Life'. Otherwise, we may
glance at some information, but practically, will not be
able to manoeuvre through life and achieve our ultimate
goal.
Because most of us don't have a life coach, we struggle

through life. When things happen to us, we cry and look
up at the sky. Nobody explained to us that this was not
luck, it was our own Karma, coming back to us. If only we
realize the truth, we will celebrate each suffering we
experience knowing that we have redeemed our past
Karma.
There are many things that we have to realize in life. We

have to realize the truth about life and death, God and
enlightenment, the Soul, Karma, and rebirth. Unless we
realize the truth, we will continue to go round and round,
as we suffer in the merry-go-round of life, only because of
our ignorance. If we realize the truth, the merry-go-round
of life will be full of laughter, bliss, peace, and joy. If only
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Realizing the Truth
we overcome ignorance and realize the truth, we will

overcome all suffering.
Realization is the key in learning how to live life. It helps us

achieve our ultimate goal of liberation. If we don’t realize
the truth, we return to earth again and again and suffer.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø The ultimate purpose of life is the ‘Realization of the

Truth’.
Ø For this we have to overcome our ignorance.
Ø Realization is not knowledge. We have to go beyond
knowing.
Ø To realize, we have to learn to ask questions and
investigate.
Ø Realization will liberate us from all suffering.
Ø Once we realize the truth, we will live a life of joy,
peace, and bliss.
Ø If we don't realize the truth, we will live as the ego,
mind, and body and suffer as we lose this precious gift
called 'Life' without the joy of living it.
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Chapter 32
The Triple Suffering
We experience pain in the body,

And there is misery in the mind…
e Ego bursts with agony,
In Triple Suffering, we grind.
Everybody in this world suffers. Whoever is born
experiences the ‘Triple Suffering’ of the body, mind, and
ego. Is that the reason why when a child is born, it doesn't
come out giggling and laughing? It screams and cries as if it
already knows that it is going to experience this triple
suffering.
Every 'body' experiences pain. From the time we are young

children, till we die, we suffer due to our body. A young
child suffers as it falls, trying to walk. Who hasn't
experienced bruises as we grew up? Toothaches create a
phobia for us to visit the dentist. Haven't you experienced a
fractured bone, a pulled muscle or a torn ligament?
Then there is the suffering of the mind which is greater than

the pain of the body. The mind creates fear and we shudder
in anxiety. It makes us jump to a past that is gone, as it
nurses, curses, and rehearses a hurt. No sooner are we free
from this misery, that it jumps to the future and makes us
worry. It makes us presume so many things, through its
toxic thoughts that we sink in stress and anxiety. Unlike the
suffering of the body, which is a physical reality, the misery
of the mind is psychological. Sometimes, it needs us to go to
a psychiatrist because otherwise, we could get into a state of
depression and even commit suicide. Haven't we heard of
125
many people, even those amongst the rich and the famous,
who have ended their life due to depression?
The third suffering, lesser-known to man, is the suffering

of the ego. Who doesn't experience hate, revenge, jealousy,
and anger? We all suffer the agony that is caused by the
ego. Only, we don't realize that this suffering is due to our
own ego. When do we get angry? When ‘I’ don't get what
‘I’ want. When do we take revenge? When ‘I’ want to settle
a score with somebody else. Why do we hate? Because we
consider the 'one' we hate different from us and not
worthy of our affection. Jealousy too agonizes us as we
compare our belongings with others. We are agonized by
all this, because of our own ego, and thus we suffer.
As we go through this journey called 'Life', we live and die

with this triple suffering of the body, mind, and ego and
we think that it is a compulsory evil. What we don't realize
is that there is a way to overcome it. If we understand life
and realize the truth about who we are, we can be free from
all suffering.
Today, people use all kinds of remedies to take care of

physical pain, not just simple paracetamols, but even
opioids to deal with excruciating pain like that of cancer.
The doctors have understood the cause of pain and often
use not just medication, but even tranquilizers and
anaesthesia to get rid of suffering that is caused by
physical pain.
While we can overcome physical pain and suffering if we

wish to, we can't wish away the misery of the mind. The
mind is a rascal and it constantly troubles us. The suffering
of the mind radiates in the body, and we shiver and
126
shudder. While there is some medication available and a

psychiatrist may prescribe exercises like silence and
meditation, unless we realize that we are the Divine Soul,
not the mind that wanders, we will remain prisoners of the
mind.
Overcoming the agony of the ego, is the starting point of

becoming a life expert. A few are lucky to graduate in the
university of life. They realize that it is meaningless to
suffer the agony of the ego. They transcend the ego and
realize that in reality we are all one. The Soul in you and
the Soul in me is the same. But realization of this truth is
not easy. A very few realize the truth about the self. They
transcend their ego and realize the futility of its agony.
They use their intellect and learn to choose positive
emotions like love, forgiveness, and compassion. They are
the lucky few who live a life of peace and bliss.
While this Life Manual will help us overcome suffering as

we discover who we truly are, and nd ways to be happy,
we human beings will continue to suffer as we are born,
again and again, along with our Karma to experience a
new chapter of life on planet earth.
The body suffers as it is born, lives and dies. But the ME -

the Mind and Ego, suffers life after life. After one chapter
in the book of ‘Life’ is over, the ME comes back in a new
body once again to experience the triple suffering, that of
the new body, its habitat and of itself - Mind and Ego.
There is only one way to overcome the misery of the triple

suffering. It is realizing we are the Divine Soul, not the
body, not the mind, not the ego that appears to be us.
Because we have not understood the true meaning of life
127
and have not realized our true identity, we continue to live

with suffering, not only day after day, but life after life.
A few of us are lucky. We master the Life Manual and are

liberated from suffering. We live in a state of eternal bliss
and everlasting joy. You too can overcome the triple
suffering and live happily ever after!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Every human being suffers as they live on planet earth.

Ø We experience the physical pain of the body and we
suffer.
Ø Our mind makes us suffer with fear, worry, and
anxiety.
Ø The ego causes agony, as we live with anger, hate,
revenge, and jealousy.
Ø Not only do we suffer this triple suffering day after
day, but we also suffer it life after life as we are reborn
in a new body.
Ø There is a way to overcome this triple suffering and
live in eternal joy and everlasting peace.
Ø If only we realize the truth about life and master how
to live it, we can be liberated from all suffering.
Ø Those who read the Life Manual are the lucky few who
can be liberated from this triple suffering.
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Chapter 33
Monkey or Monk
When your mind is full of anxiety,

Fear, worry, and other junk…
It's time to tame your Monkey Mind,
And make it into a Monk.
All of us are blessed with a mind. The mind produces
thoughts. It is our thought factory. Without the mind, it
seems that we cannot live. It is the software of the body and
through the organ of the brain and the nervous system, it
transmits thoughts to and from every part of the body.
The mind is not a physical organ. It appears to exist. That is

why we tell people, 'My mind is wandering.' We experience
it and we feel it. But if we go in search of the mind, where it
is, we cannot nd.
Most of us know this much about the mind. What we

probably don't know is that the mind is different from the
memory and intellect. We consider the memory to be part
of the mind, just as we think the intellect to be the mind. In
reality, along with the ego, the intellect, memory and the
mind form our subtle body or Antahkarna. Because we do
not differentiate between the mind and the intellect, we
become prisoners of our own mind and we don’t realize
this.
The mind wanders here and there. It behaves like a monkey

that is constantly jumping from thought to thought. The
mind doesn't know how to sit still. It can produce a thought
practically every second. This can become a whopping
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Monkey or Monk
50,000 thoughts per day! All thoughts are not bad

thoughts. The mind offers a bouquet and it is for the
intellect to separate the roses and the thorns. The intellect
discriminates and then activates our power of choice.
Some thoughts become feelings and then lead to action,
while others wither away in the mind. Therefore, the
intellect plays a very important role in what each human
being does. A well-developed intellect can become the
master of the monkey mind. Otherwise, we just live and
die like monkeys.
The mind doesn't stop even when we go to sleep. It

continues to produce thoughts as we dream. These can be
fantasies or nightmares. Every time we wake up, there are
chances that we experience a lingering dream that the
mind cooks up. We might sheepishly shrug away the
dream or sometimes be impacted by certain distinct
thoughts of the dreaming mind. The time when we do not
dream seems to be the time that we experience bliss and
peace. Haven't you heard people say, 'I slept like a log.' A
sound sleep always gives us bliss and peace.
How does one live controlling the mind? How can we cut
the tail of the monkey and stop it from this constant
jumping and wandering as it swings from the past to the
future? We want to enjoy 'the moment', but the mind steals
'the present' and we lose our biggest treasure – 'the now'.
Most of us seem to be like little puppets as we sway and
dance along with the mind. Is there a way to change this?
Those who understand life and read the manual carefully,

realize they are not the body or the mind. They are in fact,
the Soul—Divine consciousness. Unfortunately, we don't
experience this Divinity because of our own wandering
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Monkey or Monk
mind. It dominates our life and makes us believe that it is

king – it is everything! If we work towards taking charge of
our mind, then, we will become the master and the mind,
our slave.
We have to make the monkey mind into a monk. We have

to stop the ever-jumping mind, going from thought to
thought, by contemplating and focusing on one thought at
a time. This is a tough challenge, and a very few are able to
master it. The moment they try to silence the mind through
different methods of meditation or simply sitting quietly,
they watch the mind jump to another thought.
If we really want to live our life with peace and bliss, we

have no other option, but to make the monkey mind into a
monk. We have to reduce our MTR, the Mental Thought
Rate. Every time the mind jumps to an unwanted thought,
we need to go and gently bring it back. We need to become
conscious of our mind. We have to observe the monkey
mind as it jumps from thought to thought.
As we become conscious of our mind and we watch it as it

goes here and there, the monkey mind quietens. The
moment we use our intellect to discriminate, it slows
down the mind. The mind will not stop its monkey
business, until we discipline it, silence it and eventually,
make it into a monk. We have a choice – either we can live a
life with peace, or we can permit our mind to tear our life
into pieces. Most of us live scattered lives, with thoughts
going in all directions. We pride ourselves on multi-
tasking, when in reality, we are handing over our life to the
monkey mind. If we really want to live our life with joy
and bliss, then we need peace, the very foundation of
happiness.
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Monkey or Monk
Peace depends upon whether we have made our mind a

monkey or a monk. Have we trained our mind to be
constantly swinging to a past that doesn’t exist and a
future that’s imagined or have we disciplined the mind to
be in the present moment, living life moment by moment,
peacefully and blissfully, in the ‘now’?
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We all have a mind. It is our thought factory and is

constantly producing thoughts.
Ø We mix up the mind and the intellect. They are
different.
Ø The intellect discriminates thoughts and helps us
choose.
Ø If we do not slow down the mind, it becomes a monkey
that constantly jumps.
Ø The mind jumps from the past to the future, as it makes
us live with regret, fear, worry, and anxiety.
Ø Those who know how to live life, make the monkey
mind into a monk.
Ø They discipline the mind to be in the present moment,
as they live life thought by thought, in the 'now'.
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Chapter 34
Let Go of the Ego
Who is the one that says 'I'?

Who says this is 'mine' and that is 'my'?
It is our Ego that makes us cry,
Isn't it time to bid the Ego goodbye?
In the journey of life, we all experience hate, anger,
jealousy, and revenge. But we rarely stop to understand the
cause of it. These negative toxins arrive because of our ego.
Ego means 'I'. We nd ourselves constantly saying, 'This is
my house, my car, my wife, my family.' What makes us say
so? It is the ego. Although we know that when we come to
this world, we bring nothing and when we go, we can take
nothing with us, still we are bound by the cravings of the
ego that make us believe that the people and possessions
belong to us and this makes us miserable.
Most of us know that while it is good to have a healthy self-

esteem, the ego can be very damaging. It becomes attached
to our loved ones and our material wealth and eventually,
we become miserable because of the ego.
Those who understand life, realize that they must let go of

the ego. It is not easy to do so as we live imprisoned in a
body-mind complex. From the time we are born, we are
given a unique identity. We live believing that we are the
name, with a nationality and a religion, that makes us who
we are. Because we don't realize we are not this body, we
also don't realize that this identity is fake. We are the ones
who are alive inside, but the ego identies us to be what we
appear on the outside.
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Let Go of the Ego
Giving up the ego means realizing that we are not the ones
the world thinks us to be. However, we don't have to give
up our possessions or break ties with all the people in our
life when we live beyond being the ego. Letting go of the
ego means not being attached to anything, whether it is a
person or a product. Ultimately, nothing will be ours. We
must realize this truth. This will help us to live, letting go
of the ego. Because of the ego, we are not able to realize that
we are manifestations of the Divine. God is within us. God
is the Power that makes our heart, beat. Although we read
this, and most scriptures advocate it, why don't we believe
it? Even though we believe it, the Mind along with the Ego,
ME, creates a veil between us and the Divine within. The
ME acts like a layer of dark clouds that blocks us from
seeing the beautiful blue sky and the sunshine. Although
we are aware of how the dark clouds block the beautiful
Sun, we are not aware that the ego blocks our vision of
truth and we continue to live blinded by ignorance due to
the ego. If only we let go of the ego, we will nd God.
The reality of life is that we are all nothing but the Divine
Soul. The body may appear to be, but in reality, we are
Divine energy. The wise men and the sages of ancient
civilizations used to say this thousands of years ago.
Today, science endorses it. We human beings are nothing
but energy though we appear to be a mass of cells that
becomes identied by the ego.
Those who discover the truth of life learn the art of letting
go of the ego, they realize that we are all the Divine Soul. In
the end, the body that we think is us, will die and return to
dust. If we think we are the ego, then along with the mind,
we become the ME and we create Karma through our
actions. Thereafter, the ego is born again and again, to
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Let Go of the Ego
suffer its past actions and invariably it suffers on earth.
Those who let go of the ego, realizing it is an illusion, do

not take ownership of any action. They act as an
instrument of the Divine and they do not create any
Karma. All the carried forward Karma disappears and
dissolves at death, as they let go of the Ego.
What happens next? Those who live letting go of their ego,

become Jivanmuktas. They are realized human beings who
are liberated when alive. At death, when the body returns
to dust, they are liberated from the cycle of death and
rebirth and they experience unication with the Divine.
The mention of this can be traced back to the ancient story
of the Kathopanishad, wherein Yama, the Lord of death is in
conversation with Nachiketa. Nachiketa learns the secret
that if we let go of the ego, we will become one with God.
The Ego is a wild monster. It will never let us believe that 'I'
am not 'I'. It will never let us go on a quest to realize the
truth, 'Who am I?' It wants us to be imprisoned in
ignorance, as we live identifying ourselves with the body
and mind, which we are not. Although we are the Divine
Soul, the ego does not permit us to realize this.
The ego will never let go of us. We must make a conscious

effort to let go of the ego. We must realize that we are not
the ego, mind and body that is always saying, ‘This is me.’
We must learn to disassociate ourselves from our ego if we
want to be truly free.
Those who do not let go of the ego, never achieve their

ultimate goal of liberation and unication. They continue
to live as an embodied Soul, as they suffer, and they are
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Let Go of the Ego
born again and again. Although we are Divinity,

manifesting as a human being, the ego hides this truth from
us, making us prisoners. It's time to break free. We must let
go of the ego!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Don't we all believe we are 'I'? This is 'me' and all this is
'mine'.
Ø Although we bring nothing with us, and at death,
everything will be left behind, we still say, 'This is my
car, my house.'
Ø All our relationships will end, but the ego doesn't
realize this.
Ø Unless we let go of the ego, we will never realize that
we are the Divine Soul.
Ø Because we live as the ego, we continue to suffer.
Ø We create Karma and we are born again and again.
Ø If only we let go of our ego, we will achieve our
ultimate goal and realize God.
Ø At death we will be liberated and escape from the cycle
of death and rebirth as we will be united with the
Divine.
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Chapter 35
True Love is Bliss
True Love is Bliss,

It's not just a Kiss.
ose who don't learn what True Love is,
is Divine ecstasy, they miss.
A Life Manual without love would be incomplete.
Everybody who lives, loves. But we have not discovered
the true meaning of love. Those who live life at the surface,
think that love is just about kisses, hugs, romance, sex and
Valentine's Day. We think that love is all about broken
hearts. What is the secret of True Love?
True Love is Divine. Just like white light from the sun
creates a rainbow with VIBGYOR, the 7 beautiful colours of
Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red, pure
White Divine love from the Soul manifests as the 7 different
colours of love throughout our life. When we are born, we
experience the love between children and parents. This is a
beautiful love and often lasts throughout life. Our rst love
is Violet as is the rst colour of the rainbow.
As we grow, we experience Indigo love, love between

friends. Haven't we all had best friends in our school,
whom we loved a lot? This friendship is another
manifestation of Divine love and as per some philosophers,
more powerful than other forms of love.
Blue love is romance. Who doesn't fall in love as we grow

up from a child to an adult? However, this love is very
transitory, although deep, as it soon evolves into other
colours of love.
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True Love is Bliss
The love that is Green is very unique. It is love for

ourselves. Self-love or self-esteem is known to exist
throughout the world. In fact, many people believe that
the strongest love in us is love for the self.
Yellow love is intellectual love. As people mature, they

often get into an intimate relationship, driven by the
intellect. People with intellectual love will love to talk to
each other for hours or days and not get bored of each
other.
Orange love is emotional love that blooms more in

women. Women are said to be more emotional than men.
So, they say, 'Men are from Mars and women are from
Venus!' While both genders love, their love manifests in
different ways. For men, love is all about Red erotic love. It
is the physical expression of love. The whole world is
gripped by sensuality and sexuality, mostly to do with red
erotic love.
As we dene the 7 colours of love, we must realize that all

these 7 colours originate from the White love from the
Soul. Just like the rainbow appears from sunlight that is
white, the 7 colours of love, appear from the Soul. If there
was no Soul, there would be no love. Can you ever imagine
a dead body loving? Impossible! Because there is no Soul,
thus there is no love. All the manifestations of love
emanate from the Soul, the source, the fountain of love.
Unfortunately, the world has not come to terms with the

truth that true love is bliss, which is not just a kiss, but far
more divine and beautiful. All the 7 colours of love create
an ecstasy of joy and bliss. Why then does the world only
imagine love as hugs, hearts, and Valentine magic? It is
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True Love is Bliss
because we have not discovered True Love.
Because we have not discovered the truth that we are in

fact, the Divine Soul, we continue to believe love to be that
of the body and of the mind, when in reality, the fountain of
True Love, springs from the Soul.
White Soulful love is Divine and thus nds its presence in

all the scriptures of the world. It would be rare to nd any
scripture of any religion, where love is not talked about. We
talk of love for God. What is this love all about? It is love
that is born from the Soul that is seeking the Universal Soul
that is omnipresent.
Because we have not learnt the true meaning of love, we

have not learnt to live with this beautiful gift called love. To
love is to live, but most of us live with a very narrow
perspective of love. Love has become a taboo as it is
connected only to the physical aspect of sexuality when in
reality, it is all about Divine spirituality.
Those who go in quest for God, experience Divinity and

they love one and all. They realize the truth that God
appears not just as human beings, but as everything alive
on earth. A true lover of God, therefore, loves without
hesitation and unsparingly.
How should one live and love? One should eliminate

possessiveness that restricts love to be only between two
people. This love is just from body to body. But love from
Soul to Soul is universal. Thus, sometimes, philosophers
have considered Indigo love between friends as more
powerful than Blue love between lovers or Red erotic love.
True Love is unconditional and ows from Soul to Soul.
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True Love is Bliss
True Love is bliss, not just a kiss. True Love is the source of
all joy and ecstacy but it’s not the love that we talk about.
True Love is Soulful Divine love that comes from the very
essence of our life power. True Love used to be called as Ishq
Haqiqi by the Sus and Agape by the ancient Greeks. Its
origins are found in history that is a few thousand years old.
Let us learn the meaning of True Love in this Life Manual.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø As we live, we must learn the true meaning of love.

Ø True Love is bliss, not just a kiss.
Ø True Love emanates from the Divine Soul that is
within.
Ø It manifests as the 7 colours of love, just as the white
light of the sun creates 7 colours of the rainbow.
Ø Violet love is between kids and parents.
Ø Indigo love is between friends.
Ø Blue love is romance.
Ø Green love is self-love.
Ø Yellow love is intellectual.
Ø Orange love is emotional.
Ø Red love is erotic physical love.
Ø All love comes from the Soul. One who is dead has no
Soul and is incapable of loving.
Ø It is this White Divine Soulful love that is the source,
the fountain of love and of all joy, bliss and ecstacy.
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Chapter 36
Prayer and its Purpose
We all Pray, but why do we Pray?

When we pray, what do we Say?
'I have a problem Lord, I seek om you this…'
Is this the reason, why Prayer is?
We belong to some religion or the other when we are born
and most of us pray. It is natural for us to put our religion as
a part of our life credentials. Just like we put our name, our
surname, and our nationality, we also put our religion,
whether or not we believe in it. Thereafter we may even
change it. But as we live through life, we must pause to
understand who is the God that we pray to and what we say
in our prayers.
Prayer has a purpose. As life unfolds, we face so many

problems, and when a problem becomes unsolvable, we
take it to our God. We see this happen most often when a
doctor gives up hope for somebody who is critically ill and
very dear to us. Then, we turn to God. We fold our hands in
prayer and cry. We even beg God to save the life of our dear
one and to relieve their pain and suffering. Not only do we
pray to God to save a life, we even turn to God when there is
a pandemic, a disease, a business loss, a family feud, or an
anticipated result.
Faith and hope in our God, keeps us seeking and even

begging from God, 'O Lord, please bless us with a son.'
'May my child get the rst rank in class.' We perform
prayers to please God, and request God to full our desires
and wishes. Most prayers fall under the following two
141
categories: either we go to God when we have a problem,

or we pray when we seek something from God. But some
people don't forget God when their wishes are fullled,
and problems are solved. In fact, they make it a habit to
make 'Gratitude Prayer' a part of their daily life. Some
people thank God before they eat a meal or before they
start any important work in life. Very few people pray to
God because they love God. These people, sincerely, have
a deep longing for God. It is this small group of people that
go further, beyond religion in quest of the Divine and they
nd eternal peace.
Isn't it strange that most of us don't really know who is the

God we pray to and what we say when we Pray? We grow
up divided by our religion and we believe that our God is
the most powerful God. People get so obsessed and
attached to God, that they start believing in a statue and
fall in love with that physical form of God. As kids, we
grow up with mythological stories, but somehow, we
don't get over them and continue to believe in our fantasy
God, without using our intellect to build a connection with
the Divine that is not only present within but exists all
around us.
While it is very good to pray to a God with name and form,

our love for God should make us climb the ladder to
heaven as we overcome our ignorance and realize, the
several truths about life and our relationship with God.
Prayer has a deep purpose. It is communication with God.

It helps us build a connection with the Divine, as we not
only talk to God from the depth of our heart but we also
pause and wait to listen to the sweet and silent voice of
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God. Effective prayer thus, is a two-way communication.
Unfortunately, most of humanity doesn't understand

what they say when they pray. How many people actually
understand the true meaning of the scripture of their
religion? How many of us really know how to interpret
what the word of God truly is? While we understand the
concept of religion and prayer, we learn about love and
kindness; we become compassionate and live with virtues;
we often mumble prayers without actually understanding
what we are telling God.
In many Eastern religions, just like it is in many

monotheistic ones, we sing bhajans and mantras, spiritual
hymns and songs, to praise God. But we get carried away
by words that express the physical beauty and the worldly
powers of God. We don't evolve in our prayers. We have
learnt to by-heart tunes and lyrics but what do all these
fervent recitals mean?
The real purpose of prayer is to build a Divine Union with

the Creator. It is to take us closer to God as we understand
the Divine and realize the presence of our Lord within. As
long as we continue to imagine God as someone who
wears a fancy attire, who appears in magical and mystical
ways, we will never make prayer a means to realize God.
As long as our prayers are meant to invoke miracles, we
will continue to live believing in the stories that were
meant to introduce God to us, but we will not go beyond.
No doubt, as young children, we need to be told tales, as
our capacity to understand is limited. But isn't it time for
us to stop and understand the true meaning of prayer, to
realize that God is one power? Our immaturity makes us
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ght with people of other religions, and even wage wars. If

only we could discover the true purpose of prayer and
realize that we are all children of one God, our life would
be far more peaceful. While we may live in different
countries, following different cultures, speaking different
languages believing in different religions, the God of this
universe is one. Our prayers may be different, but the one
we pray to is the same.
Prayer is meant to build this beautiful relationship, not

only with God, but with all the children of God who are
none other than God manifesting as you and me.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Prayer has a purpose, but very few of us discover it.

Ø We all pray, but we all don't know what we say when
we pray.
Ø We go to God whenever we have a problem and fold
our hands before God, asking him to solve it.
Ø We are constantly seeking favours from God in our
prayers.
Ø We pray to a God without realizing who God actually
is.
Ø Because our religions make us believe in different
Gods, we even ght with one another in the name of
God.
Ø True prayer will make us love God, realize God and
then love one another.
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Chapter 37
Where is God and Heaven?
Where is Heaven and where is God?

What is the real name of our Lord?
Are there many Gods or is there just one?
In search of this truth, life goes on.
Most of us live and die, but we never learn the truth about
God. We believe in some kind of heaven and that if we pray
to our Lord, one day, we will go there.
Although human beings are intelligent, it is strange that we

get carried away with such fairy tales. Most of us believe in
what we are told. Of course, we might have learnt it when
we were kids but even after we grow up, we still believe
that Santa Claus leaves gifts under the Christmas tree, and
this is a real pity.
There is a difference between fact and myth. Most of our

religious stories are mythological. They are epics crafted to
make children believe in God. Once we start believing in
God, and as we grow older, we must discover on our own
the real nature of God and where the so-called heaven truly
is. Is God a person made of bone and skin or is God a Power that
lives within? Many of us don't question. We just believe in
the God of our religion and we think it is blasphemous to
ask any question.
Although the scriptures of most religions reveal the truth,

we adults go around in the merry-go-round of life like kids
believing in fairy tales. The Bible says, 'The kingdom of God
is within you,' Luke 17:20,21. 'Do you not know that you
145
are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in

you?' Corinthians 3:16. The Upanishads say, Tat Tvam Asi
and Aham Brahmasmi - Thou That Art, the Divine Soul.
Most of the scriptures indicate that God is within us, still
we search for God in a temple, monastery, and church.
How will we ever nd God?
Saints and sages over the centuries have tried to make us

realize the truth. The Buddha, ‘The Awakened One’ even
said that enlightenment is about going within to realize
the truth. Guru Nanak, the revered Guru said that we have
9 doors or openings in the human body. The eyes, the nose,
the ears, the mouth and 2 organs, one each for procreation
and excretion. We must open the tenth door – Dasmay
Dwar, to realize God within. We human beings are so
caught up with what the priests of our religions tell us that
the truth hides behind their narratives. Unfortunately, we
don't discover the truth about God.
Then, we want to go to God. So, we go to our place of worship

– temple, church, monastery, synagogue or gurudwara. Not
only this, but we also go to faraway places of pilgrimages to
get a glimpse of God. The more exotic the destination, the
better. Up in the mountains or in the middle of the desert or
ocean, we get carried away by the fantasy that our God's
'heaven' is somewhere on this pilgrimage. After visiting
these places, we then dream of 'heaven' being up in the
skies, somewhere on a distant planet and we are so sure
that after death, we will go there. We don't use our God-
given intellect to realize that the body returns to dust as it
is cremated or buried. Then, how will anybody go to that
distant heaven? We live and die, but we don't realize the
truth that heaven or hell, are experienced right here on
earth as we live in a human body. Rewards for our good
146
deeds or punishment for our sins will not be proclaimed

by a God wearing a crown and long robes as we are made
to imagine. The Divine resides in each one of us and we are
redeemed of our deeds right here on earth after we die as
we return in a new body to experience the results of our
actions in the so-called heaven and hell right here on earth.
Why is that we human beings live as an ignoramus when it

comes to the subject of God? There is no doubt that God is,
although we don't know who, what or where God is.
When will we realize the truth that God is not a statue or
saint, the Divine is a Power that no human can paint? God
dened is God denied. We don't need to prove God. Our
existence itself is enough proof of it. All the beauty around
us is a manifestation of the Divine. Because we live and die
in ignorance, we don't experience God's Divinity all
around us.
The very life inside us, the Soul, the Spirit or the Atman, is
nothing but a God particle. It gives life to each of the over
30 trillion cells in the human body. But we don't realize
this. We see a person die, but we don't question, 'Why?' We
don't realize that when the Soul departs, there is no breath.
We don't realize that the Soul is Divine, and thus, Divinity
reveals itself in all of humanity, in the animals and plants
that surround us. Still, we human beings search for God,
when in reality, God is within us, in each and every cell of
the body.
Those who read the Life Manual, realize the truth about
God. It may be only a few who get to know the truth, and
even a lessor minority who are blessed from taking the
knowledge further to realization. But it is these blessed
ones who ask, investigate and realize God. Not only do
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they live a life of bliss, overcoming ignorance, living

fearlessly without any concern of death or disaster, they
feel the Divine presence all the time. They believe in the
God of their religion, but they go beyond the kindergarten
of religion as they yearn for God, love God, and seek God.
If we do not realize the truth about God and heaven, we
will never learn to truly live.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We don't know who God is, where God is, what God is.
But beyond doubt, God is.
Ø God is not a statue or saint. God is a power that no
human can paint.
Ø We live and die as we get carried away by
mythological tales about God and heaven.
Ø God is within, but we search outside.
Ø We go to a temple, monastery, and church, instead of
taking our search inwards.
Ø We believe in the fairy tale that heaven is somewhere
faraway, up in the skies.
Ø Those who really learn to live, realize God within, in
the temple of their heart.
Ø They realize that heaven or hell will be experienced
right here on earth as we return in a new body to
experience our own past actions.
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Chapter 38
Religion is just a Kindergarten
Religions are good,

But they only teach us the basics about God.
ey help us to pray and to believe,
But we don't become one with our Lord.
All religions are good as they teach us to live with faith,
trust, hope, and enthusiasm. But religions are only
kindergartens. Just like we learn ABC in nursery, religions
only teach us the ABC about God. It is not the fault of
religion. The subject of God is beyond human denition.
Therefore, religions create a God that young children can
identify with, God with name and form. But unfortunately,
it seems that we continue to remain in the kindergarten of
religion all our life.
What is life all about? We have to move on from school to

university where we graduate. While we all grow up and
achieve a master’s degree as we develop skills in our career,
it is most unfortunate, that as far as religion is concerned,
we don't grow up. People remain in the kindergarten of
religion all through their life, not till they are 40 or 50, but
even when they cross, 70, 80 or even the ripe age of 90 years.
We don't graduate in the university of spirituality.
Spirituality is not another religion. Despite our religion, we

must evolve to graduate in spirituality. What does this
mean? We must not just live our life believing in the
mythology of religion. Of course, we all pray to our God
and that is good. To live a life of faith, hope, trust and
enthusiasm is the right way to live. But should we not go
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beyond that? If we really love our God, if there is a

yearning for the Divine, then we must go in search of God.
We must evolve from religion to spirituality.
Nobody needs to change their religion. Spirituality is

about going beyond religion. It is climbing the ladder to
the Divine. It is discovering the Divine spirit within and
realizing that God is not far away. Somehow, we get so
addicted to our religion that we feel safe following it. In
fact, there is a fear of going beyond it and it is considered
blasphemous to question the teachings of our scriptures.
By asking questions about God, we are not becoming

atheists or agnostics. We love God and we want God.
Therefore, there is no harm in studying about how the
concept of God evolved in the world, how so many
different religions came about and what the truth about
God is.
Spirituality reveals the truth. It respects all religions but

makes us realize that we are all manifestations of the
Divine. You and me, are not two different entities. We are
like two waves in the same ocean. God is the cause; we are
just effects. Spirituality reveals the truth.
Today, it is sad that people are ghting against each other

in the name of religion, even waging wars. All this is
because we have not realized the truth.
All scriptures are good, just like all religions are good. But
they have a limitation. Unless we delve deep into the
spiritual truth, we will always think of God as an entity far
away from us. We will never realize God within. We will
always be confused about God, about whether we will be
150
rewarded or punished by our Lord in heaven, just as we

get zapped with different cultures and different beliefs of
the different religions of the world.
We should not get carried away by other religions nor

should we judge them. We should not think our religion is
superior, nor should we try to convert people to our
religion. God is one – when will we realize this truth? Just
because different religions give different names to their
God, does it mean that there are different heavens in
different planets? Spirituality busts this myth. It makes us
love God without any bar of caste, creed, gender,
nationality or religion. We are all Divine manifestations.
The truth is we are nothing, God is everything! Because of
our ignorance, we continue to blindly follow our religion
and remain in the kindergarten of religion till we die.
Many people think that religion is an easy way out. We can

sin and God will forgive us for our sins, as long as we offer
God 10% of our earnings. When will we overcome our
ignorance? Is it true that God wants our money and thus,
gives us a license to sin? Do we want our Lord to suffer for
our sins and then settle the bill through our charity? We
human beings suffer only because we live without
realizing the basic truth about life and about God. It's time
for us to review our belief systems. We must do a check not
only on our philosophy, but also on our theology, not so
much to prove it wrong, but to learn and grow beyond and
realize the truth about the Divine. Unless we open our real
eyes, we will not realize the truth. We will continue to ght
in the name of God and always remain distant from the
Divine who in reality exists in each cell of our body.
When will we realize the truth about the Divine Soul

151
within that is God? When will we realize that the Atman,

Spirit, Soul, Prana, Chi, all mean one and the same thing,
just like Jesus, Krishna and Shiva? These may appear to be
different Gods with different names but God is beyond
name and form. Spirituality will reveal the truth!
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Religion is a kindergarten to spirituality. Unfortunately,

we don't realize this.
Ø All through our life, we remain in the kindergarten of
religion. We don't graduate to the university of
spirituality.
Ø We don't have to change our religion. All religions are
good.
Ø But religions only teach us the basics. We have to go
beyond religion, having faith in God.
Ø We must love God, yearn for God, and seek God.
Ø Spirituality reveals the Divine in the temple of our
heart.
Ø Although the world may refer to God by different
names, the ultimate truth which we all must realize is
that God is one Power beyond all religions.
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Chapter 39
Realizing God Within
God is not on a distant planet,

Somewhere far away.
God lives within the temple of our heart,
He is with us every day.
In this journey called ‘Life’, one of the most important
lessons that we forget to learn is the truth about God. We
love God, we pray to God, but, sadly, we don't realize God.
The ultimate purpose of man on earth is to realize he is the
Divine Soul, and to be ultimately liberated at death and
experience unication with the Divine. Because we don't
realize God, we return to planet earth and go through the
merry-go-round of joy and sorrow, again and again.
Anybody with basic intelligence knows that God exists.

The Creator of this universe, for want of a better name, is
called God. Different religions give their God different
names, just as several saints and mythological deities
become God for civilizations around the world. The only
reason that God has become such a creative piece of art, is
because man is not able to comprehend God without name
and form. God is the energy that is present everywhere.
God is the Power that makes our heart beat. God is the very
life, the spirit, the Soul, the Atman. Because we are unable to
comprehend God, religions teach their followers to follow a
God that adorns snakes, one who sits on a lotus ower in
the ocean, one who will die so that we can be forgiven for
our sins or even one who lives far away in the skies. Then
we perform all kinds of rituals and follow superstitions, to
please that heavenly God, which all along is within our
153
own body. The God power in us gives life to each of the 30

trillion cells. It is the same God-Power in me and in you,
and in the 8 billion people on earth. This is not 8 billion
Gods, but one God, empowering all of this universe to live.
In our house, we have different kinds of bulbs and lights.

We have televisions and air conditioners, hair dryers and
other appliances. Each of them is different, but the power
that comes to all these gadgets is the same. It is not a
different power that is present in each of the appliances or
gadgets. While we realize this, we don't realize that the
power in you and the power in me is the same universal
power that we cannot see.
What happens at death? In a fraction of a moment, the God

Power within leaves and we are pronounced dead. It is
different from sleep where we wake up. Death is different.
It is not like a breakdown of our car or air conditioner,
which can be repaired and reconstructed to work again.
Death is the end for that body. Thereafter, the body is
cremated or buried. Although we see this happening day
in and day out, we don't realize the Divine that is within
us. We search for God in a temple, monastery, and church.
We look up at the sky. We fold our hands and cry. But we
don't realize that the very 'I' hides the God that is within
us. When we let go of the ego, when we transcend the body
and mind, then we can realize God. God can never be found;
God has to be realized.
Have you ever wondered why a human being normally

doesn't pray with eyes open? Even when we go on a
pilgrimage far away, once we reach our destination and
we stand before our God, we automatically close our eyes
to pray. This is because God is within. God is not outside in
154
front of us. The power of God is throbbing inside us. If we

contemplate this, we will realize the truth that God is
within.
There are many methods of Realization. Different human

beings are sparked with God-realization through different
ways. The most common realization of God within is rst
the realization of the self, realizing who we are not, not the
body, not the mind. Then it is realizing we are the Divine
Soul. The Soul in me is the same energy. God energy!
While it may be very easy to read this and even possible to
understand it, it is a rare feat to realize it, to experience the
Divine within.
Those who realize God within, realize that God is the

cause, we are just effects. Without God we are nothing.
Just like a statue, a pot or a plate are all made of clay, if
there is no clay, none of them exist. So, without God, all of
us perish. We return to dust.
Have you ever stopped to contemplate the beauty around

you? There is so much natural beauty in the owers and
the trees, in the buttery and the bees, in you and in me.
What is the cause of all this beauty? It is the Divine life
within. The moment life departs, the beauty disappears.
When will we realize that it is the Divinity that causes all
the beauty? Once we become conscious of God within,
then we realize that God is everywhere. We see Divinity in
all the beauty around us, as we live a life of eternal peace
and happiness.
In this journey called 'Life', the most important lesson on

how to live life in the Life Manual is realizing God within.
Once we do, we will be blessed to live as the Divine Soul, in
155
eternal joy and everlasting peace. For this, we must learn

to give ourselves up, then we will nd God.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø We love God and we pray to God, but we don't realize

that God is within.
Ø God is the very life power that makes our heart beat.
Ø The Soul, the Spirit, the Atman, we know it by different
names, but it is the Divine.
Ø God can't be found. We have to realize God.
Ø As long as we don't let go of the ego, we will not nd
God.
Ø There are different ways and methods to realize God
within.
Ø Most often, it is self-realization that leads to God-
realization – Realizing that we are not the body and
mind, we are the Divine Soul.
Ø Once we become conscious of God within, then we
realize that God is everywhere. We see Divinity in all
the beauty around us, as we live a life of eternal peace
and happiness.
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Chapter 40
Living as the Divine Soul
We all think we are 'ME',

The Ego, body, and Mind.
When we live as the Divine Soul,
Joy, Bliss, Peace we Find.
As we go through this journey called 'Life', we may be one
set of human beings, but we live very different lives. Some
of us live purely physical, material lives. How do we live?
Those people who think that life is only from birth to death,
and then, it's over - they are pleasure-driven. They seek
success and achievement. They don't delve into the true
meaning and purpose of life. They may or may not believe
in God. But they don't go beyond the skin to nd the power
that is alive within. They are attached to their family,
friends, and their possessions. To them, the more the
merrier, as they build an interactive community around
them, whether it is partying, playing, golng or just,
whiling away time together. They go through the merry-
go-round of life experiencing joy and sorrow. But they
rarely experience peace and tranquillity. It is strange, but
most people live and die this way.
There are a few people in this world, who realize that there
is more to life than just the physical aspect. They are driven
by ethics and values and their life has compassion and love.
They believe in the Law of Karma- As we sow, so shall we reap.
They realize that death is not the end. While the body dies,
these people believe that they will be reborn as per their
Karma. So, while they may live like the rst group, which is
157
how the majority lives, they are different in as much as

they are conscious that death is not the end. They know
very well that we cannot escape from our actions.
Therefore, while they may be pursuing success and
pleasure, the river of their life is controlled by strong banks
and they try to ow towards their destination with
righteousness within the prescribed limits of their
religion, philosophy, culture and their belief system.
There is a third category, a minority that is different from

the two groups as given above. They are less than 1% of the
world who go on a quest to realize the true meaning of life.
They know that life is not all about success, achievement,
money, and pleasure. Their life too is built on the strong
foundation of Karma, but they go beyond. They ask
questions and they investigate as they try to realize the
purpose of life. This small group of people live far more
peaceful and blissful lives, as they start their journey as the
Divine Soul. They seem to understand that they are not the
body, but they look deeper and try to realize the true
meaning of life. This quest takes individuals on a journey,
through different paths. Many of them are religious, just as
others may be spiritual. Not only do they read scriptures
and books on philosophy and theology, they also go in
search of spiritual masters, mentors, or a life coach. They
seem to have a thirst for the true nectar of life.
Of this 1% whom we can call 'seekers', a very small fraction

realizes the truth about life. This is a unique blessing and
this rare group of people who experience self-realization,
transform their lives. They realize that we are not the body
that dies. We are not even the Mind and Ego, ME, that is
reborn as per our Karma. We are the Divine Soul. We are
158
all manifestations of the Divine. Our Ultimate Goal is

Liberation while alive and Unication at death. These
unique realized beings live in this world of pleasures and
illusions, as they ght a war within. They experience the
wandering of the mind, and the craving of the body, as the
ego struggles between a material and spiritual life. While
they have realized the truth, they are not yet free from the
ignorance that constantly attacks them. But they have
started their journey of living as the Divine Soul.
Realized beings are rare and few, just about 0.00001 % of

the world's total population. These blessed few, a handful
of people, have spiritually evolved beyond the rest of the
99.99% people in the world. They realize that this world is
a cosmic drama. Nothing is real. We are all Divine
manifestations, the Soul. We are not the body and mind
that we appear to be. Not only do they realize this truth,
but they also live it! Such a state is called Sthitpragya by
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The Upanishads and
the Vedas title such people as the Jivanmukta. They live as a
Divine Soul that is liberated while they are still alive. They
live with a steady intellect, having full command over the
mind and the body. They live a life of bliss and peace.
Such people enjoy a state where they live a life of eternal

bliss and everlasting peace, as they are conscious of the
truth. They overcome the cravings of the body and the
wandering of the mind, as they become an observer of the
life drama that is being enacted on planet earth. They
overcome the misery that is experienced by those who
think they are the body. They also overcome the stress and
anxiety that lls the lives of those who think they are ME,
the Mind and Ego. As they let go of their Karma, realizing
that they are not the doer of the action, they become
159
liberated from all the petty annoyances, experienced by

most others who just live and die.
People who live as the Divine Soul, just have one goal – not
to sink into this world or Samsara, but to escape Mithya and
Maya, the illusion, and to be liberated. At death, they seek
to be united with the Divine. They seek nothing else. They
live as Divine manifestations realizing who they are and
why they are here. They are the ones who truly live.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Very few people live the life of a Divine Soul,

experiencing bliss and joy.
Ø Most people live as the body and chase success,
achievement, and pleasure.
Ø A few people are lucky as they go beyond living as ME –
Mind and Ego. They live a life as per Karma, wishing to
do good deeds. They too suffer as they are born again.
Ø A rare minority goes in quest of the truth. They realize
that they are the Divine Soul. But not all those who go
through this realization are liberated from misery,
suffering, and rebirth.
Ø A very small, rare minority lives as the Divine Soul, as
manifestations of the Divine, in eternal bliss and
everlasting peace.
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Chapter 41
Being in Divine Union All the Time
Being in Divine Union is not a Joke.

For most of us sink in the worldly Smoke.
But once there is this Eternal Bond,
We experience a Bliss that is beyond.
What is being in Divine union all about? Normally we
human beings are prisoners of our mind. We are slaves and
we are constantly whipped with the thoughts of our own
mind. Thus we suffer. But the one who experiences
consciousness of the Divine, he remains connected in Yoga.
Yoga translated means Yuj in Sanskrit. It means union with
the Divine. But we are unable to be united because we are
distracted by thoughts and attached to the world.
Our biggest challenge in life is to be ever-united with the

Divine. To understand it in simple terms – How is a SIM
card in a mobile phone always connected to the network?
The satellite is far away but the SIM card doesn't lose the
connection. So should our life be lived. We should never
break our connection with the Divine. Is it even possible to
be in Divine consciousness all the time? Practically
speaking - No! As we live in a body-mind complex, it is
natural for our body senses to look outward and trigger
thoughts. This makes us lose our Divine consciousness.
Even if we shut off our senses, our mind wanders like a
monkey from thought to thought. This disturbs our
connection with the Divine. We lose consciousness, and our
network gets disconnected. What is the way to remain in
Divine Union all the time?
161
Yogis of the ancient world, those who lived in Yoga

advocated the way to remain in Divine consciousness all
the time. Normally, when we wake up in the morning,
naturally our mind jumps to thoughts, but the Yogi
doesn't permit the mind to go here and there. He starts his
day with Dhyana Yoga - in silence or meditation. He
doesn't rush to grab a newspaper or to switch the
television on, nor does he start talking to people. The Yogi
remains in silence.
Man is created in such a way that there cannot be freedom

from action. He has to act, do something. What does the
Yogi do? The moment he nishes his Yoga of meditation,
he gets into Karma Yoga or the Yoga of action. What does
this mean? It means he surrenders himself to be an
instrument of the Divine. He transcends the ME- the Mind
and Ego and his actions become the actions of the Divine
that are performed through him. The Yogi thinks he is just
a ute, the music is not his. The music plays through him.
Normally it is very difcult for the common man to live

like a Yogi. We are attached to so many people just as we
are passionate about so many things. We are so connected
with the world that we get disconnected from the Divine.
The Yogi does exactly the opposite. He disconnects from
the world to be ever-united with the Divine. What else
does the Yogi do apart from Dhyana Yoga - silence and
meditation and Karma Yoga- Yoga of action? The Yogi
spends a lot of time in Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is the Yoga of devotion. The Yogi is united

with the Divine in several modes of prayer. It may be
singing songs or hymns about God, or just chanting or
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even performing certain rituals that keep his devotion for

God alive. This Bhakti or devotion is a key way of being
united. But there is one more way that unites a sincere
seeker with God.
One who lives like a Yogi is united with the Divine

through Gyana Yoga, Yoga of education to attain wisdom.
One who truly wants to live a life of meaning and purpose
doesn't just follow the herd. Whatever he reads or hears,
he asks questions, he contemplates and realizes the truth.
True Yogis spend a lot of time in Gyana Yoga reading
scriptures, philosophy, theology from the East and the
West. Thus a true Yogi becomes enlightened with the
truth.
There is magic in living a life that is ever united with the

Divine. It is not everybody's cup of tea. A rare few are
blessed to become awake, aware, and conscious of the
truth. They are the ones whose life experiences the
constant cycle of Yoga. They move from Dhyana Yoga to
Bhakti Yoga and then from Karma Yoga to Gyana Yoga.
Moving from one Yoga to another keeps them ever united
with the Divine. They do not disconnect and they do not
sink in this world of desires and cravings.
In contrast to a Yogi, one who lives in Bhoga or is united

with worldly pleasures is consumed by lust, anger, greed,
attachment, and jealousy. The ego makes us sink in what is
called Bhoga - the opposite of Yoga. While Yoga uplifts us
into the skies, Bhoga makes us sink in worldly pleasures. In
the former, one experiences eternal peace and bliss; in the
latter, one enjoys temporary pleasures but then repeatedly
suffers.
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The choice is ours. If we truly yearn for the Divine, we can

achieve the state of Yoga and be ever united, enjoying bliss
unknown to the common man. We must beware that Yoga
is not what the world denes it to be. It is not just Asanas or
physical exercises and Pranayama or breathing techniques.
Yoga does not mean giving up of the world and sacricing
everything. If we truly love God, we can be in Yoga living
in the world as a Yogi united with God. But if we don't, we
can live and die enjoying the pleasures of this world just as
we experience misery in cycles losing the Divine
connection.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø A true Yogi is the one who lives in Divine Union.

Ø Just like a SIM card that is always connected to the
network, the Yogi doesn't lose the Divine connection.
Ø The Yogic cycle starts with Yoga of meditation, goes on
to action, devotion, and education or gaining wisdom.
Ø Whatever be the Yoga - Dhyana Yoga, Karma Yoga,
Bhakti Yoga, Gyana Yoga, the challenge for the Yogi is
to remain ever conscious of the Divine.
Ø One who is able to remain in Yoga enjoys eternal bliss
and peace.
Ø It is a choice. If not Yoga, we can live in Bhoga and sink
in the attractions and pleasures of the world.
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Chapter 42
Consciousness is Bliss
Consciousness is Bliss!
Because we are caught in a world of illusions,
is Divine bliss we Miss.
How can anybody explain to us the feeling of Divine Bliss

that we have never experienced? How can we imagine a life
devoid of any misery or suffering, when we have always
been troubled by them? We human beings are used to
seeking happiness and becoming happy. We have not
learnt the art of being happy. Why?
Throughout our life, we are slaves of our mind. It drives us

to act and to do what the ME wants to do. The ME – Mind
and Ego, sets the agenda, and as helpless puppets, we
dance through life as if the strings of our destiny are not in
our hands. We go through a cycle of pleasure and pain. We
struggle through loss and gain. We experience sunshine
and rain. But we live and die in vain. We don't understand
life. Before we even know it, life escapes us.
At rst, we are little children and the rst two decades pass
as we play with our toys and are busy with girls and boys.
Then, the next decade is about waking up and wanting to be
somebody, nding a life partner and creating a career or an
occupation. Before we even realize it, we have lost 4
decades. The fth decade is the one where we enjoy the
rewards of success or struggle through the pangs of failure.
Very few among us wake up in the sixth decade of our life
to realize the true meaning of life. Most of us slip into the
165
seventh decade and even further into our grave, without

even realizing what life is all about.
A rare minority is able to tame the monkey - their mind.

They are able to let go of their ego and experience Divinity
within. They become conscious of their Divine Soul, their
true identity and they defeat their physical self with their
spiritual strength. They become observers of this drama
called 'Life', as they live in Divine Consciousness.
What is this Divine Consciousness all about? To most of

us, it is an unheard experience because the mind never lets
us get to that point, a point where we watch the mind as it
wanders. A state of being where the physical pain does not
elevate into suffering, a blessing where the agony of the
ego does not let us become aghast in anger, hate, revenge
or jealousy.
Consciousness is experiencing the Divine at all times. It is

that Blissful state which is rewarded to a fraction of
humanity. In this state of blissful consciousness, one does
not get excited with pleasure, nor does one suffer with
misery. One lives a life of Divine surrender and acceptance
as they enjoy the show called 'Life'.
Those who enjoy this Bliss, are conscious that everything

is a manifestation of the Divine. We may see it as a
buttery or a bee, a fruit on a tree, you or me, but in reality,
everything is HE – Holistic Energy of the Divine. When we
become conscious of this, the mind ceases its monkey
business. Even if it tries to jump from thought to thought,
Consciousness brings it back to be a silent monk. It tames
not just the mind, but also the senses of the body as it
166
enjoys the Divine bliss that it experiences in all the beauty

around.
Beauty is Divinity. But normal mortals are not conscious of

this. We think of natural beauty as a creation of the Divine,
and continue to live in duality, not realizing that we are
ourselves the cause of all these effects which appear
beautiful.
Only those who experience this Divine Consciousness

experience this state of Satchitananda. They experience
Ananda or bliss that comes from the Consciousness - Chit of
the Truth - Sat. Those who live in this Ananda, are liberated
from all misery and sorrow. Like waves dancing on the
sea, nothing matters to them. Neither do they fear death,
nor are they concerned with the petty issues of life. They
learn to laugh as they live with love and laughter. They
have realized the truth and have gone beyond mundane
living. They are the few who have mastered the Life
Manual and discovered how to truly live life.
Most of us miss this Bliss. We miss experiencing the Divine

Consciousness that comes by overcoming ignorance and
realizing the truth. We struggle through life as the body-
mind complex and miss enjoying the beautiful journey of
the Divine Soul.
Consciousness is Bliss, but how will anybody understand

this? If they don't experience Consciousness, they will
only be caught in petty pleasures and temporary
triumphs, till one day before they realize, life is over. They
never bothered to open the Life Manual, to read it, to
understand it, and to drink from the nectar of it. They
never took the help of a life coach or a Spiritual Master to
167
discover how to live life. They abused the gift that was
priceless just because they did not discover the value of it
and the purpose and meaning that was hidden.
It's not too late. Even now, we can study the Life Manual
and discover how to live life. We can still learn from the
Life Manual how to realize Satchitananda, consciousness
of the truth that is bliss.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Most people live and die without discovering how to

live.
Ø They do not make an effort to read the Life Manual and
life escapes them.
Ø They do not even understand the meaning of
Consciousness that is so Blissful.
Ø Those who experience Bliss, being conscious of the
Divine, truly live.
Ø They observe this world as a Divine drama and enjoy
every moment of this show.
Ø Before this gift of life is over, we must read the Life
Manual, discover how to live and make the best of this
gift called 'Life'.
Ø We must reach the state of Satchitananda, bliss that
comes from consciousness of the truth.
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Chapter 43
The Need of a Guru - A Spiritual Master
Just like we need a Teacher,

To guide us in Achievement,
We need a Guru, a Spiritual Master,
To reach Enlightenment.
Who doubts that we need a coach, a mentor, a guide to
evolve in life? It starts from the time we go to kindergarten.
If it were not for a teacher who taught us ABC, we would
never be able to build a foundation to graduate in a
university. While we are all grateful to our teachers, and
our mentors for guiding us, not many of us are fortunate to
have a life coach, a Spiritual Master or a Guru. A Guru is
one who takes us from 'Gu' to 'Ru', from darkness to light.
Although we may get our hands on a Life Manual, we will
still need the help of a Guru to interpret that knowledge and
to realize the truth.
Some gadgets are easy to operate. We don't even need to

read the Operating Manual. But some gadgets are so
complicated that despite having a Manual in our hands, we
are unable to operate them. It may be a high-tech drone that
we lay our hands on for the rst time. Though we may read
the Manual, we still wouldn't know how to x the
propellers, the ight controller, and other parts of the
drone. But if somebody who is an expert is called in, the
drone will be up and ying in minutes!
A human life is the most complicated of all machines. It

immediately gets functioning as a body-mind complex the
moment it is born. While a kid is taught by teachers in
169
school and parents at home, after we grow up, we need the

guidance of a Spiritual Master to realize the truth, to be
enlightened. Without the help of a Guru, we will never be
able to realize that we are the Soul. It is impossible for a
normal man to transcend the rascal mind that keeps
jumping from thought to thought. It is beyond human
capability to suddenly transform from being an ego-driven
individual with a name, nationality, and religion, to
renouncing everything that he is and everything that he
has, in order to realize the truth. For this, one needs the help
of a Divine Spiritual Sage, an Enlightened Master. Only a
true Guru can make this transformation possible.
A Guru who is not qualied to guide one on the spiritual

path will fail in helping us reach that state of
enlightenment. Enlightenment is a complicated subject and
unless the Guru has been coached by another enlightened
Master, the chances are, he will not be able to effectively
help us realize the truth. Any teacher can impart spiritual
knowledge, but knowledge is not realization. Realization is
a gift from the Divine and needs both the guidance of the
Guru and the grace of God. Therefore, if one wants to
achieve the ultimate goal of life, one needs a Spiritual
Master to hold their hand and show them the way.
Is there any guarantee that having a Guru will lead us to

liberation? No. A Guru can show us the way, a Guru can
switch on the light on the truth, but it is for us to open our
'real eyes' to realize who we are and why we are here.
People often ask the question, 'How can we nd a genuine
Guru?' Spiritual Masters of the past have advocated that
when a genuine seeker is ready, the Guru will appear. The
Guru is a manifestation of the Divine, only far more
evolved than the other seekers who have to shed their
170
material layers to discover the Divine Spirit within. It is the

task of the Guru to peel us off our desires and cravings, our
attachments and passions, our weaknesses and limitations
and help us grow and evolve into a Divine Soul. A true
Guru is capable of creating a metamorphosis in our life,
after which we will be completely transformed.
If one wants to learn how to live life, then one needs both – a
Life Manual, which is the document that guides us at every
step of life, and a Guru or a Spiritual Master. The Guru will
interpret the Life Manual for us, just as he will enlighten us
on how to live life as the Divine Soul. Without a Guru, a Life
Manual may have all the information, but it will be
insufcient to take us to the realization of the truth.
Realization is an inner experience, and often a Guru can
create magic in opening the door to that state of
enlightenment. Without a Guru, we would live and die in
darkness.
Whatever truth I have realized in life, I owe to my Guru, my

Spiritual Master, Dada J. P. Vaswani. He held my hand for
25 long years and made me realize the truth about life. This
Life Manual is a tribute to my Guru, without whom it
would be impossible for me to share the principles of how
to live life.
171
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Not many of us are fortunate to have a life coach, a

Spiritual Master or a Guru.
Ø A Guru is one who takes us from 'Gu' to 'Ru' - from
darkness to light.
Ø The Guru is a manifestation of the Divine, and is far
more evolved than the other seekers.
Ø Though we may have the Life Manual, the importance
of a Guru cannot be negated.
Ø Enlightenment is a complicated subject that needs the
guidance of a Guru. A Guru who has been coached by
another enlightened Master, is an ideal choice.
Ø The Guru will interpret the Life Manual for us to refer,
just as he will enlighten us on how to live life as the
Divine Soul.
Ø When a genuine seeker is ready, the Guru will appear.
Ø A Guru can show us the way but we need to open our
'Real Eyes' to realize the truth.
Ø Realization is a gift from the Divine and needs the
guidance of the Guru and the grace of God.
Ø The Guru helps us evolve just as he opens the door that
will lead us to the ultimate goal.
172
Chapter 44
Our Ultimate Goal
We think that our Life Goal,

Is Joy, Peace, and Bliss.
To discover we are the Divine Soul,
is Ultimate Goal we Miss.
Most of us live and die, and we don't even know why we
have come to planet earth. Were we made as an intelligent
human being just to exist, to have fun, and to die? Did the
Creator create the magnicent heart, the amazing brain and
this sophisticated human machine with over 30 trillion cells
just to eat, drink, and make merry? There is a purpose for us
on earth. There is no doubt that there is a greater meaning
that we are ignorant about. We human beings have lost
sight of our Ultimate Goal, which is to realize we are the
Divine Soul.
Why is the whole world just chasing success? It is because

we think success will give us happiness. From the time we
are born, until we die, we go behind achievements,
although ultimately, they do not give us everlasting
happiness and peace. No doubt pleasure that comes from
success makes us enjoy life, but soon, we are thirsty again.
Our greed overcomes our need and we are once again back
in the race, caught in the chase and we get stuck in that
maze. In the bargain, we lose sight of our Ultimate Goal.
It's a pity that we intelligent human beings become and

remain slaves throughout our life. We are slaves to our own
senses and to our mind. We crave till our grave, but until
the end, we do not take an exit on the highway of life and go
173
Our Ultimate Goal
in search of the truth. It seems like we are paralyzed by our

own desires and we fail to understand what this gift of life
is all about. We think we are the body, mind, and ego, and
we lose sight of the truth. There is nothing wrong in
wishing to be happy. But we don't understand the
meaning of true happiness.
We can't get happiness. Happiness is a state of being.

Therefore, we have to be happy. Why are we not happy?
Because we have not learnt how to live life. We have
consumed life without paying attention to the Life
Manual. We get attached to people and possessions and
live in constant misery. Although we have a choice, we live
as emotional beings rather than intellectual humans. We
let the monkey create ruckus, as it drags us back into the
cosmic illusion and stops us from our ultimate destination.
ME, the Mind and the Ego, are our biggest enemy, but we
don't recognize that these thieves steal from us our
Ultimate Goal. It is the mind and the ego that stops us from
realizing that we are the Divine Soul. We pray to a God
without realizing to whom we pray and what we say.
Thus, if our intellect analyzes, we don't pray, we just bray.
We live and die, no better than donkeys that graze the
earth for the years that we are alive. Isn't it a pity that an
intelligent being like man goes through the motion of life
without even realizing what his Ultimate Goal is? Most of
humanity lives and dies without being conscious of the
Divine Soul.
It's time to wake up, and learn to live life, not as the body,
mind and ego, but as the Divine Soul. It's time to be
conscious of the truth, as we control our life like a chariot.
Our life chariot has 5 horses, the 5 senses that are
174
Our Ultimate Goal
galloping. To control the chariot of life, we need to control

the reins which is the mind. Without a charioteer, the reins
will let the horses loose and so, the intellect must be the
controller of the mind that keeps the ve senses under
control.
Who is in ultimate command of the intellect, the mind, and

the senses? It is 'we', the consciousness, the Divine Soul.
We are that ultimate consciousness that observes
everything and should control everything. Because we
think we are the body, mind and the ego, our life chariot is
not controlled by the Divine consciousness and the
intellect. Our 5 senses and the wandering mind delve into
the pleasures of this world and we get caught in the
attractions that promise pleasure and happiness. We are
so entangled in the world of allurements that we forget we
are the Divine Soul and lose command of our intellect. We
live and die, only to be born again and again and suffer on
planet earth. Thus we fail in achieving the ultimate goal of
life.
Can we reverse the way we live? Yes! If only we realize

that we are the Divine Soul, then we will take charge of our
body, mind and ego and live with Divine consciousness.
We will become aware that the God we are seeking is
within us. We are nothing, just 5 elements of nature –
Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space, that come alive with the
Divine Soul. We are these 5 elements that appear to be the
body. When the Soul departs, the body dies, and we think
our life has come to an end.
Death is just a bend. If we do not realize the truth, that we

are the Divine Soul, then based on our Karma, our ME,
Mind and Ego, will be reborn. But if we achieve the
175
Our Ultimate Goal
ultimate goal, and realize that we are the Divine Soul, then,
we can be liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Our challenge is to feel the Divine presence within, to

realize that we are not this body, mind and ego. We are the
Divine Soul. Then we will be liberated and united with the
Divine. To realize this, is our ultimate goal.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø Most people think that our Ultimate Goal is to be
happy.
Ø We spend our entire life seeking success and pleasure.
Ø Our ultimate goal is not just happiness. It is eternal
happiness that comes with the realization of the truth.
Ø The ultimate goal is to realize we are the Divine Soul.
Ø Once we realize this, we attain a state of everlasting
bliss, joy and peace.
Ø We are liberated from all misery and suffering and
from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Ø Alas, man is lost in the world. He doesn't realize the
ultimate goal that he is the Soul!
Ø Our ultimate goal is to realize that we are the Soul, then
to be liberated and to unite with the Divine.
176
Afterword
I did not know how to ‘Live’ life. For 50 long years, I just
wandered here and there with anger, with worry, and with
fear. My life had experienced several transformations. I lived
25 years of my life just chasing money, success, achievement,
and pleasure, until one day I realized that making a
difference was far more fullling than just making money. At
40, I shut down my business and transformed my life.
Although I was very happy travelling around the world, my
life had no purpose. The biggest gift of my life was my Guru,
my Spiritual Master, Dada J. P. Vaswani. I spent 25 years with
him as I evolved and nally realized the truth about life.
He inspired me to go on a quest, a search to nd the true

purpose and meaning of life. Till then, I thought I knew
everything. I lived as the Ego with arrogance, as I made my
millions. As my life coach, Dada not only taught me the
meaning of humility but led me on the path of spirituality. I
am grateful to my Guru, for without him, I would have
never been able to discover how to live life. This book, Life
Manual, is a tribute to the teachings of my Master, who was
liberated after he traversed the earth for 100 years.
This book covers all my personal experiences and my

learnings. I have not put theoretical knowledge in the book,
but what I have practically experienced. Therefore, this Life
Manual is my personal life manual. It is ratied by
teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, and the
Upanishads. It is inspired by the knowledge of saints like
Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Ramana
Maharishi, and Adi Shankara. This Manual has been
177
Afterword
carefully crafted after reading all the scriptures of the

world, just as it has taken into account the philosophies of
the world's greatest philosophers, right from ancient
civilizations till the present day saints and sages.
What is life? It is a journey from birth to death. We are all

gifted this life of human birth, but have we discovered
how to live it? Since I wandered for 5 decades, I decided to
create this manual. We refer to many manuals, not only
operating instructions for our gadgets, but also the process
documents for our businesses. In today's world, we cannot
imagine running a business without SOPs, which are laid
down in the Standard Operating Process Manual. Not only
organizations, even countries are managed by
constitutions, but we have ignored this important task - the
need to create a Life Manual, a manual for our most
important treasure – Life.
We all want to be happy, but we haven't learnt the simple

truth that we can't achieve happiness. We have to be
happy. After having written several books on happiness
and considering myself to be amongst the happiest people
in the world, I have covered the simple processes of being
happy. I have also explained how we can overcome misery
and sorrow as we face the trials and tribulations of life.
Who doesn't have problems? But those who discover how
to live life accept problems gracefully. They know that
pain is like a zooming train. While it comes, it never stays.
It moves on.
In this Life Manual, I have shared how I live as an observer

of this cosmic drama that is being enacted on planet earth.
Nothing is real, in the end, we will all realize it is like a
dream. Nothing belongs to us. We are merely trustees.
178
Afterword
Whatever we receive in this world, we will leave behind

and pass on to others. Then, why do we fret and fume as
we miss this beautiful journey called 'Life'?
Those who haven't understood life are trying to climb the

peak to reach the destination. They don't realize that the
destination is death, life is a journey. We must live it
moment by moment, making the best of it. This Life
Manual will show us the way to ‘Live’ as we enjoy every
moment of life before we nally face death. Death is
certain. Nobody can escape it. Then, why does the whole
world live with the fear of death? Today, the whole world
has shut down due to the Coronavirus. Because of the fear
of Covid-19, we have become prisoners of our mind. Our
intellectual decisions are bombarded with our emotions.
Perhaps a Life Manual like this could have helped people
live otherwise.
We don't realize that life and death are in the hands of the
Divine. Just as we cannot control when, where, and to
whom we are born, we cannot control our death. It will
come at the appointed time. Yes, there are a few who are
frustrated and depressed and try to end their life by
committing suicide. It is a pity that they have not
understood life and thus, do not treasure it.
Those who understand life and read the manual, will take
precautions but will not panic. They will live by faith and
surrender to the Divine Will. That is the way to truly live.
When will man learn how to live life? This Life Manual
may be an aid to help people discover the secrets about
life. It shares how I realized the truth and live each day,
joyously, with peace and tranquillity. Yes, you too can live
179
Afterword
your life with bliss and joy. Follow the Life Manual and
discover what life truly is. Then start living it right from
today, moment by moment. This Life Manual will show
you the right way to live life. You can't put away living
your life for another day.
IN A NUTSHELL
Ø This Life Manual is a treasure. It shares how I

discovered the true meaning of life and how I live with
eternal joy and everlasting peace.
Ø Just like we use Operating Manuals and process
documents to achieve success and excellence, we must
not only read the Life Manual, but use it to live our life.
Ø There is a way to overcome all misery and suffering
and live a life of bliss.
Ø There is a purpose for us on earth. Those who achieve
it are liberated. This Manual shows us the way.
Ø This Life Manual has it all. It is not just some theory,
but my practical experience with life.
Ø Today I share my most important treasure with you -
the Life Manual. Read it and learn how to live!
180
Life
Troubleshooting Guide
If you experience any trouble with your life, try the

following: Go through the relevant chapters and apply the
guidelines. If you continue to have trouble, consult a
Spiritual Master or a Guru.
If you have trouble with the Life Manual, you can write to
AiR at [email protected] or WhatsApp +91 98451 55555.
Common Troubleshooting Issues in Life
1. I am constantly worrying
There is no need to worry. Life is like a drama. We are
actors. We come and we go. Learn to enjoy the show!
2. I can't nd happiness

Happiness can't be found. It is a state of being. We have to
be happy. Stop searching for happiness and learn to be
happy.
3. I have no peace of mind

The mind itself robs our peace. Make the mind still. Spend
time in silence. You will nd peace.
4. I have no money to be happy

Money can give you pleasure, but not everlasting
happiness. Count your blessings and enjoy what you have.
5. I am in a state of depression
You are not in a state of depression. Your mind is! This is
because of negative energy. Flip over from negative to
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Life Troubleshooting Guide
positive and you can be cheerful.
6. I get anxiety attacks

Anxiety is mostly caused by FEAR. It is the product of an
overthinking mind. It makes False Expectations Appear
Real. Relax. Live with faith. Surrender and trust.
7. I can't sleep
If it is because of the mind, learn to cleanse your mind
every night before sleeping. Give your mind a shampoo
and eliminate all the junk that is troubling you.
8. I can't nd my mind

The mind is an illusion. It is just a bundle of thoughts. You
can nd your brain, but you can't nd your mind.
9. I am not able to concentrate

This is because the mind is like a monkey that is constantly
jumping. Catch the monkey mind and make it into a
monk. Quieten the mind through silence.
10. I feel jealous and miserable

Because we are ignorant that we are all manifestations of
the one Divine, we think we are different from one another
and get jealous and miserable. Overcome this ignorance.
11. I get angry quickly

Anger is caused by the Ego. When what I want doesn't
happen, I get upset. Transcend the ego. Let go of the ego
and you will be able to overcome anger.
12. I feel like dying

Death is in the hands of the Divine. Make life exciting.
Look forward to life by doing something that you enjoy.
182
Add meaning and purpose to life and you will enjoy it.
13. I am bored of life

Instead of adding years to your life, add life to your years.
Make your life interesting. Go on a quest. There are many
exciting things to do in life.
14. I feel so lonely

This is because of ignorance that we are separate from each
other. The truth is that we are all manifestations of the
Divine. We are all one. This realization will take away all
loneliness.
15. I can't nd fullment

Replace greed with fullling your need, and be satised
and content. Learn to say, ‘enough’, and fullment will
come to you.
16. Nobody loves me

Love is like a boomerang. Go out and love others and you
will feel loved. Love will come back to you in the measure
you love others.
17. God doesn't listen

This is because you think God is far away. You don't
realize that God is within the temple of your heart. Be still
and you will hear God's voice.
18. I am always miserable

Because of our ignorance, we suffer. We suffer triple
suffering, rst the pain of the body, then the misery of the
mind and nally, the agony of the ego. This makes us
miserable. Realization of the truth that we are the Divine
Soul will create eternal bliss. Realize the truth!
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19. I want to be young again

Only the body grows old. There is no rewind button to
make the body young. We must make the best of each day
and also realize that we, the Soul, never grow old.
20. The body is suffering too much pain

Every 'body' that is born in this world must suffer and die.
Such is the rule. Our goal is Nirvana, Moksha – to be
liberated from death and rebirth. Then there will be no
pain.
21. Mind is creating misery

The mind is a rascal. We must destroy it before it destroys
us. We must use our willpower and our intellect to control
the mind from creating misery.
22. I don't want to die

Nobody can escape from death. But only the body dies.
The ME, Mind and Ego, will either be reborn in a new
body, or if we realize the truth, we will be liberated and be
united with the Divine.
23. I don't want to lose my money

Money is only a trust given to us. We come with nothing
and we will take nothing. All our money will be left
behind. Such is life.
24. I am suffering for no fault of mine

This is what you think. All suffering is due to our own
Karma, our past actions that come back to us. This is a
redemption of our past actions.
25. I have become old too soon

We don't age. Only the body ages. We must nd out who
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we truly are. Realize we are the Soul that never grows old.
26. I can't nd my life warranty

Life has no warranty. Any moment it can come to an end.
Enjoy the present moment of life. There is no guarantee
about tomorrow.
27. I am always hurrying to achieve success in life

No need to hurry. Life is a journey. Not a destination.
Learn to enjoy the present moment. Remember, Success is
not Happiness.
28. I am afraid of losing people I love

Then you will live and die with fear, for eventually, we
will lose everybody. As long as people are around, enjoy
their company. When the time comes for somebody to go,
we can do nothing about it.
29. I want to learn to be detached

The only way to learn to be detached, is to detach yourself
from people and things. Reduce your passion and practice
letting go. Renounce whatever you are attached to and
you will learn detachment.
30. I want to truly live life, not just exist

Who is it that stops you from living? It is the ME within, the
Mind and Ego. If you transcend the ME, you will start
living in the true sense. You have a Life Manual in your
hand that shows you the way. Start living today!
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Life FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why should I discover my Soul?

Because that is your real identity. When we realize our Soul,
we are liberated from all misery and suffering and from the
cycle of death and rebirth.
2. What is the guarantee that there is life after death?

Just like the Law of Gravity makes us infer its existence
because anything that is thrown up is pulled back to earth,
so also, we infer that there is life after death because of the
Law of Karma. We see young children being born in
fortunate or unfortunate circumstances. This is not luck.
We infer that it is the rebirth of the ME – Mind and Ego, that
has left the body at death.
3. Can astrologers predict what will happen in life?

Yes, they can. But there is no guarantee that the prediction
will be right. There is more chance that what the
weatherman predicts will come true. Man is incapable of
decoding God's plan on earth, be it looking at palms or the
stars.
4. Can I be reborn as an animal?

Some Eastern religions that believe in the Law of Karma
strongly advocate this is true, while some deny it. What is
important is to realize that we will be reborn, if we are not
liberated. We should focus on being liberated, rather than
planning to come back to planet earth. Our goal should be
Realization, Liberation, and Unication.
5. Can I take my money with me to my next life?
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Life FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if you know what bank there is in heaven and the

currency that works there. Can't we see that a dead person
doesn't even take a penny, even if he is a millionaire? Then
why do we even ask such a question?
6. Will we meet our loved ones after we are reborn?

When we take birth, we leave behind memories of our past
life, our loved ones. Do you remember the loved ones of
your previous life today? This should make us understand
that when we leave our loved ones, we move on. We do not
return. The body returns to dust and is not recreated.
7. Will the actions of this life be carried forward to the

next life?
Actions of this life will come to an end at death. But each
and every action of ours, good or bad is recorded by the
Law of Karma. Whatever Karma we have created, based on
our past actions, it will be carried forward life after life as
we are reborn in a new body.
8. What exactly happens at Death?

At death, the Divine Soul within departs. There is no
breath. And the body returns to dust as it is cremated or
buried. But the one who was alive in the body is the ME –
Mind and Ego. At death, one of the two things happens.
Either we will be reborn as per our Karma or if we
overcome our ignorance and realize the truth while alive
that we are the Divine Soul, not the Mind and Ego - ME,
then at death there is no rebirth. We are liberated and
united with the Divine.
9. Is it not true that my mother and father created my

life?
Of course, they did! The act of copulation caused the two
187
cells to fertilize. But the Soul within is the work of God.

Many couples try very hard, but they do not give birth to a
child. While we must respect our parents for causing our
birth and taking care of us, we must realize that the life
within us is Divine. It is the work of God.
10. What exactly is the Ego?

The feeling that 'I am me' and 'This is mine' in every
individual is the Ego. It is the sense of identity that every
human being has, and it remains with us till we die. It is the
Ego that gets angry when its wish is not fullled.
11. How can I achieve Happiness?

You cannot achieve Happiness. You have to be happy.
Happiness is a state of being, not a product, a person or
place that will give you happiness. Things, people, and
places may only give you momentary pleasure.
12. What is the best way to overcome life's problems?

Expect problems, and acknowledge them. Face them, ght
them, nish them. Realize that a problem-free life is an
illusion. Go one step further to realize that life itself is an
illusion and all problems will disappear in the end. So learn
not to worry about problems.
13. Why does God make me Suffer?

God doesn't make us suffer. God is not sitting in some
control room taking care of the suffering of 8 billion people.
God has created the universe and to control everything he
has instituted universal laws. One such law is the Law of
Karma. If our deeds are bad, then, to redeem our sins, we
have to suffer. Whatever is happening in our life depends
on our own actions that are returning to us. Let us not blame
God for it.
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14. How can I discover my intellect?

All human beings are blessed with an intellect. Animals
and plants are not. The intellect is the one that has to control
the mind as it wanders and makes us miserable. We have to
activate the intellect, and this happens either through
realization, the grace of the Divine or the guidance of a
Guru or Spiritual Master.
15. What is the true meaning of Success in life?

People think success is achievement, money, wealth, name,
and fame. But real success or achievement is to realize who
we are and why we are here. The ultimate success of life is
to realize that we are the Divine Soul, to be liberated and to
be united with the Divine, as we escape from the cycle of
death and rebirth.
16. What is the purpose of life?

The purpose of life is to realize that we are not this body and
mind, to overcome our ignorance and to realize the truth
about ourselves. The ultimate purpose is to move from self-
realization to God-realization. Most people think that the
purpose of life is to be happy. But this is not true. There is a
bigger purpose and we must nd that.
17. What is the Law of Karma?

The Law of Karma is a universal law that states as you sow
so shall you reap. We human beings are born. But what
decided our birth – when, where, to whom and in what
circumstances we were born? It was our own past actions,
our Karma. As per the Law of Karma, which means action,
every action of ours is recorded and must be redeemed.
One day, the body dies. But the one who was alive, the
Mind and Ego, ME is reborn as per its Karma. Thus, some
children are born blind, while others in the lap of luxury.
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This is not luck. It is the Universal Law of Karma, of Action

and Reaction. It is the same law that ensures that apples
don't grow on mango trees.
18. Which is the best religion in the world today?

All religions are good. They teach us about God and how to
pray. Unfortunately, they are only kindergartens and they
do not help us to graduate to spirituality, which is the
university of God and theology. Religions make us believe
in God, but they don't show us the true method to realize
God. Thus, we believe in our religion and go round and
round in circles, and our life is over! We don’t realize God.
19. How can I meet God?

God is not somebody that lives far away in heaven. God is
the very power that is within us. Because we do not realize
the truth about God, we keep on searching for God, when in
reality, God is within us. Thus, the best way to God is to
realize the Divine within, to realize God in the temple of our
heart. Then, we can feel God's Divine presence all the time.
20. What is the way to go to heaven?

There are no ights, trains or buses to heaven. Neither can
you walk to heaven, because heaven is not a place that we
imagine it to be. We experience heaven or hell right here on
earth itself. It depends on our actions, our Karma. Our
Karma will decide whether we will experience the bliss of
heaven or the torture of hell, as we are reborn here on earth.
21. Should we not do our duty, rather than renounce?

Of course, we must do our duty. But we must realize what
our biggest duty is. It is to realize who we are and why we
are here. To achieve this, we have to renounce the physical
cravings of this material world and escape from the prison
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of duty, lust and shame. Therefore, we must do our

worldly duties but not forget our spiritual duties and
renunciation of desires is one of them. By not renouncing
our cravings, we will remain as prisoners in this world.
22. Why should I give up this life and pray to God?

We cannot give up our life to pray to God. We have to
commit our life to God. We have to choose God, and this is
a wise decision for it will lead to peace and bliss. What we
think is pleasure from the worldly life, is a recipe for
disaster. We must learn to live prayerfully.
23. God hasn't done anything for me, then why should I
love God?
Your very existence is due to the grace of God.
Unfortunately, we don't count our blessings. God has
given us eyes to see, ears to hear, nose to smell, tongue to
taste, and a skin to touch and feel and love. Should we not
be grateful? Every moment of life must be spent in
expressing our gratitude.
24. There are so many Gods, who is the real God?

Because we have been taught that the God of our religion
is the only God, we live with this belief that different
religions have different Gods and there are many Gods.
However, the truth is that there is only one God, one
Power, one Creator. We may call this God by different
names, but the Power is one.
25. What are some of the best tips to enjoy life?

The best tip to enjoy life is to understand who we are – we
are not the body, not the mind or ego, but the Divine Soul.
Then, it is to live in the moment – to be happy in the now,
and not live in the yesterday that is gone, or tomorrow that
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is not yet born. It is knowing that God manifests in

everybody and everything around us, seeing the Divine in
all. There can be no better way than this - living with
ecstasy, with Nirvana, with total peace, bliss and joy.
26. How do we stay enthusiastic in life knowing that

everything is fake and supercial?
You stay enthusiastic when you realize that you are the
Divine Spirit, the Energy, the Life. You don't view
everything as fake and supercial. You view yourself as
real and you take it as a challenge to be liberated. This
should inspire you - you must have a purpose to realize
you are the Divine Soul which is very real.
27. How do we always live in the present moment? And

what should we do when thoughts of the past and future
trouble us?
We can live in the present moment always by being
conscious of the truth of who we are and why we are here.
The thoughts of the past and the future are bound to
trouble us but we must learn to use our intellect, our
willpower to destroy these thoughts. In fact, we must stop
the mind, which is a monkey, from jumping to the past and
then to the future. If we consciously control the mind, we
transcend it, then we can live in the present moment
joyously and blissfully as the observer of the mind.
28. If hard work really pays off, why do some people fail
despite all efforts for years?
There is no doubt that hard work pays off. But if someone's
hard work is not paying off, there may be some negative
Karma of the past which might be stronger and hindering
the hard work that is being put in. Therefore, they have to
continue putting in good work, just like a stone cutter
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keeps hitting at the rock. After ten blows, the rock doesn't
break…50 blows and it still doesn't break. Finally, at 100th
blows, it may break. What does it mean? We have to keep
on, and on, and on trying till it happens. But remember,
whatever happens, happens not only because of our
present actions, but it is also affected by our past Karma.
29. Like they say sadness is temporary, happiness is also

temporary. What is permanent in life? I want that and
how do I get that?
The only thing that is permanent is unication with the
Divine which is attained by overcoming our ignorance,
attaining liberation from this body and mind knowing that
we are the Divine Soul - and ultimately, uniting with the
Divine. In that state, there is no sorrow, there is eternal
peace and everlasting joy.
30. How true is it that anyone dying in Varanasi (Banaras)

and having his/her last rites done on the bank of river
Ganga will attain liberation/Moksha?
Anybody dying in Banaras and attaining Moksha, is as true
as eating an apple and becoming the Prime Minister of
India. There are many mythological tales or superstitions
that we believe in, for instance, if a black cat crosses our
path, it is said that we will have an accident. We must use
our intellect to realize the Truth and not be carried away by
folklore.
31. What can I do in this life so as to attain salvation and

never be born again?
The only way to escape from rebirth is through the
Realization of the Truth, the Realization that I am not the
body, I am not the mind – this will lead to liberation. Once
we are liberated, we will be united with the Divine and will
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not have to come back into Samsara.
32. Why do we pray to God if our fate is already pre-

destined?
We pray to God for various reasons – out of gratitude for
this life, asking Him for help, begging God for His
benediction. He is the Creator, giver of life. He is the power
that is inside us. Therefore, praying to God is essential.
Our destiny has not been predetermined. Our Karma is

already ingrained in the fabric of our life, which means our
past actions have already become the highway on which we
will drive the car of our present life. But this does not mean
that our future is predetermined. The future depends on
our present actions, our Karma of today. Therefore, by
praying to God, we can very well change the future.
33. How can we serve God by serving others?

Where is God? Who is God? Who are the others we are
talking about? Others are not the body; the body is just
made up of the ve elements. They are the Divine Soul, the
Life Energy. This Divine Life Energy is God itself.
Therefore, when you serve a human being who is a Soul,
you are serving Divinity, you are serving God.
Unfortunately, we are ignorant of the truth - we don't
realize the truth that every human being is a manifestation
of God. By serving a human being, we are praying to God.
34. What is the importance of spirituality in life? At what

stage in life, do people start to believe in spirituality?
Spirituality is the goal. It is the real purpose of life.
Therefore, it is very important. There is no specic stage or
age when people start to believe; sometimes a small child
can start a spiritual journey and sometimes a man of 70 may
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not even touch spirituality.
35. Why are people afraid of dying?

People are afraid of dying because they are ignorant about
the meaning of death. They think that 'they' will die.
Actually we don't die, only the body dies. We continue our
journey to face our Karma as the Mind and Ego - ME in a
new body. If we realize we are the Soul, then we are
liberated and we unite with the Divine. Therefore, because
we are ignorant about death, we have two major fears. The
fear of the unknown – what happens after death, and the
fear of losing everything that is known - we fear that we will
lose everything that belongs to us. But there is nothing to
fear because in the end, everybody has to leave everything
behind – that is life.
36. If I end my life; if I commit suicide, will it end all my

problems?
When one commits suicide, it is the end of the physical
body but the one who was alive, the ME, the Mind and Ego,
doesn't die because death is not the end, it's just a bend. Our
actions are the cause of our rebirth. Every time a child is
born, whether poor or blind, or fortunate in a wealthy
family, it is not because of luck. It is because of the law that
states, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ It's the Law of Karma
or the Law of Boomerang. A suicide is an unnatural end to
our life which intercepts the Divine will. This will not
change anything. The person's problems are not solved, the
person's difculties are only recorded and carried forward
into the next life; one will only suffer more because one has
interfered with a natural law. Suicide is not an escape or
freedom from problems; it is creating more problems that
we will face in our next life.
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37. What are some good options to be given to a person

who wishes not to live?
If there is somebody who wishes not to live, the rst thing
they should be told to do is to count their blessings. There
are people who may be far more miserable than them.
When we count our blessings, then we value life. The next
thing for a person who doesn't want to live is to understand
that to live or not is not in our hands and if we intercept the
natural Divine law, we are going to create more misery in
the life that follows. We must realize that death is not the
end; it's just a bend - the body will die, but we who are alive
in the body, will come back. Therefore, we should not
interrupt the ow of life. We have to learn to live life and not
just live, but live gracefully and blissfully, being
enlightened with the Truth, overcoming misery, living
with joy and peace.
38. Whenever one feels low, what is that special mantra

which can help us to feel good?
When one feels low, it is good to repeat certain quotes like -
'When God is for us, who can be against us?' 'God's delays
are not God's denials'. 'Nothing can happen tomorrow that
the Lord and I can't handle together'. However, a time
comes in life when we don't feel low anymore - that is when
we realize the Divine is inside, within us making our heart
beat. Then, there is no feeling of being low.
39. Why do humans think suffering is part of life? If you

live consciously, can't you not go past it?
Yes, one can go past suffering if one realizes the truth. It is
not enough to be conscious but we have to be conscious of
the truth. However, humans think that suffering is a part of
life because all humans experience suffering. There is
physical pain of the body, misery of the mind and agony of
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the ego. Even the realized one suffers to the extent that he
lives in the body that suffers, he has a mind that suffers and
he has to overcome an ego that suffers. However, a truly
realized one transcends suffering living as an observer of
the suffering. He has realized that he is the Divine Soul. But
it's not easy to get to this stage. It needs a lot of effort and
grace of the Divine.
40. How can we develop our faith in God and positivity

around us in this troubled world of ours, in tough times?
Faith is a decision: it's a choice. If we want to be positive, the
world around us may be in turmoil but we can still learn to
live with hope - HOPE - Have Only Positive Expectations;
learn to live with faith, FAITH - Full Assurance in The
Heart. We have to eliminate fear, FEAR - False Expectations
Appearing Real. So developing faith comes from building a
connection with the Divine. It doesn't depend on which
religion one belongs to. God is not a statue, God is not a
saint - God is not a picture that anyone can paint. God is a
power. As long as we are in union with the power, living in
Yoga, we can be peaceful, no matter what.
41. Sometimes I feel God exists, but sometimes I don't.

How can I believe in God 100%?
This is the work of the mind, the mind is our enemy. The
mind tricks us. Those times that you think God doesn't
exist, it's our mind that's taking our thoughts in the wrong
direction. How do you overcome this? By activating your
intellect. Your intellect becomes so strong that it knows that
God exists, and not even for a moment in your life, would
you believe that God is not there. But that will happen only
when your intellect overpowers your mind. Become so
connected to God, living in union or Yoga that you always
feel that connection.
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42. Did God create diseases and calamities to punish

sinners?
God doesn't create diseases to punish sinners. God creates
universal laws. The laws manifest as diseases or calamities
to settle people's Karma. There is no other logic. Therefore,
accept, and surrender. Let's do our best to keep ourselves
safe, but realize that this is the Divine drama that is
unfolding; it is the Leela of God.
43. What is the Ultimate Goal of life?

We may have many goals. Most people think that their goal
is to take care of their children and their businesses or
profession. But this is not our ultimate goal. The ultimate
goal is to realize we are the Soul and to be liberated from
suffering when alive. Then at death, to be liberated from
rebirth so that the Soul can unite with the Divine.
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Poem
Life Manual
By
We all have been given this gift of life

But we don't know how to live
We forget to read the Life Manual
Today, this to you, I give
This Life Manual that I share

Is what I have experienced
It's not theory, it's practical
It's the way I have lived
Who are we? Why are we here?

This we were never taught
We live through life and soon it's over
But these questions, we forgot
Are we the body that lives and grows

And then nally dies?
Or are we something else, which at death
Into the universe ies?
What about the mind, do we have one?

Has anyone found the mind?
We can touch our nose and scan our heart
But the mind we cannot nd!
199
Poem
Life is a journey from birth to death

There is no guarantee
We pay nothing for this precious gift
It is given to us for free
But there is a purpose for us on earth

Not to just live and die
Before this journey comes to an end
To nd out, 'Who am I?'
We are not the body, we are not the mind

Nor the ego that we are told
The truth is different, we must realize
We are the Divine Soul
Instead of realizing this truth, we wander

In this world of many a thing
We crave for pleasures, but don't realize
Happiness is a state of being
Things don't make us happy

Nor people, or places give us bliss
Happiness is an inner thing
In life, this truth we miss
Everybody has problems; this is a fact

A problem free life is an illusion
Problems don't come to stay forever
Get rid of this delusion
We think time is ticking, but time is still

It is life that actually moves on
Moment by moment, we live our life
Till death, from the time we are born
200
Poem
What do we do when we start our day?

We just jump into it
We never learnt what life truly is
For this, we must silently sit
It's only when we spend time in peace

That we will experience joy
Then we will feel what true bliss is
It's amazing, oh boy!
But we don't stop to understand life

We are just running in this race
We increase our pace and get caught in the maze
Trying to be an ace!
Somebody told us, 'Success is Happiness'

So the wealth of this world we chase
In the end, our life is in a mess
Though we have gold, diamonds, and lace
But nothing belongs to us, don't we know?

We will leave everything behind
We come with nothing, we go with nothing
This truth – when will we nd?
Those who try to understand life

They live with contentment
They don't let their greed overtake their need
They nd fullment
There is a way to everlasting joy

And to experience Divine peace
For this, we must smell the owers
And enjoy the rabbits and the geese
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Poem
We are so busy in this material world

Spirituality, we do not know
Very few realize we are the Soul
Before the time comes to go
Life is a product given to us

But we don't unwrap this gift
The paper and ribbons are still around
Till that time when we don’t exist
We just exist, we don't really live

We don't discover what life is
Sinking in this world of material pleasure
Peace and bliss we miss
And so, I thought I'll write this book

Not just scratch my pen
But share with you what life truly is
Before my life comes to an end
We still have time, we can discover

How we must live our life
How we can nd joy and peace
Escaping misery and strife
We have a choice, we have a free will

Everything doesn't depend on luck
The Universal Law of Karma does work
What we sow is what we will pluck
To think our thoughts, we have the mind

But it makes us wander, in fact
To eliminate the stress and worry it causes
We must use our intellect
202
Poem
The intellect is a tool given to us

To discriminate black from white
To make important decisions of life
And to choose what is right
We live with passion and attachment

While nothing belongs to us
The way to joy is detachment
Just letting go, without a fuss
Why should we fear? Why should we worry?

Why be stressed and anxious, my dear?
Find the way to be happy
Right through the year
For this we must pause, not rush through life

This gift of life we must understand
Enjoy the mountains and the sunsets
Beautiful beaches and white sand
We still have time to realize the truth

Find out, 'Who are we?'
We are not the mind; we are not the ego
That constantly says ‘It's ME’
One day, the body will die

But the one who was alive within
Will carry all actions unsettled
And be born with a brand-new skin
How does death happen, do you know?

It's when the Soul inside departs
When the life power in us decides to leave
Then this chapter ends, another starts
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Poem
Whatever we think and we call, ‘Ours’

People, possessions… everything
At death nothing will belong to us
We can't even carry a ring
What is death, have you ever thought?

Or do you just blink your eyes?
It's time to stop, to contemplate, to think,
Whenever somebody dies
We too will go one day, for sure

We will not be forever on earth
Every living being that lives
Must die, if it takes birth
But we don't realize all this

We are ruled by the monkey mind
Until we stop its constant chatter
The truth we will not nd
For the mind is full of rotten thoughts

We suffer because of this junk
It we want to discover the true meaning of life
We must make the monkey a monk
There's one more thing to learn in life

That agony is caused by the ego
For if we want to nd our God
We must let go of our ego
Our Ultimate Goal is to realize God

Not in a temple, monastery or church
God lives within our heart
When will we start our search?
204
Poem
We all remain stuck in our religion

About God, it teaches us ABC
We need to grow and evolve spiritually
Then the true God we will see
God doesn't live on a distant planet

Somewhere far away
It's God that makes our heart beat
Each moment of every day
Most of us are ignorant

And think ignorance is bliss
How to live this amazing life
Alas, we just miss!
We live, we die, we are born again

Such is the life show
Karma will decide when we will die
When it is time to go
If we plant apples, we won't get mangoes

It's a law, don't you agree?
Such is the law, we die and take rebirth
From this cycle, we must be free
There is a way to escape Karma

And to escape from rebirth
If only we realize we are the Divine Soul
We won't return to earth
Realization is a rare gift

Not everybody this treasure can nd
Those who truly love God
Transcend body, ego and mind
205
Poem
They discover they are the Soul within

In fact, they are Divinity
They don't see humans as bone and skin
They see God in you and me
This is the ultimate goal of life

For us to realize the truth
We must discover who we truly are
Get to the bottom of the root
But we are so busy consuming life

The Life Manual we do not read
All we know, is to clothe this skin
And our greedy body we feed
Having fun, life gets over

But hello! That's not the end!
Death is not the end of the game
Death is only a bend
It's time to stop and to start anew

Living life each day
Holding the Life Manual in our hand
And nding the right way
Understanding life is an important thing

Who are we? Why are we here?
Realizing the truth and then being free
Living without a tear
We can be conscious and live in bliss

We can have joy and peace
If only we understand this product called 'Life'
But we must pay our fees
206
Poem
Then we will be free from problems and sorrows

We will only have joy and bliss
We will enjoy each moment of life
This treasure we will not miss
This Life Manual is a Divine gift

It shows us the way to live
To realize God in every Soul
As we give and we forgive
It's time to wipe out all that we've learned

Cleaning the slate of our mind
Living a new life with this Manual now
Joy, peace and bliss, we will nd
By
207
About the Author
AiR – Atman in Ravi, is an

Embodied Soul whose only
mission in life is to 'Help People
Realize the Truth'. He was born in
Bangalore on October 15, 1966. At a
very young age, Ravi V. Melwani
mastered the craft of business and
became a very successful businessman
who revolutionized retailing in India
with the stores KidsKemp, Big
KidsKemp, and Kemp Fort. After
making millions, he realized that life is not just about
making money. He shut down his business at the age of 40
and started making a difference doing H.I.S. work –
Humanitarian, Inspirational and Spiritual work.
As a part of the Humanitarian initiative 3 charitable homes

were set up to provide free medical treatment and care to
the poor, destitute, and needy. Today, over 600 suffering
homeless people who are picked up from the streets are
served and cared for in 3 destitute homes and provided
with free shelter, food, clothing, and medical care. AiR built
a Shiva Temple in the year 1995 in Bangalore, which is now
known as the Shivoham Shiva Temple. AiR now believes
that religion is just a kindergarten of Spirituality, and
people should go beyond religion to truly realize God.
One day, his Guru provoked him to introspect and find

answers to the following questions: Who am I? What is the
purpose of my life? Is life just meant to seek pleasures and
208
About the Author
to live and die without any purpose? What happens after

death? Will I be reborn? Who is God? Where is God? What
is God? What is the Soul? Where are heaven and hell? What
is Enlightenment? Several questions like these took him on
a quest, a search for the Truth. He gave up his life of
Achievement and Fulfilment in search of the final peak of
life: Enlightenment.
After a few years of intense search in retreat, deep in the

mountains, he realized that we are not this body. We are the
Soul, the Atman. He changed his name to AiR – Atman in
Ravi. He metamorphosed to AiR and gave up his entire life
as Ravi V. Melwani and started living as an instrument of
God doing His Divine Will. This led to several Realizations
that formed his new mission of life – to Help People
Realize the Truth.
Since then, AiR's life has been dedicated to reaching out and
helping people to eradicate the ignorance that they live in.
Based on his realizations, AiR has published over 32 books,
composed and sung about 1112 bhajans, written several
blogs, quotes, and poems. He has taken up various other
initiatives that can lead people towards the Truth like
conducting AiR Spiritual Retreats and giving talks that
help people evolve on their spiritual journey. He is a TEDx
speaker and is also invited to speak at several organizations
like YPO (Young Presidents' Organization), Rotary Club,
Lions Club, and at many corporates, schools, and colleges.
He conducts webinars every week on Zoom and Facebook
Live to help people realize the ultimate purpose of their life.
AiR has realized the Truth that we are not the body, the
mind, or the ego; we are the Divine Soul. And to realize this
is our ultimate goal. He lives his life with just one mission –
209
About the Author
to help people Ask, Investigate, and Realize the Truth.

Being blessed with everything, he seeks nothing except to
fulfil this mission of life.
Started with nothing

Became something…
Achieved everything
Only to realize we are nothing!
If you have any questions about Life you can Ask AiR
Email: [email protected] | +91 98451 55555
and you will get answers to your questions
210
BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
1. Talaash
Talaash means ‘search’ or a ‘quest’. This

book by AiR recounts his own spiritual
quest for the Ultimate Truth that led him to
the realization that we are neither the body
nor the mind, but the Divine Soul.
2. 3 Peaks of Happiness
This book talks about the universal quest of

humanity—Happiness. It explains the
ways through which people can reach the
third peak of happiness—Enlightenment
which lies beyond the two peaks of
happiness—Achievement and Fullment.
The third peak liberates us from the prisons
of misery and sorrow and gives us eternal
Joy and Bliss.
3. My Guru, My Mentor, My God on

Earth
This book is AiR’s tribute to his Guru, Dada

J.P. Vaswani. AiR shares his experiences
with Dada and how Dada’s philosophy and
teachings were instrumental in guiding
him to begin his spiritual quest and
bringing about the transformation in him.
211
Books by the Author
4. I will Never Die, Death is Not “The End”
In the journey of his life, AiR realized many

truths. One of the truths is a revelation—we
never die; Death is not the end but a bend to
transcend. The body will die, but the one
who lives in the body never dies.
5. Death is Not “The End.” Death is

“Liberation”
The second book by AiR in the series of

books on ‘Death’ touches upon the secret of
Kathopanishad which talks about what
happens after death. One of the two things
can happen: if we think we are the Body and
Mind as a doer, we are reborn, but if we
realize that we are the Soul and not the body
and mind, we are liberated to eternal joy
and peace.
6. I Am Not I. Who am I?
This is an insightful book by AiR which

talks of his quest and realization that we are
not who we think we are. We have a house
but we are not the house. We have a car but
we are not the car. Similarly, we have a
body but we are not the body. Then, who
are we?
7. The Mind is a Rascal
Can you believe that the mind is a rascal? You always
212
Books by the Author
thought that the mind is king—it is

everything. But just try this. Sit quietly for
an hour, and try to nd the mind. Where is
it? You will realize that the mind doesn't
exist. This amazing book by AiR will teach
us that the mind is our enemy. It is the one
that makes us suffer. It is time to nd the
rascal and kill it. How do we do this—is
revealed in the book.
8. A Cosmic Drama
This book challenges the reader to explore

the illusory nature of this world—whatever
is happening in life is not real; it is nothing
but a Cosmic Drama. If we understand this
simple truth, we can enjoy the show called
life.
9. Who is God? Where is God? What is God?
Well, this might seem to be a simple set of

questions but nobody really knows the
answers. We all know that God exists. We
pray to a God as per our Religion but what
is the Truth about God? Has anybody seen
God? Where is God? This simple book will
change your perception and belief about
God and bring you closer to the Power
called God. It will help you realize God.
10. The A to Z of Karma
Most people are aware of the concept of Karma – the
213
Books by the Author
Universal Law that states, “What you give

is what you get.” But not everybody knows
the A to Z of Karma that we can actually
transcend Karma, escape from it and
achieve Liberation or Moksha. This book
reveals the secret of eternal Joy and
Peace—a life without any misery or
suffering.
11. Who Are You and Why are You Here?
This is a simple book that prompts us to ask

the right questions to discover the secret of
our life—who we are in reality and what the
purpose of our life is. The answers to these
questions hold the key to a purposeful,
meaningful and blissful life.
th
12. The 4 Factor
Man thinks that his Karma controls

everything and he can achieve anything
through his efforts, equipment, and the
method of his actions. But he is ignorant
about something which is more powerful
than Karma—the 4th factor. This is an
informative book that makes the readers
understand why things happen the way
they happen and even if ten people use the
same equipment and perform the same action, still, they
never produce the same results, because apart from their
own action, each person seems to be graced with another
th
factor—the 4 factor that is beyond human comprehension
and without its consent even the possible becomes
impossible.
214
Books by the Author
13. Be Happy in the NOW!
Every human being on earth wants to be

happy. There is nobody who enjoys pain.
People want to achieve Happiness but they
fail to realize that Happiness is the journey
itself, not the destination. Then, what is the
secret of eternal Joy, Bliss, and Peace? It is
being Happy in the NOW. With this book,
AiR hopes to inspire people to live life moment by moment,
if they really want to be Happy.
14. Questions You Must Answer before

you Die!
Most of us live and die but we don't ask the

question—Why? We just exist! This book
presents a series of important questions
with answers that can guide us to the
realization of the Truth and help us live
with meaning, purpose, and joy.
15. Suffer No More
‘Suffer No More’ is a personal experience

of overcoming anguish, anxiety, distress,
and grief. It is an analysis of suffering,
what causes it and how we can overcome
it. While there is pain, we can do away
with suffering. This book will tell us how!
16. Success is not Happiness, Happiness is Success
People want to win because this makes them Happy, just as
215
Books by the Author
failure makes them miserable. This book

explains how success does not bring
happiness and how this belief is only an
illusion. In fact, instead of chasing success,
we should try to be happy! That is true
success.
17. God = Happiness
In his quest to discover Truth and the

purpose of life, the author realized that
people didn't know where exactly to search
for Happiness. This is a book that takes us
far beyond religion to Realize the Truth
about God and how God is Happiness.
18. Life! Realized!!
This book is a personal reection of the

author on his several realizations about
everything that matters in the journey of
life—the realizations that he attained while
on his quest for the Truth.
19. True Love is Bliss…Not Just a Kiss
It is sad that love which is the source of joy

and happiness is not understood by the
world. This book is an attempt to explore
True Love that is beyond passion,
romance, and kisses. True Love is White
Divine Love from the Soul that manifests
as the 7 colours of human love from the day
we are born till the day we die.
216
Books by the Author
20. True Meaning of Yoga
Yoga, today, is primarily taught as a set

of body postures and breathing
exercises. But this is not true Yoga!
Yoga, in reality, is a Union with the
Divine. This book attempts to explain
everything about Yoga, its meaning and
signicance, how it must be practised
and how through Yoga, one can be
liberated and experience Ultimate Divine Peace and Bliss.
21. The Ultimate Goal of Life, MEN —

Moksha, Enlightenment, Nirvana
The three most tenable concepts—Moksha,

Enlightenment, Nirvana are discussed in
this book that can help us reach our
Ultimate Goal of Liberation and then
Unication with the Divine.
22. Religion! A Kindergarten to

Spirituality!!
This book discusses how Religion is only

the rst step towards God-Realization.
We do not realize that Religion is only a
Kindergarten, of which Spirituality is the
University, and together they can lead us
to God-realization.
23. Why Bad Things Can’t Happen to Good People!
This book helps us understand that this world has been
217
Books by the Author
created by the Divine and it operates

through certain Universal Laws that
need no intervention by the Creator. Bad
things can never happen to good people,
just as apples can’t grow on mango trees!
24. LIFE is...Liberation from Ignorance

and Finding true Enlightenment
What is Life all about? Most people exist

but they don't truly live. They just zoom
from womb to tomb, and then life is over.
They don't stop to think about their life’s
true purpose. In the pursuit of happiness,
success, and achievement, people don't
realize that though they may gain a lot of
these, they lose their most precious
gift—life itself.
25. The Ladder to Heaven
While we pray to God calling God by

different names, the vast majority of
humanity believes in God and aspires to
go to their God in heaven one day. It
doesn't matter what our religion is, there
is a way to reach God. There is a Ladder
that can take us to heaven but we need to
ascend the rungs of belief, prayer, faith,
hope, trust and so on. This book is an
effort to help genuine seekers of God to
climb the Ladder to Heaven. It shows a step by step way to
God-realization as we pass through self-realization,
overcoming the ignorance that we live in.
218
Books by the Author
26. FEAR- False Expectations Appearing Real
Through this book, the author wishes to

help people change their paradigm and
live with courage—that they should take
appropriate precautions and not panic.
The world has changed because of
Coronavirus! But it's up to us to live with
FEAR or to live with FAITH. There is a
difference between Fear and Danger but
most of humanity lives with the constant
fear of disease and death. For the rst time ever, all the
countries of the world have closed their borders and shut
down their economies. Facts conrm that when compared
to the Spanish u, it is not as fatal a pandemic as the world
thinks it to be. This book F E A R, will help readers
overcome these tough times of the global pandemic.
27. Soul – We don’t have a Soul… we are the Soul!
The Soul is mysterious. We are alive

because of our Soul. But what exactly is
the Soul? Where does it come from and
where does it go? We cannot see the Soul,
but we all believe that we have one.
People talk about ‘good’ or ‘bad’ Souls,
ghosts—spirits of the dead,
heaven—hell, and the reincarnation of
the ‘Souls’. This book will help the
genuine seekers of the truth to do some Soul searching and
discover the ultimate truth about our most important
aspect—our very own Soul. We will realize that we don’t
have a Soul…we are the Soul!
219
Books by the Author
28. But We Pray!
The whole world prays to God. Every

religion claims that their God is the real God
and their prayer is the most effective form of
prayer. Unfortunately, we don't even know
the God we pray to, nor do we understand
what we say in prayer. This book will make
us conscious of what we say when we pray.
It will help us know the God we pray to and build a Divine
connection through prayer.
29. 100 Diamond Quotes
Our life needs a spark and a simple

quote can make this difference. This
book, 100 Diamond Quotes does just that.
It is a selection of AiR's quotes on
Happiness, Realization, Liberation,
Spirituality, and Enlightenment. These
inspiring, thought-provoking quotes
can trigger a metamorphosis and can
transform our life as they lead us
forward in our quest for the true meaning of life, giving us
more Peace and Happiness than all the Diamonds of this
world.
30. Let go of your Ego and you will nd God
Are you seeking God? There is a way to nd God. All you
have to do is to let go of your Ego. Our biggest enemy, ME,
the Mind and Ego, envelops us in ignorance and we go
round and round in circles without discovering God
within. This book will transform your life. It will show you
220
Books by the Author
the way to God just as it will guide you on

how to let go of your Ego. It will open the
door to eternal peace and everlasting joy.
If only you let go of your Ego, you will
move from Self-realization to God-
realization and will realize God within.
And Now....
31. Life Manual - How to live life?
Coming soon…
32. Peace - When the Monkey becomes a Monk!
33. SatChitAnanda - Consciousness of the Truth is Bliss
Visit or Scan the QR Code

to download the AiR - Atman in Ravi App.
A.i.R.
AiR Institute of Realization
www.air.ind.in | [email protected] Ask Investigat e Realize
221
LIFE MANUAL
HOW TO LIVE LIFE
We know how to use our mobile phones, laptops, televisions and

washing machines. We read the Operating Manual of each
device or appliance that we buy so that we can enjoy all their
features. But alas, we have not read the Operating Manual of Life!
Before we realize it, life is over, and we often regret that we did
not do what we wanted to do. Instead of living a life of Joy and
Peace, we suffer in misery and sorrow.
This book can change your life! It is a Life Manual that has
guidelines on how to make the best of your life. It will inspire you
with the do's and the don'ts, as it discloses what this product
called ‘Life’ is all about. It explains life through a troubleshooting
guide and FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about life. Each
chapter investigates an important aspect of life that will make us
discover how to enjoy every moment that we live.
We have read so many Manuals, and we have become experts in

operating the gadgets of our life. Now, it's time to read a Manual
about Life itself!
Discover how to live Life.
222

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LIFE

Copyright © AiR Institute of Realization 2020

All rights reserved.

No part of the content of this publication (except images) may be reproduced,

Publisher: AiR Institute of Realization

02 The Body and its Functions 05

03 The Mind - Our Software 09

04 Discover the Soul 13

06 Who doesn’t want to be Happy? 21

07 Everybody has Problems 25

08 Time Keeps Ticking 29

09 Starting the Day 33

10 Living Moment by Moment 37

11 How to get Peace of Mind 41

12 Life is like a Dream 45

14 Living with Ful lment and Contentment 53

15 There is a Way to Eternal Happiness 57

17 Material Life or a Spiritual Life? 65

18 Discover the Intellect 69

19 Success is Not Happiness 73

20 Money is Not Everything 77

21 Living with Detachment 81

22 Living in the World 85

23 Stress, Worry, and Anxiety 89

24 Live! Don't just Exist 93

26 The Quest – Who am I? 101

27 Death is Certain 105

28 Karma – the Universal Law 109

29 Rebirth – Another Life 113

30 Overcoming Ignorance 117

31 Realizing the Truth 121

32 The Triple Suﬀering 125

33 Monkey or Monk 129

34 Let Go of the Ego 133

35 True Love is Bliss 137

36 Prayer and its Purpose 141

38 Religion is just a Kindergarten 149

39 Realizing God Within 153

40 Living as the Divine Soul 157

41 Being in Divine Union All the Time 161

42 Consciousness is Bliss 165

43 The Need of a Guru - A Spiritual Master 169

44 Our Ultimate Goal 173

Life - Troubleshooting Guide 181

Life FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions 186

About the Author 208

After I completed writing my 30th book on Spirituality, Life,

We learn how to operate our mobile phones and our

But have we ever read a Manual on Life? Is there such a

In this book, I will share my personal experiences in

Thus, we live and we die, but do we actually live? Most of us

Of course, we learn to sail through our life's voyage by

Unfortunately, most of us just live life without learning

We see good people suffering and then we wonder, 'Why

We live life as directed by the mind. Thus, our decisions

Life is our most precious gift. It is more precious than all

We mustn't be one amongst those who try to live life

A Manual guides us to use a product,

Life too is a product,