Yeh kaisa Sur Mandir hai

For some reason today I could not stop humming Yeh kaisa Sur Mandir Hai from the 1974 Hindi movie Prem Nagar. The opening sequence has a beautiful and forlorn Hema Malini singing this evocative and melifluous song while she plays the Veena. I have no idea why I thought of this song, but it just sent me into a chain of thought that I simply had to put into words. The song seemed only to be expounding the virtues of the Sudarshan Kriya and Meditation to me! How you ask? Well here it is:

ye kaisa sur mandir hain jis me sangeet nahi

Our body is a temple of music, capable of the sweetest songs IF all aspects of our existence are in harmony. Disharmony happens due to stress. When we do the sudarshan kriya, this harmony is established and our life becomes a song. We - who are nothing but Sur mandirs - have music again! But without the kriya - alas yeh kaisa sur mandir hai jis mein sangeet nahin😞...anger, fear, jealousy are some of the discordant notes one can hear and be jarred by from time to time.

So in effect this line literally translates to - what is this life without the kriya which makes the song emanate from the harmony it establishes in the Sur mandir that we ARE!

geet likhe diwaro pe gaane ki reet nahi

This seems to me to be speaking of the enormous potential of human existence. Unsung songs of glory, peace, achievement, happiness, are buried deep within each human heart. But we dont have access to them, buried under layers of fear, conditioning, lethargy and stress. Agar kriya ki reet zindagi mein aa jaye, tho gaane ki reet bhi ban jaayegi - seems to be the unspoken message here.

murat rakh dene se kya mandir ban jata hain

The divine resides in every heart. This is true. But it is upto us to treat ourselves as Temples of the divine. And reflect this divinity through our behaviour, actions and presence. Thats what makes us the temple of the divine. A temple with an idol that is not prayed to, adored, worshipped, cleaned and praised and sung to, is no temple at all. Similarly the extent to which we attend to the divine in ourselves, will make us Lighthouses or Temples in the true sense.

yu hi pada rahne se sheesha patthar ban jata hain

A mirror that lies gathering dust, if the dust is never cleaned, can seem like a stone. A mind that is not cleaned by kriya, can behave like a hardened enemy. Giving no peace and spreading no harmony. It is no wonder then that  chronic criminals are called "hardened" criminals. But the truth is their minds are also mirrors needing polishing. Ignore not the dust that gathers in your mind day after day from living this life, it may harden you. Kriya and meditation will keep you shining like a mirror and flowing like water.

wo puja kaisi puja hain, jisme preet nahi

Do you call that worship which has no love in it?  Ishwar bhaav ke bhooke hain goes the saying. That is why they also say, does not matter if you have every material element needed to perform a pooja. These are m, ironically enough, im-material. What matters is the shraddha the love and longing with which it is performed. Let there be love and honour in our kriya practice as well, then it will be a true prayer and work greater wonders. 

Wishing the world be filled with SUR MANDIRS resounding with all our songs of happiness, worship, creative expression, compassion, brotherhood and LOVE❤️