Nothing: Day 2

The Void says, "You see? You have been changed. You are no longer running away from life. You are confronting everything, facing it with a quiet strength just like your inner space, vast and unshakeable -- trying to find where to sit."

~ The Void in me 

Nothing Day 2

Last night, Nothing visited me again, but this time it came in four different disguises.

First, it came as a shadow in the house.

There were no lights. The house I was supposed to protect was full of people I loved, and something kept circling around it. I fought. I closed every door I could find. But the real horror began not when I saw it, but when I couldn't see it anymore. When the house became completely dark and I had no idea which corner it would emerge from. I understood then - we are never afraid of what we see. We are afraid of what we cannot see.

Second, it came as a prayer hall.

I went to a place where everyone had a mat, everyone had a place to sit. I kept walking between rows, looking for my name, looking for my corner. Everyone was praying, but I was still searching for where to sit. Maybe belonging is not about entering the right hall. Maybe it is about finding the right space inside it.

Third, it came as an old workplace. The place, I'd started my career.

The corridors were familiar. Someone I once respected said, "You have everything here. Why would you ever leave?" The building was bigger, brighter, and had everything I once dreamed of. And yet, I found myself using my own light to write, my own resources to exist there. I realized, a place can give you facilities and still not give you freedom.

Fourth, it came as a bus full of strangers.

The bus left. I thought I had missed it. Then it came back, with an old voice from the front seat saying, "Come, there is still a seat for you." In a journey full of unknown passengers, sometimes you just need one familiar voice to tell you that you still belong.

I woke up and Nothing was sitting beside me. It said, "You see? You have been changed. You are not running away from life. You are facing everything and trying to find where to sit."

Nothing is there. It is there at the bottom of my heart, telling me that in any case, there will be one thing no one can take away from you — your Self. The space where dreams are projected and vanish, no matter if they are good, bad, or horrible. You are still there, quiet and unshakeable, sitting with Nothing for you are Nothing.

The Blackboard and The Chalk

I say consciousness is neither good nor bad. It just is.

Then I say, we are conditioned to be frightened. Women have been conditioned for decades to be fearful, to be an Aunt Jennifer.

You may say, "You contradict yourself. 

Earlier you said no one is good or bad."

They don't listen.

They pick words, not comprehension.

Osho once said - if you write with white chalk on a black board, you can see it. If you write with black chalk on a black board, you cannot. The board remains the same. The chalk changes.

Consciousness is the board. 

Neither good nor bad.

Conditioning is the chalk. It writes fear on us. It writes good and bad on us.

To go beyond good and bad is not to deny the writing. It is to see that you are the board, not the writing.

And to unlearn is to wipe the board clean.

People don't want to wipe. They want to argue about the colour of the chalk.

And this is the only problem...

When Duality Vanishes: A Spiritual Existentialism

When you are in duality, you feel resentment. You preach. You become judgemental — not just towards others, but towards your own self, because you follow the old touchstone: believing yourself to be only body and mind. And here comes the real problem — you mistake the rope for a serpent.

Whose fault is it?

Perhaps no one's. We inherited old patterns — rituals without understanding, beliefs without experience, paths that began as sincere quests and slowly hardened into rigid structures. They taught us to divide the world to make sense of it: good and evil, pure and impure, us and them.

I don't reject spirituality. I question the second-hand kind. I find it painful when people label others as sinners, predict hell for them, and present themselves as examples of purity. The body, by nature, is imperfect — none of us can claim absolute purity.

Sometimes this self-righteousness may reflect deeper psychological patterns — a lack of empathy, an excessive need for validation — traits associated in psychology with narcissistic tendencies. I worry that many who appear deeply religious may be struggling with such inner wounds without realizing it. But does that mean we should hate them? No. They need understanding, and where needed, compassionate professional support.

And please, let us not use psychological terms as insults. Nowadays such words are thrown around as abuse rather than used with care, and that is disappointing.

True spirituality is not about temples, scriptures, or gurus as idols. It is about direct seeing. It is about learning the best from all traditions, yet still keeping alive the quest for one's own path.

It is existential in the deepest sense: you are here, now, alive, and no one can live this truth for you.

When duality vanishes, the Self flourishes — not as a religious concept, but as a lived stillness. You stop needing to label every moment as good or evil, because you see they were only judgments of a frightened mind.

Such a person doesn't become indifferent. He becomes responsible. Without waiting for outer forgiveness, without escaping toward an imagined heaven, he creates meaning here — in how he acts, how he loves, how he remains still in movement.

Break the old pattern of borrowed belief. Welcome the new way of inner inquiry.

The Forest Has No Touchstone

 In my last post, Strength Is Not About Body or Mind: It's there inside You, I wrote that true strength comes from your drive, your inner quest, your connection with yourself.

Today I want to take that further.

Do we need to think like others to look wise? Do we need a touchstone to prove our thinking is correct? I don't think so. I hardly bother.

Why? 

Because I don't like to be the shadow of someone. I am unique of my kind. And I want to give that same space to everyone, because we all are somewhere looking for our True Self.

But when we start chasing the world, the fashion, the trend, we become their prey. They successfully kill our very quest — and that quest is the key to unlock the door of self-discovery.

Yesterday I spoke about stillness in movement, about nature thinking in rhythms. Strength came from aligning with that rhythm.

Today I understand: you cannot align with nature while you are busy aligning with people who are dead inside. 

Sorry, they aren't people even. They are simply crowd -- walking Zombies, without individuality. 

Why?

Because in the race of validation, they lost themselves. They kill a possibility, a path. They killed their inner self just for others' approval and now nothing is left...only wandering...

No ill-wills. Just sympathy. Because deep down, they lost themselves. They didn't even start their journey.

But, is it really important?

Yes, it's very important to start your own journey, to discover your very origin in your own unique way.

Let there be many ways. Let there are many truths. Nothing to be worried because finally there will be only one truth -- Consciousness Without The Curtain of Mind.

The way I choose is actually not a way. It is a dense forest where danger can come anytime and from anywhere. And we don't have time to prepare. But in that danger we will get something, something which belongs to us, something which we ourselves are — Nature.

In the crowd, you learn to imitate. In the forest, you learn to originate.

I choose the forest.

Strength Is Not About Body or Mind: It's there inside You

In my last post, The Thread That Thinks, Feels and Acts, I wrote that thinking preserves our individuality, and that aligned thought strengthens us from within.

This morning's walk showed me how.

Strength is not about body or mind. It's more about your drive, your inner quest, your connection with yourself, your inner blissfulness. Achieve that connection, and your mind will get strength itself, your body will get strength itself.

I woke up early and just watched my surroundings — nothing, just stillness in movement. The sun was rising, however, it looked perfectly still. The birds were chirping all around, however, their voices didn't sound like noise.

I stood for 5 minutes. It worked like meditation.

As I wrote yesterday, nature thinks in rhythms, not in anxious movements. When we connect our mind to that rhythm, we become self-aware. Let the creator of mind and body be with us. Let nature be with us.

When we remember our origin, thinking stops being a burden and becomes meditation itself. And from that divinity, true strength comes.

The Thread That Thinks, Feels and Acts: Returning to Our Origin

Thinking makes us different. Not better, not worse — just unique.

In a world that rewards copying, reacting, and fitting in, the simple act of truly thinking preserves our individuality. No two minds think alike, and that is not a flaw to fix. It is a divinity to protect.

Thinking is good — when it is aligned. An aligned thought strengthens us from within. It doesn't scatter, it gathers. It doesn't shout, it clarifies.

And when that thinking is connected with nature, it beautifies life. Watch a tree: it does not hurry, yet it grows. Watch a river: it does not force, yet it reaches the ocean. Nature thinks in rhythms, not in anxieties. When we connect our mind to that rhythm, we become self-aware, not self-conscious.

We should, we have, we need to get that divinity which enlightens us.

Let the divinity of that thread be with us — that connects thought to source. Let's be united with our origin, the very origin from where the mind gets the energy to think, to feel, to act and to work.

We did not create the mind and body. It's creator is nature itself.  So let the creator of mind and body be with us.

Let the nature be with us, for it gives us strength to think, to feel and to act — not in isolation, but in harmony.

When we remember our origin, thinking stops being a burden and becomes meditation itself.

Faith In Self, Not In People

People often place their faith in other individuals. A teacher, a leader, a friend, a saint. But this always brings pain.

Why? 

Because individuals have shortcomings and weaknesses. And that's why, they get afraid. They hide things. They play behind a veil. Sometimes they simply do not understand us.

When we depend on them fully, we break. But even then we should not be resentful. We should forgive them for they are human. Let them start their journey.

Let them think what they wish to think about you. Let them.

With the passage of time, they will comprehend. 

We all will. 

Sooner or later...

True spirituality is different. It is quiet. It is inner. It does not ask you to follow someone blindly. It asks you to listen to your own Self.

Trust the divine within you. People may change, but your inner Self will never leave you.

I strongly believe that Spirituality should come from the core of our inner Self, not from any outer doctrines.

True faith is inner. It does not depend on others.

Here is my old poem (written in 2023):

The Last Faith

(~ Sudhir Singh)

Faith is a poison,

Faith is a disease,

Faith can't enlighten

thy dead mind indeed.

Faith is quite dear,

faith causes ye fear,

Avoid this gear,

Otherwise thy life'll be full of tears.

Otherwise thy life'll be full of tears.

People whom you faith, they care not,

They put you in trouble & tell ye fear not,

So my dear just avoid this gear,

'cause it will cause ye fear,

Just be fair with you fear.

This should be your last faith,

let the faith be buried,

And live a life without faith,

else ye will lose thy fate,

So let it be your last faith.

So let it be your last faith.

Draupadi: The Fire That Held the Mahabharata Together

She is perhaps the most misunderstood woman in Indian History. TV serials turned her into a proud, sharp-tongued queen who "provoked" Duryodhana. WhatsApp forwards turned Karna into the tragic hero and Draupadi into the villain.

The truth is far deeper — and far more painful.

The Myth of "She Insulted Duryodhana"

We are told Draupadi laughed at Duryodhana and called him "blind son of a blind father," and that the vastraharan was his revenge.

But the critical editions of the Mahabharata do not support this popular dialogue. It was a later addition, a convenient excuse to justify a crime.

And what about Karna, the"misunderstood character"? 

Let's be honest. It was Karna who called Draupadi a veshya in the full sabha and ordered her disrobing. It was Karna who constantly instigated Duryodhana for war, playing the victim card while lighting the fire from behind because he wanted to prove that he is better than Arjuna.

This is how history works. Those who never come to the front lay the trap, and then decide who will be shown as culprit and who as victim.

Who Was Draupadi, Really?

She was not an ordinary woman. She was Agni-putri, born of fire.

Tradition says she was the incarnation of Chaya Sita. In Ramayana, when Ravana abducted Maa Sita, it was Chaya Sita — the shadow form, daughter of Agni — who went to Lanka, while the real Sita remained protected in fire.

After that trauma, Chaya Sita did intense tapasya of Lord Shiva, wishing for a husband like Shri Ram.

Shiva smiled and said, "There is no one like Ram."

So she cleverly asked for five qualities instead: a great archer, a truthful man, a physically strong man, an intuitive man, and a handsome man.

Shiva granted the boon.

In Dwapara Yuga, she received exactly what she asked:

Arjuna — the great Dhanurdhar

Yudhishthira — the embodiment of Satya

Bhim — the immensely strong

Sahadeva — the intuitive, wise

Nakula — the most handsome

She got what she prayed for. But fate rarely gives without a test.

And here is the subtle twist few know: Arjuna himself was Nara, the partial amsha of Vishnu in his previous life. Draupadi's life was thus intertwined with divinity itself.

Why Didn't She Just Destroy Them?

Draupadi was fire. In her rage, she could have cursed and burnt the entire Kaurava army to ashes.

She didn't.

If she had, society would have learned a dangerous lesson: Only the strong have the right to justice, the weak must remain submissive.

That is why Krishna also did not end the war single-handedly. If God does everything, humans learn inactivity and fatalism.

Draupadi chose to become the sutra — the thread — of the Mahabharata. Without her suffering, there would be no questions of dharma, no lessons on morality, no mirror to a sinful society.

She endured humiliation so that dharma could be re-established not by miracle, but by struggle, choice, and sacrifice.

Draupadi was not the cause of the war. She was the reason we still understand what justice means.

Let Sanatan Choose

Durga Puja in Bengal has never been only about rituals. It is about devotion and rituals. They do what they are being taught in their doctrines and beliefs. So let's just respect their path and belief. Let them continue their journey. Who are we to tell them that this is right and this is wrong? 

The recent appeal by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and preacher Dhirendra Shastri to keep non-vegetarian food away from pandals has sparked a storm. The VHP later clarified it issued no fatwa and only sought cleanliness and traditional sanctity. Now such statements again spark communal violence. He is indirectly mocking a specific religion. 

But the debate remains: who decides what to do and what not to do?

In Sanatan, we have always had two paths: Vaam Marg and Dakshin Marg. Vaam Margis perform rituals with offerings and sacrifices. Dakshin Margis follow strict vegetarianism. Both are accepted in our scriptures, as per one’s nature and sadhana.

I am vegetarian myself, but I do not criticise non-vegetarian traditions during Puja. For me, it is an individual choice. Our scriptures clearly allow us to choose, yet they also remind us of the law of karma — we must pay back for whatever we do.

Let sanctity be maintained, but let choice remain too.

Reference:

1. The Hindu: Call to keep Durga Pujas in West Bengal vegetarian kicks up a storm

Are We Addicted to Our Problems?

Most of us are attached to our problems.  

Sounds strange? But think about it. We complain about them, talk about them, carry them with us — and yet we don’t let them go. Sometimes, we even create new ones.  

One big reason behind this is procrastination. And procrastination, I feel, is often the side effect of over-optimism.  

When we delay work, deep inside we feel: “I’ll manage it at the eleventh hour. I’m smart enough. I’ve done it before.”  

That’s not just confidence. That’s over-confidence. We trust our last-minute magic more than our planning.

But not every delay comes from ego.  

Sometimes we procrastinate because we are stressed. The task feels too heavy.  

Sometimes we procrastinate because we’ve lost interest. The work no longer excites us.  

So the problem isn’t just “laziness”. The problem is: we don’t pause to ask why we are delaying.

We need to analyse ourselves deeply.  

Which category do I fall into?  

Category 1: Am I delaying because I’m over-confident?  

Category 2: Am I delaying because I’m overwhelmed?  

Or 

Category 3: Am I delaying because my heart is no longer in it?  

Once we know the root, we can fix it.  

I. Over-confidence needs discipline.  

II. Stress needs rest and breakdown of tasks.  

III. Loss of interest needs honesty — maybe it’s time to change direction.  

Problems will come. But let’s not get attached to them.  

And let’s not hide behind “I’ll do it later.”  

Because later rarely comes.  

The eleventh hour only teaches us panic, not progress.

What True Independence Means

Flashback, 15 Aug. 2016  

"Independent is one who has an independent attitude." 

~ Sudhir Singh

On Independence Day, we celebrate freedom from rulers but are we free within?

True independence isn’t just about a flag or a date. It’s about an attitude.  

An independent attitude is thinking from your own perspective, even when media, people, community and society are trying to manipulate you. You are independent when you can see behind the curtain of the big play. You are independent when your opinions are your own, not the borrowed one. It’s saying “no” when something doesn’t align with your values, and “yes” when it scares you but you feel it's right.

Countries become independent when people develop independent attitude. A nation of dependent minds will always look for someone to lead, fix, or rescue them.  

A nation of independent attitudes builds, questions, creates their own ideas, develop their own perspectives and stands tall.

This 15th August, let’s go beyond parades.  

Let’s check one thing: Where in my life am I still waiting for permission?  

Because independence begins the day you decide: I will think, choose, and act for myself.

The Goddess of Wisdom

Women are the most beautiful creation of Almighty.  This angel on the earth is having the feeling of compassion and courage together.  Imagining life without women is quite hard as they are having the cosmic strength in their minds and hearts.  This angel of Almighty can shake the cradle with one hand and earth with the other hand.  That's why in our Indian culture she is worshipped as a goddess of wisdom and strength and in many of the states of India, she is regarded as the ultimate Almighty power i.e. Durga who can create as well as destroy this huge Cosmos.

Many of the greatest philosophers called women as the greatest inspiration of their life.  Swami Vivekananda saw the image of his own mother on the faces of every woman.  Vedas defined a woman as the symbol of ultimate wisdom and knowledge.  She is always worshipped in the form of Adi Shakti and Goddess Durga.

These days women are surpassing in every area with their diligent and vigilant endeavours.  Their stalwart endeavours give them a unique place in the present society and that's why in every field they are getting a marvellous victory with enthusiasm.  But still, there are some of the people who give less importance to women and try to dominate them through their old orthodox dogmas.  Such sort of people always tend to suppress them and degrade their achievements and endeavours. And due to their old dogmatic approach, they insult the dignity of women but often they forget that their life is because of women as Sri Guru Nanak Said:

"Why to degrade those who give births to the kings!"

Therefore, it is to be comprehended by us that women's endless stalwartness can't be substituted and that's why they are like a Godly figure for us.