The Gita Happiness Retreat. Sheetal

time on smartphones than with people wanting to be with us. Go knock at the door of your friends, give them a hug and spend time with them. Take time out for real people because real friends hold hands not virtual ones. When you are surrounded by negative energy, your best friend will hold your hand give you a tight hug and transfer positive energy to make you feel good.

      There was a girl who had many friends on Facebook but she didn’t have a single best friend. As time passed by, she started feeling lonely, sad, depressed and later ended up committing suicide. I happened to ask many middle age men and women, “Do you have a best friend in your life?” The answer I received was common, “Are you kidding, at this juncture of our lives who has time for friends we are too busy with work and family.” When I asked the same question to old men and women, the answer I got was, “Wish I had a best friend in my life.” So have that Lifesaver who will hold your hands, give you a hug and will never leave you alone.

      Arjuna was fortunate enough to have Lord Krishna by his side, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. So when Lord Krishna saw that Arjuna is refusing to fight the war because of his feelings of compassion towards his blood relatives. He became his Lifesaver and a Best Friend who guided and motivated him to do his duty by showing him the right direction, after he surrendered to Lord Krishna asking for help.

      God cannot be there everywhere, so he created a Best Friend. So let’s make a new beginning by having a Best Friend in our life. With whom we not only want to party with but who is also a good listener who urges us to share our problems, who can guide us to take the right decisions in life and whom we can trust by keeping our eyes open. In this digital age of Facebook and Instagram, lets take a step forward and move from a tech life to a more human life and have a Best Friend for Life.

      Everyone in the session stood up and started applauding on the simple yet wonderful life lesson.

      **Lesson No: 5 Have at least 1 Best Friend in your life who will guide you in the right direction, who will help you win inner battles and help you come out of trouble situations.

      Everyone sat down and then a hand went up, one participant asked, “Madam the title of chapter 2 is Contents of The Gita Summarized, how would you summarize The Bhagavad Gita?”

      I said, “Would you all like to hear another interesting story that will answer this participant’s question? Everyone nodded.

Famous Doctor

      Once there was a doctor who was very famous. He treated patients having mental illness with a 100% success rate. The patients who went to him once for treatment never visited him again, but surely they became his ambassadors and spread his name like wild fire. The doctor became so famous that even Lord Krishna wanted to personally meet him and know his secret.

      So Lord Krishna disguised Himself as a patient and went to this famous doctor and said, “Doctor I feel very lonely, depressed all the time. I also feel stressed most of the time. Because of worry and anxiety My blood pressure always remains high and sugar levels shoot up. My heart is also weak. Please help Me doctor.” Doctor said, “The same problem is faced by most of the patients who come to me.”

      Doctor then showed Lord Krishna the picture of the sacred ‘Bhagavad Gita’.

      Lord Krishna smiled from within and said, “Doctor what are you trying to say, I don’t understand. Please give me medicine and not this picture. How can this picture cure my problems?”

      Doctor told, “Look at this picture carefully. What do you see?”

      Lord Krishna said, “I see Arjuna sitting with folded hands along with Lord Krishna who is guiding him on a chariot. The chariot has four horses and Lord Krishna as charioteer holds their reins. I also see that the chariot is right in middle of the two armies with Pandavas on one side and Kauravas on the other side.”

      Doctor said, “Great observation.”

      He further continued, “Now let me explain how it is related to you and your problems and what is the medication.”

      Doctor said, “The two armies represents the two types of people we find in this world. Pandavas represents good and divine type of people and Kauravas represents bad and demonic type of people. We too come across both types of people in today’s life. Some give us happiness like our family and friends; some gives us stress in our life. Man is continuously fighting not only between these two types of people but also within himself between what’s right and wrong, good path and bad path, positive thoughts and negative thoughts.”

      “Arjuna represents the soul who is fighting this battle from within him. Like Arjuna we must face this life and its challenges on our own. He is praying to Lord Krishna and surrendering himself completely to the Lord for guidance and help.”

      “Here Lord Krishna shows us that God is always there to support and guide us. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is situated as Paramatma in the heart of every living being. Krishna is your inner voice, inspiration and divine guidance that is continuously guiding the lost, lonely and depressed souls in the right direction. Only when you become aware of His presence within you, will you become free from all problems.”

      “Lord Krishna is holding the reins of the four horses. Here horses represent our senses that tend to move in different directions and are difficult to control. Only when you completely surrender yourself to Lord Krishna, He will help you take control of your mind which is the rein with which all the senses that is the horses come under control and they start moving into the right direction according to the will of the Lord.”

      “The chariot in between is nothing but our life. Till the time we are on this chariot, means till the time we are alive, we have to fight our own war.”

      Doctor further asked another question, “Do you know why was The Bhagavad Gita told in middle of both the armies? Lord Krishna said, “No, why.” Doctor said, “It’s because Life is all about balance.”

      Lord Krishna as patient was surprised to see the doctor’s in-depth knowledge and philosophy. He then smiled and asked the famous doctor, “Doctor medicine please.”

      Doctor said, “Firstly ‘Stop Worrying’. Surrender all your worries to Lord Krishna, just like how you unload a heavy baggage from your head and put it to the ground. Stop thinking negative. Have faith in Lord Krishna that He is there with you always and is just a call away and He will come to your rescue. Just imagine a Supreme Power is waiting for your instructions. Read the sacred book ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ daily this will bring peace in your life. Your fears will disappear. And talk your heart out about your problems to your best friend. If you don’t have a best friend then find one that’s your lifetime medicine.”

      Doctor said, “Please come back to me if your problem is not solved. But I haven’t seen my patients come again.”

      Lord Krishna smiled and said, “Even though you have become a doctor by studying so hard. You are practicing it very truly, perfectly and performing your duty to the best of your abilities without worrying about success or failure. I bless you.”

      Lord Krishna then smiled and left his clinic with great satisfaction.

      This knowledge and philosophy holds true in today’s times, wherein man is struggling with the war going on within himself, he is overcome by negative thoughts and fear all the time. Because of negative thoughts he is unable to fulfill his desires and dreams. This is precisely leading him to sadness and depression. Only when you truly surrender yourself to Lord Krishna, you will be able to control your strong senses with the help of your mind by focusing on the right and positive thoughts. Your inner guiding light Lord Krishna will guide you in the right direction.”

      After hearing this story, everyone in the session carefully looked at the picture I showed on the ppt. I then asked everyone, “What is the life lesson from this story?”

      **Lesson No: 6 Do not let negative thoughts take control of you. You have to overcome challenges and fight your own war. Use your mind to control