Relations Very often those we call dear and near ones, are perfect strangers and very harmful to us. They live on one thought-plane, we on another. Live in your own inner house, independently. Live as a stranger with your so-called near and dear ones. Devotees and spiritual aspirants are our very own, because this Divine connection with others is more permanent and even more intense than any earthly connection. It is the only connection that counts. We are all living like guests in a guest-house. You must get rid of the idea of ownership and bring in the idea of trusteeship. You must never raise any emotional claim on others. They are not your property, and you in your essence have nothing whatever to do with any of them. No aversion, no criticism. Just as butter pervades milk, God pervades everything. Just as churning separates butter from milk, meditation separates the Real from the unreal. Like butter in milk, Pure Consciousness, God, resides in every being. Seeing the Atman in all beings, even intellectually, and all beings in the Atman, one remains on the path to attain the highest Brahman, God; one realizes that any form of hatred for others takes us away from God. Mere belief and theories can never help. Through Righteousness we vet to strive to prepare our mind to see God all around us. This alone is our duty. This is a short account on when I got an opportunity to spend half a day with a few soldiers from the Indian Army. I was keen to ask them a few questions, just to get to know more about how Army life is like and what kind of discipline these soldiers have in their daily lives. Personally, I always look for new things to incorporate in life that can help one to improve as a person. As I got this opportunity, I thought there is nothing better than asking this from those who protect us day and night at the border without any failure. The very first thing we touched upon was how does army officials maintain the high order of discipline and alertness that they have on every second basis. There is no room for casualness, laziness, and wanting to go for the comfort option. One of the Army officials shared that they wake up at 4:30 am every morning without Relations Very often those we call dear and near ones, are perfect strangers and very harmful to us. They live on one thought-plane, we on another. Live in your own inner house, independently. Live as a stranger with your so-called near and dear ones. Devotees and spiritual aspirants are our very own, because this Divine connection with others is more permanent and even more intense than any earthly connection. It is the only connection that counts. We are all living like guests in a guest-house. You must get rid of the idea of ownership and bring in the idea of trusteeship. You must never raise any emotional claim on others. They are not your property, and you in your essence have nothing whatever to do with any of them. No aversion, no criticism. Just as butter pervades milk, God pervades everything. Just as churning separates butter from milk, meditation separates the Real from the unreal. Like butter in milk, Pure Consciousness, God, resides in every being. Seeing the Atman in all beings, even intellectually, and all beings in the Atman, one remains on the path to attain the highest Brahman, God; one realizes that any form of hatred for others takes us away from God. Mere belief and theories can never help. Through Righteousness we vet to strive to prepare our mind to see God all around us. This alone is our duty. This is a short account on when I got an opportunity to spend half a day with a few soldiers from the Indian Army. I was keen to ask them a few questions, just to get to know more about how Army life is like and what kind of discipline these soldiers have in their daily lives. Personally, I always look for new things to incorporate in life that can help one to improve as a person. As I got this opportunity, I thought there is nothing better than asking th