Lord Dakshinamurthi

On the Mount Kailas, with Devi by His side, Lord Siva was sitting in a hall beautifully decorated by precious stones. At that time, Devi worshipped the Lord and requested Him to alter the name of Dakshayani given to her before for being the daughter of Daksha. This Daksha was killed by Lord Siva for his disrespect and arrogance. On hearing this request, Lord Siva ordained that Devi should be born as the daughter of Parvata Raja who was doing rigorous Tapas for getting a child. He also told Parvati that He would come over to her and marry her. Thus ordained, Parvati was born as the child of Parvata Raja, and since her fifth year, began to do rigorous Tapas for being the bride of Lord Siva.

During the absence of Devi, when Lord Siva was alone, the sons of Brahma—who are sages Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara—came to have Darshan of Lord Siva and prostrated before Him. They entreated the Lord to teach them the way to remove Avidya and attain Salvation. They expressed that in spite of the vast study of scriptures, they had no internal peace, and they were in need of learning the inner secrets by knowing which they could attain Salvation. Lord Siva, hearing this appeal made by the sages, assumed the form of Dakshinamurti, and remaining as the Guru Supreme, began to teach them the inner secrets by keeping Mauna and showing the Chinmudra by His Hand. The sages began to meditate on the lines shown by the Lord and attained the state of inexpressible and illimitable joy.

Thus Lord Siva came to be known as Dakshinamurti.

Handling relationship problems – Sri Sri Ravishankar

What really disturbs interpersonal relationships? The relationship gets disturbed when disagreement begins.

Just look at yourself. Have you always agreed with yourself? You had some idea yesterday; today you may have a different idea. Five years back you had other ideas that do not necessarily agree with the ideas that you have today. So, when you have disagreements with yourself, why should it not happen with someone else?

The "someone" you have a disagreement with is just a photocopy of your old or new self. So you need to take a look at your own thought and emotional patterns. There is a rhythm in them. And there is a rhythm in consciousness. We need to find a harmony between all these rhythms within us. That's what is called spirituality.

Spirituality is not just fantasizing; it's observing your own existence. Have we thoroughly known our body? You can know someone else's body but have you experienced your own body? Experiencing your own body, your breath, your mind, your emotions, and the source of your life is meditation. Meditation is experiencing the life force and being conscious of it. And it is done effortlessly.

For maintaining interpersonal relationships, you have to first have a relationship with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is called integrity. If you have no relationship with yourself, that's called lack of integrity. Being informal keeps your interpersonal relationships strong, for it give space for mistakes to happen. You cannot expect perfection in any relationship or situation.

Life is very complex. There is no set formula. When you think that you are very honest, that your are righteous, you become a little stiff inside without even knowing it. You point your finger toward others and become intolerant. When you recognize that there are flaws in you, you are tehn able to accommodate the flaws in other persons.

Meditation is the only way you can transcend the negative thoughts, and then positive thoughts will come on their own. Stress and tension cause negativity. Suppose you don't sleep for two days, then small things can start to irritate you. But if you have rested well, the situation will be different.

Some people always blame themselves for something that goes wrong in a close acquaintance. Leave this "always" – "I always want to be happy." Take life as it comes. Sometimes you are upset or angry; it is OK to be upset or angry. Life does not stop for anything; it moves. Just move with the flow.