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Jul 28, 2011

WHISPERS: Nature and life...


Some of my Haiku this week...  _____


My eyes hold on to the memories
The togetherness
And the tears; in living
___

Can you hold on to me
Till I close my eyes, and sleep
And find you within my dream
___

You fill me
Like the drink
After the thirst
___

Holding on to the sands
Running away from my fingers
I feel empty and light
___


Nature and life
______

Still silent depths fought hard with the waves
Trying to hold on to its own reality
On the surface of living
Where waves of passion usually wins

Deep inside
Lake withdrew deeper
Left the waves to play
With the air, earth, water
and Fire
Submerged in all sense of living
Suddenly there was a splash
In the chaos of living
A rock solid thought
Plunged deeper
Calming all; with its brutal force of realisation
The waves, the water, the earth
And the fire

As the depths of the river
Cleaved itself in knowing
Knifed the sensual living from ‘being’
Embraced the rock submerged within
Unlocked the deepest desire
And flowed with the consciousness
Of the space within the thought
Lake
Water
earth
Fire
and its own shadows of deepest desire
Flowing in the emptiness; within
____

नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya

Submitted to Poetry Potluck WK 45, that I am hosting at Jingle Poetry with the theme of Nature and Life... please check out some great and talented artists, who have posted there... Click Here

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Memories to live by...                                                                               .

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet Featured


The Coming of the Ship 
A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that give it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.
A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?
And she hailed him, saying:
Prophet of God, in quest for the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship.
And now your ship has come, and you must needs go.
And he answered,
People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving within your souls?
Love
-Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
-Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
Marriage 
-Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
-Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
-And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Children
-And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
-You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
Giving 
-Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
-It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
-You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish
-For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
Eating and Drinking
Then an old man, a keeper of an inn, said, "Speak to us of Eating and Drinking."
And he said:
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the young of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship,
Work
-Then a ploughman said, "Speak to us of Work."
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
-Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
Joy and Sorrow
-Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
-The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
-When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

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Houses
-Then a mason came forth and said, "Speak to us of Houses."
And he answered and said:
Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls.
For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone.
-Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
-For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night.
Clothes
-And the weaver said, "Speak to us of Clothes."
And he answered:
Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
-Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.
-And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
Buying and Selling 
-And a merchant said, "Speak to us of Buying and Selling."
And he answered and said:
To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands.
It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.
Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.
Crime and Punishment
-Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said, "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."
And he answered saying:
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
-And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the axe unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots;
And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
Laws
-Then a lawyer said, "But what of our Laws, master?"
And he answered:
You delight in laying down laws,
Yet you delight more in breaking them.
Like children playing by the ocean who build sand-towers with constancy and then destroy them with laughter.
Freedom
-And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom."
And he answered:
At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfilment.
You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,


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Reason and Passion
-And the priestess spoke again and said:
"Speak to us of Reason and Passion."
And he answered saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite.
-Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.
-For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
-And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.
Pain 
-And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain."
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
-Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
Self-Knowledge
-And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge."
And he answered, saying:
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
-Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
Teaching
-Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
-If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

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Friendship

-And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
-For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
-And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
-For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
Talking 
-And then a scholar said, "Speak of Talking."
And he answered, saying:
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;
And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.
Time 
-And an astronomer said, "Master, what of Time?"
And he answered:
You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.
-Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.
Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.
Good and Evil 
-And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."
And he answered:
Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.
For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?
-In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.
But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.
And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.


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Prayer 
-Then a priestess said, "Speak to us of Prayer."
And he answered, saying:
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?
-When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.
Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.
For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive.
-God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.
-And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,
"Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.
It is thy desire in us that desireth.
It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.
We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:
Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all."
Pleasure 
-Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."
And he answered, saying:
Pleasure is a freedom song,
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires
Beauty 
-And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
-And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
-Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror
Religion 
-And an old priest said, "Speak to us of Religion."
And he said:
Have I spoken this day of aught else?
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
-Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
-And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.


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Death 
-Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
-For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
-Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
The Farewell 
-And now it was evening.
And Almitra the seeress said, "Blessed be this day and this place and your spirit that has spoken."
And he answered, Was it I who spoke? Was I not also a listener?
Then he descended the steps of the Temple and all the people followed him. And he reached his ship and stood upon the deck.
And facing the people again, he raised his voice and said:
People of Orphalese, the wind bids me leave you.
Less hasty am I than the wind, yet I must go.
We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us.
-You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky.
But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn.
The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part.
If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.
And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky.
So saying he made a signal to the seamen, and straightaway they weighed anchor and cast the ship loose from its moorings, and they moved eastward.
-And when all the people were dispersed she still stood alone upon the sea-wall, remembering in her heart his saying,
"A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."


______
Shashi
नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
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Jul 22, 2011

STILL LIFE : So close to nature - Poland

On one of my recent business trip to Europe, I have had an opportunity spend few days in Poland, visiting one of the largest office furniture manufacturer "Nowy Styl" in Europe and their Factory. City of Krosno, where Nowy Styl has its largest manufacturing setup, seemed nestled in the lap of nature.. specially their wood working factory. This factory is in the middle of nowhere, in a beautiful valley surround by forest all around - just near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. Below are my impressions from the journey... Hope you will enjoy it.
Arriving at Krakow, in 18 Deg Temp in rain and fog from 40 Deg Temp
in Hot and humid Chennai in the summers, was most welcome...

The drive from Krakow to Krosno was beautiful... 

The small villages nestled in the green meadows was refreshing change...
From the red soil of South India

Its almost 3 hours drive from Krakow to reach Krosno, where Nowy Styl
Factory is...

The drive to Baltic Wood's Factory ...

... where most of the Wooden components of Nowy Styl Furniture is made...

... is beautiful.

This 14 century church in the middle of nowhere on the way...
was a beautiful surprise..

Well like almost any where in the world... women folk hang around
To gossip....

And of course, like any where in the world, you will find Mc Donald's
This one is in one of the villages around Krosno

A beautiful surprise was this Bengol Hotel, where I stayed.
which served Bengali Food from India and Vegetarian too....
How thoughtful of Nowy Styl

So from Sunrise in the hotel room....

To sunset out on the patio... it was all about Nature
Lovely Poland.
And as they say in Poland, they can make Vodka out of any thing, I did buy a souvenir of Bison grass Vodka known as Żubrówka in Poland, where they seal a blade of Bison Grass in the Bottle (which you can see) to give this Vodka a special color and taste...
_________________
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya




Jul 18, 2011

17th Edition of Shadow Dancing with Mind

Welcome to 17th Edition of “Shadow Dancing With Mind”. This Edition has the following topics.

It was great to hear Gandhi Ji’s voice and the clarity of his conviction first hand. His simple ideas in trying to prove the existence of God in one word – Simple but then somehow one feels that it’s also true. I liked this talk because of his voice which transported me to the era, where our freedom of India was born. Below is the transcription of the talk.


READER : OSHO on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra - Secrets of Yoga

The book “Secrets of Yoga” based on the talks by OSHO on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, appeared in one of my searches for books to read, and understand the thoughts behind the man Bhagwan Rajneesh... I liked some of his explanation and some were just geared up towards western followers so it was a mixed feeling but one thing that did come through reading the book, was that he has a different point of view – sometimes not very comfortable, some time outrageous but sometimes carried gem of thought within that touched me...                   .
Click here to read more...

This month, I had travelled to Europe on a business trip and on the way back I had stopped in Vienna to see the beautiful city and great museums. In this post I am sharing some of my impressions from the streets of Vienna... Hope you will enjoy this.                                                .
Click here to see...

Last year in June, 2010, I have been to one of the most powerful temples of Lord Shiva, in temple town Jageshwar, 36 KM northeast of Almora in Kumaun region of Himalaya
The powerful spiritual energy, that is in the environment around this temple city, has made this journey one of my most memorable times in the presence of Lord Shiva. So join me in my journey of peace and blissfulness through my impressions captured in those days...                 .       

The section below is for my poetry about love, life and living with some selected Haiku... 
The poetry in this post is based on a painting "Death and Life" which I came across in my recent visit to Belvedere Museum in Vienna where I saw this painting by Gustav Klimt was exhibited. This painting opened a new window within me to see a new perspective of my living...                         .
Click here to read more...


WHISPERS: Lost In Emptiness...


Hope you would enjoy this edition of my ‘Shadow dancing with Mind’ Please leave a comment on the pages you visit and I will be very grateful if you click the follow button, so that we can be in touch...
_______
Shashi
नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya


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Jul 17, 2011

WHISPERS: Memories to live by...

Some of my HAIKU that I have had written some time back in the Face Book Group Whisper’s that suddenly got archived without my knowledge. So trying to salvage some of the words that I have had written and putting it in another new group... WHISPERS click here to read some more 

If you like to know more about HAIKU, please read a feature I have had written about it... Click Here
________________________



Sea and shore
Pulsating rhythm - high and low
An endless coming together
__
Our soul songs of the night
Flowers into a milky way
Across our heart
__
The memory of her outstretched
Un-held hand
Aches all the time.
__
I know one day
You will get up and leave
Till then, let me make memories to live by
__

The below verse is based on a painting "Death and Life" which I came across in my recent visit to Belvedere Museum in Vienna where I saw this painting by Gustav Klimt was exhibited. This painting opened a new window within me to see a new perspective of my living...

Gustav Klimt's 'Death and Life' c 1910-1915
From Belvedere Museum - 3rd July, 2011

Sometimes, my thoughts whisper to me about life, living and who actually I am. Sometimes I am the mind, sometimes I am the soul, and sometimes I am the result of the past, living in ‘now’... sometimes I am nothing but just ‘someone’ who lives within and dares to whisper...

I AM THAT
__________________
Sometimes when I wake up
I know that I am dead
And being dead is not easy
As it bleeds in ‘now’
In moment by moments of living
Foot prints of red
Tree lined paths of memory
Stretched from here to eternity
Ocean full of scents
Of past memories

I search within
For the life
Knowing it was dead too.

But being dead is not easy
It still pains
And I wonder, in all my awakenings
Why it still pains
when senses are already dead?
When thoughts are already numbed
Into silent screams of mind – unleashed
By constant throbbing of
This un-living;
Why still it pains?
Why?
And yet the question is

Who is this talking to me about it now?
Me?
Who is dead?

 Or is it ‘me’
The unknown
The unravelled
The one that can never be dead
Unattached, untouched and unscathed
An emptiness

A shell full of darkness behind light
Un-dead
I am that
________________
नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya

This is the second week I am hosting Poetry Potluck on JP – a group of great and talented poets, who gather around to write something on a theme. This week it’s themed on “ART” and I am calling it ‘Painting Whispers’


This is also going to be submitted to One Shot Wednesday at One Stop Poetry – another online group of talented artists and poets...
click here to submit your own and read some great poets...

(This opens on coming Wednesday, so you will have to wait till then...)


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Cuckoo’s Song and smell of love                                                              

Jul 13, 2011

WHISPERS: Cuckoo's Song and smell of love...

Recently I have been invited my J H Poetry to host their Poetry Potluck beginning week 43 and hope to have some great time reading and writing ...

Below are some of my Haiku about Love, life and living... Hope you will all enjoy it. The main poetry of this week below ‘Cuckoo’s Song’ is about some times when you wake up, you realise that whatever life you have had, is not much about present or future but past... about learning from pain.... We almost always not able to still the ‘Past’ into beauty that is living, loving and the life that is ‘now’ – the present.
Sun set at Danube River in Vienna -  Where I spent some time in reflection
It inspired me to write some of the Haiku below....

___________
My love smells
Like earth, flowing softly in Danube River
To the end
__
Only when I could find my sun
I can jump over my shadow
To ‘be’ – A reality
__
All love that’s kept
Subdued in silence
Poisons heart
__
Sunset in Poland - Krosno

CUCKOO’S SONG
_____________
I wake up to
The cuckoo song
With the sunrise
Knocking on my broken window
As the sun rays tip-toed into an awakening
Bleeding all over the shards of life
Strewn across the floor of my living

And all my pent up living
‘Within’
Implodes
Like a perpetual slow motion
Of memories, stuck at the night
Of your living
‘Within’ me.
As my present explodes
Within my waking
Into fragments of past
Another beginning begins of another end.

I cease to exist
To be what I
Could have been

I dig at the grave of my living
To uncover what life
Could have been

Slowly I crawl out of living
To a life that
Could have ...

All that is left now
Is stillness of love
An unfathomed depth
A torrential pain
Not yet stilled into beauty
Of a life – living – love
It has, still, not learned the cuckoo’s song
________________
नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya

Submitted to Poetry Potluck WK 43 at Jingle Poetry and One Shot Wednesday WK 53 at One Stop Poetry. Please click on the names to read great poets and add your own...
 
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Lost in emptiness....