Hi,
Welcome to the third edition of “Shadow Dancing with Mind”.
THE READER: I read one of the most amazing books by Richard Bach, called “Illusions” and it touched me so deeply that I am a changed man now ( I am sure its positive as now more people believe me when I say spirituality is a state of mind). I must thank a very close friend of mine to guide me to this one book and I am sure that all of you will get inspired by what he said and remember in your day to day life. Here are some of the thoughts that are amazingly beautiful and inspiring.
INSPIRED STREET: Some times, the fate guides you to some of the most inspiring thoughts, most inspiring moments, most exhilarating times… and yesterday in the home theater section of JBL, where me and my brother went, I came across an amazing singer – Andrea Bocelli, supposed to be the best selling classical singer in the world.
WHISPERS: Some of interesting verses of love and life
STILL LIFE: Some of the interesting images of Sadhu’s, Saints and monks that I have come across while travelling in the search of spirituality. “Click here to read it”
YOGI BABA – A STORY UNTOLD: The starting paragraph of chapter FOUR of a story in the making - "Yogi Baba" being written by a friend.
NEXT WEEK:
The reader: I am planning on discussing "hit" by something that was not supposed to be or being made a fool by vagaries of life.
Inspired street : An interesting personality from Spritual realm.
Whispers will touch upon being away and lonely, of love and yearning.
Still Life is a dynamic page, I will not be knowing what I am going to put up, so please enjoy the surprise.
Yogi Baba: I just dont know what its going to be as its developing even as we speak.
Hope you like this edition of Shadow Dancing with Mind; look forward to seeing your comment this week too. I really appreciate when you write to me or leave me comments here. It gets me going, week by week. Please feel free to ask your friends to join in to have something creative and spiritual to look forward to every week.
Om Namah Shivaya
Shashi
Om Namah Shivaya
May 25, 2010
THE READER
"Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah" by Richard Bach - 1977
Richard David Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull (This broke the record of sales of Gone with the Wind), Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.
Below are some of the quotes from the Hand Book of Messiah and hope you will all enjoy reading the book "Illusions" as much as I did.
________________________________________________
Perspective - Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that.
Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place.
You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them.
You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.
Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.
Then be sure of one thing:
The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.
The original sin is to limit the Is. Don't.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
The world is your exercise-book, the pages on which you do your sums.
It is not reality, although you can express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write nonsense, or lies, or to tear the pages.
Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.
The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities."
The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that's all it needs to be.
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind.
Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution it not generally understood by less advanced life forms, and they'll call you crazy.
Everything above may be wrong!
_______________________________________
- By Richard Bach
Richard David Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull (This broke the record of sales of Gone with the Wind), Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.
Below are some of the quotes from the Hand Book of Messiah and hope you will all enjoy reading the book "Illusions" as much as I did.
________________________________________________
Perspective - Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that.
Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place.
You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them.
You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.
Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.
Then be sure of one thing:
The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.
The original sin is to limit the Is. Don't.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
The world is your exercise-book, the pages on which you do your sums.
It is not reality, although you can express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write nonsense, or lies, or to tear the pages.
Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.
The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities."
The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that's all it needs to be.
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind.
Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution it not generally understood by less advanced life forms, and they'll call you crazy.
Everything above may be wrong!
_______________________________________
- By Richard Bach
WHISPERS - The Seed is Planted
Some of my Haiku below and a verse about Happiness that is lost...
 |
| "Othello and Desdemona" by Alexandre-Marie Colin, 1829 |
___
The tremors of your whispers
Resonates still in my broken heart
With sounds of shattered glass
_____
THE SEED IS PLANTED
Dew drops, settle softly on the lips
Of evening star
Love, flowers
________
Do you still think of me
Some times; when ocean scent
Caresses your lips
____
How to save a drop of Happiness from Drying Up
As time takes it toll
People drift apart
As life takes its turns
Spiraling friends away
As the present walks into unknown future
Given enough space
Belongingness too fades away into memories of past
In the sands of time
Then
To save a drop of happiness
From drying up
From drying up
Drop it
In the sea of the togetherness
That was,
That is and that will be
That is and that will be
________________
Om Namah Shivaya
Submitted to One Shot Poetry Wednesday WK 15
Click here to add one of your own and read some great works by great people
Submitted to Poetry Potluck WK 46. Please have a look at wonderful and creative works of talented poets and add your own... Click here
Submitted to One Shot Poetry Wednesday WK 15
Click here to add one of your own and read some great works by great people
Submitted to Poetry Potluck WK 46. Please have a look at wonderful and creative works of talented poets and add your own... Click here
INSPIRED STREET
Some times you come across interesting things by chance. This is what happened to me when me and my brother were searching for a Home Theater system and for the Demo, the JBL guys played Andrea Bocelli’s song “Dare to Live” and that was a revelation to us. Loved the music and the voice so much that we requested the JBL systems guys to play more of his songs and then back home researched about him and found out some CD’s of his songs and enjoyed it thoroughly. So here is hoping you will also like this singer and a very creative artist.
Andrea Bocelli, Grande Ufficiale OMRI (born 22 September 1958) is an Italian pop tenor and crossover artist. Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival, in 1994, he has recorded thirteen studio albums, of both pop and classical music selling over 70 million copies worldwide. He is the biggest-selling singer in the history of Classical music. In 1998, Bocelli was named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people although he is blind since childhood.
On March 2, 2010, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contribution to live theater.
Here is some of the music that I love and specially the “dare to live” and his lovely rendering of Besame, Besame Mucho.
Click on the following to listen to the songs
STILL LIFE
Ganesh Maharaj from Dev Prayag in Himalaya, he looks after the confuluence of Alaknanda and mandakini and from here onwards, Ganges is known as Ganges
A Sadhu at Neelkanth Temple
A baba from my village
A devotee from Europe at the Confluence of Ganges
Various forms and types of Sadhu's - Neelkanth Mahadev Temple
May 17, 2010
Shadow Dancing with Mind - The monday Morning Edition 17th May, 2010
Hi Friends....This week we are going to have the following ... in the individual sections as listed below.
Just to shortcut the message for the friends that are coming from Monday Poetry Potluck - Beaches and mountains I have posted one Haiku some time back that I am submitting here below under the section "Whispers" Hope you like it.
I am sorry you need to scroll back as this one post is all together hence no separate link for the post.
I also thank for the Poetry Potluck award that I recieved from Jingle.
Click here to submit your own poetry at Poetry Potluck and also read some great poet's works there.
Just to shortcut the message for the friends that are coming from Monday Poetry Potluck - Beaches and mountains I have posted one Haiku some time back that I am submitting here below under the section "Whispers" Hope you like it.I am sorry you need to scroll back as this one post is all together hence no separate link for the post.
I also thank for the Poetry Potluck award that I recieved from Jingle.
Click here to submit your own poetry at Poetry Potluck and also read some great poet's works there.
THE READER: Concluding part of "From Mind To Super Mind" by Rohit Mehta written around 1966.
And another book "The Secret Path" by Paul Brunton (One of the greatest Spiritual Explorers of the 20th Centaury) and his way of attuning one self to Meditation. Its a classic first published in 1934.
And a sneak peak at the books that I am reading now.
DESIGN STREET: A new section is added called "Design Street" where we are going to visit one designer, artist, painter or any one creative enough to capture our imaginations. This time, its Charles and Ray Eames; The Iconic Furniture designers and avid Photographer and the brain behind the setting up of the Top Indian Design Institute "National Institute of Design" at Ahmadabad.
DANCING WITH WORDS: Some haiku's (Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively, which mainly deals with weathers, but I am more comfortable using the term haiku which basically deals with painting pictures with words) and please let me know if you see picture after reading these very short verses, haiku's.
VISUAL IMPRESSIONS: Exotic and some times considered erotic sculpture at the Konark Temple in Orissa, only Sun Temple.
A STORY UNTOLD: The starting paragraph of chapter THREE of a story in the making - "Yogi Baba" being written by a friend.
Hope you like this monday morning edition of Shadow Dancing with Mind; look forward to seeing your comment this week too. I really appreciate when you write to me or leave comments. I gets me going, week by week. Please feel free to ask your friends to join in to have something creative and spiritual to look forward to every week.
Om Namah Shivaya
(Note: please do register yourself as the follower so that I dont have to send this again and again and be accused of spamming)
THE READER
As promised that we will continue to discuss the book "From Mind to Super Mind" by Rohit Mehta but then as one of the readers pointed out that this book is available in full at the following link, so I thought of posting that instead of dicussing more about it. So here is the link of the book which one can read online if one wants to. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wgiDwZS3rUwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=mind+to+supermind+rohit+mehta&source=bl&ots=0d-UkEoQMw&sig=Jj9DdCAzDT7KW1BqV7tNrls_Rds&hl=en&ei=42LoS9CAOc6TkAX0quHaBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Secret Path - Paul Brunton
Now coming over to one of the very interesting books from yester years that I have come across is "The Secret Path" by Paul Brunton (October 21, 1898 - July 2, 1981) who was a British philosopher, mystic, traveler, and guru and the book I am dicussing here was first published in 1934. Its an interesting book which gives a simple path of attaining many pwerful things through the power of Meditations. So here it is for the readers to see for themselves if it leads to Nirvana or an empty High.
INTRO
Paul Brunton (October 21, 1898 - July 2, 1981) was a British philosopher, mystic, traveler, and guru. He left a journalistic career to live among yogis, mystics, and holy men, and studied Eastern and Western esoteric teachings. Dedicating his life to an inward and spiritual quest, Brunton felt charged to communicate his experiences about what he learned in the east to others. His works had a major influence on the spread of Eastern mysticism to the West. Taking pains to express his thoughts in layperson's terms, Brunton was able to present what he learned from the Orient and from ancient tradition as a living wisdom. His writings express his view that meditation and the inward quest are not exclusively for monks and hermits, but will also support those living normal, active lives in the Western world.
Brunton has been credited with introducing Ramana Maharshi to the West through his books "A Search in Secret India" and "The Secret Path".[2]
The following thoughts that I have had got me thinking from the book which I thought is the right time to share with you and I want to share with you….
• Kant said “there were two outstanding wonders of God’s creation. The starry heaven above and the mind of man within.
• The solar system turns without thine aid,
Live, Die! The universe is not afraid.
- By Zangwill
• Why is that the thing which interests every man most is – himself?
Because self is the only reality of which we are certain. All facts of the world around us and all thoughts in the world within us exist for us only when our own self becomes aware of them. Self see the earth and the earth exists. Self is conscious of an idea and the idea exists. (Thoughts of Descartes)
• Berkeley, by the process of acute thinking arrived at the same position. He showed that the material world would be non-existent apart from some mind to conceive it,• Self is the ultimate – the first things we know as babies; it will be the last thing we shall know as sages.
• First seers, watching the wanderings of thought within their own minds, discovered that there was something which came into action when thinking momentarily stopped. That something was the first faint intimation of the soul
• Eckhart – God is center of the man
• Thomas A Edison – The hours that I have spent with Mr. Edison have brought me the real big returns of my life; to it I attribute all I have accomplished.
• The morning thinking (meditation) creates a current of spiritual wisdom and strength which will flow beneath the whole of the day’s activities and thoughts. Those who think it folly to attend to our spiritual attitude before we have attended our worldly concerns put second things first and first things second.
• Meditation will produce most results by being regular every day, rather than in fits and starts, because its something that gradually soaks in by repeated. Daily effort.
• The next point to observe is that certain physiological and psychological conditions are advisable if success to be attained with les difficulty. An easy body posture put the mind at ease. A body in discomfort tends to make the mind uneasy.
• There is mysterious quality in twilight which links it with the great spiritual currents that nature releases in regular rhythm.
• Thought control is hard to attain. Its difficulty will astonish you. The brain will rise in mutiny. Like the sea the human mind is ceaselessly active. But it can be done.
• The senses fight and try to cling on to the material world as it’s the nature of senses to be attached to the physical world. The power to hold on to a train of thought with great tenacity, to grasp it with scorpion-ic claws and not let go, is the power to concentrate and makes MEN. Masters of thought are true masters of Men.
• When the moral weakness and emotional unbalances are conjoined with mystical practices, the result is not elevation of mind into spirituality but degeneration of mind into mediumship. The practice of meditation without the cultivation of ethical and intellectual safe guards can lead to self deception, inflated egoism, hallucination and even insanity.
A Technique for self analysis - A great adventure of self-enquiry
A key to success in practice of self analysis is “think very slowly” Second is to formulate your words mentally. First watch your own intellect in its working. Note how thoughts follow one another in endless sequence. Then try to realize that there is someone wo thinks. Now ask: Who is this thinker?
Therefore, to know oneself is to find that point of consciousness from which observation of these changing moods may take place. This was the celebrated attitude of Descartes.
He maintained that there mere act of thinking involved the existence of a thinker, of the one who carries on this reflective activity. “Je pense, done je suis”(I think there fore I am), was his famous philosophical proposition. It was a tremendous claim and found its powerful opponents. And its logical result was compelled to infer that this thinking, this “I” was intrinsically immaterial and there fore independent enough to have its own existence apart from the fleshly body with which its nevertheless so intimately bonded. T
Mind is like a restless monkey, but chain it to the post of a single object, tether it to the stake of one line of thought; then only will the monkey recognize you as its master, and be more ready to obey your orders.
Though the man is with the higher power which may be called God, the fact remains that he has lost the consciousness of this unity. And unless he makes observation, or in true prayer, to detach himself increasingly from his external existence, it is unlikely that he will recover this divine consciousness.
Thinking is power which may bind us or set us free. The average man unconsciously uses it for the former purpose; the meditator of self inquiry uses it to gain freedom.
Intuition: Immediate understanding.
• Rational thought provides us with a splendid instrument wherewith to comprehend life and the world up to a point, but it is a mistake to imagine that it is there for the only instrument available to us. Intuition is one such instrument and many times it works with out any conscious effort on our part.
• When the reasoning, thinking intellect subsides its activity, the intuition has a clear field in which to manifest itself. It’s therefore necessary to find some means to reduce the constant agitation of the intellect. This can be done by a two fold process.
1. The first consists of an effort to direct thoughts along a single channel of certain kind i.e. concentration upon an exalted abstract idea (Meditation)
2. Control of breathing. The reason is there exists a profound connection between breath and thought. The movements of breath beat time, in a most remarkable fashion, with the movements of thought. Most people undervalue the powers of the breath but the early Jesuits in the west and the early yogis in India knew better, for they embodied the breathing exercise in their system of training.
The breathing exercise mentioned here by Paul Brunton is similar to the one as in pranayam, so here I am giving a link of pranayam technique for you all, if interested to follow.
Awakening to the Intuition
Humility is the first step on the secret path – and it will also be the last. For before the divinity can begin to teach him through its own self-revelation he must first became teachable, i.e. humble.
Intellectual ability and learning are admirable things and adorn a man, but intellectual pride puts up a strong barrier between him and that higher life which is ever calling to him, albeit silently.
Hitherto, the entire student’s effort at finding the true self have been positively directed, personally willed, conscious and voluntary. He is now almost at the point where there should be a complete reversal of procedure, where the personality must cease making any further efforts because it has reached the end of its tether.
The whole process of mediation is simply to select this one higher topic of self enquiry out of the multitude of ideas, to think firmly up that alone and of nothing else. Then when the attitude and the quality of concentration are thus strongly developed, the student drops even this special line of thinking withdraws inward and a question who it is that is thinking.
One inevitable result of all these practices will be that your attitude towards things, people and events will gradually change. You will begin to express the qualities which are natural to the over self, the qualities of noble outlook, perfect justice, the treatment of one’s neighbor as oneself.
SOMETHING THAT I AM READING NOW
Meluha by Amish - The top selling fiction as of now in India, although I did not like the premise that Lord Shiva is a mortal Human being, but as Amish told me in our discussions, to read the book and then let him know if he has done justice to Lord Shiva or not, so I am reading it now.
Dreaming in Hindi - By katherine Russell Rich / As per the book print, its on the Oprah Magazine's list of 10 Terrific reads of 2009, I am just not sure of how one defines terrific for the masses as well as does Oprah Magazine's list are typical of Oprah's opinions or we are just being mislead by the name.
And finally
The black Swan - By Nassim Nicholas Taleb - this is the most promising book of the all. I have read it before but reading it again as the times that are around the corner demands it.
DESIGN STREET
Charles and Ray Eames
Eames (pronounced /ˈiːmz/) were American designers, who worked and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial design, fine art, graphic design and film. And here is the link that you can read through leisurely at your convenience http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_and_Ray_Eames
But here at this blog I am going to show you this legendary genius less known creative side which is his passion for photography. But before you get on with reading more about his photography and his pictures, here is something I would like you to have a look at it to understand the genius of Eames.
First, and in my opinion very interesting, is the movie called “Powers of 10”. You need to see it to believe it, that the whole movie was shot in studio of Eames and this one movie gave Hollywood a new camera shooting technique which is still used in the industry. http://www.powersof10.com/ Second is his iconic piece of furniture like Lounge Chair, The mesh chair and the ottomans etc. The person on the lounge chair here is Charles Gradson Eames Demetrios.
Third, which had more to do directly with India, he was also the idea behind creating the National Institute of Design at Ahemdabad as at that point of time, the then prime minister of India Pt Jawaharlal Lal Nehru called him to prepare a report on creating a world class design university. After visiting several places and knowing India by travelling around, Charles Eames came up with the report called “India report” which formed the basis of NID Ahemdabad. In this report, Charles Eames presented a very interesting discussion on the design conceptualization based on the design of our very own small water carrying vessel known as LOTA. Please have a look at it in the report.
http://www.designobserver.com/observatory/entry.html?entry=12692
http://www.designobserver.com/observatory/entry.html?entry=12692
But one of the things that is not very well known of this creative genius is his fascination and passion for Photography. Here I am introducing you to the exhibition of 100 selected photos that Charles Eames took over a period of many decades, which is called “The Gifted Eye of Charles Eames”. I travelled with Charles Eames Grand Son Eames Demetrius to Mumbai and Ahemdabad to give a presentation, discuss and generally show the 100 pics at display. There are few of the images from the same and his many interesting pictures that were on the display in the Exhibition.
(Eames Demetrios and me)
And there are many more.. if you are interested in knowing or having a look at more pics, then please get back to me and I will try to send you some more images from this collections.
WHISPERS
_______________________________________________________
As the sun rushes into the night
The sea reaches out hold him
In depths of her love
______________________
Shashi
Submitted for Poetry Potluck - Beaches and mountains
Click here to read some of other posts and post your own
Submitted for Poetry Potluck - Beaches and mountains
Click here to read some of other posts and post your own
The image above, I took in Mumbai, India at the Bandra Sea Face in May 2010
This one poem by Pablo Neruda I came across on the net which I liked so much that I could not hold myself from posting it here...
Sonnet XVII
I do not love you as if you were the salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
__________________________________
Pablo Neruda
VISUAL IMPRESSIONS
Some interesting visuals from one of the most famoous temples in India of Sun, known as Konark temple.
The early morning view of the Konark Temple from one of the sides.
Sensous and so engrossed
The morning sunrise on the way to Konark Temple
I wanted to end this visual story of a visit to Konark Temple with the smile of this beautiful tribal woman at the sea beach because any visually delightful thing can not be more than the smile on a face. This lady personify the contentment of being with the nature elements and be contented with it.
I hope you all have enjoyed this visit to the temple as I have.
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA
A STORY UNTOLD
Vashudha was waiting for Baba to come. The temple and the ashram slowly surrendered to the calming effect of setting sun and the approach of the night through evening. The silence hung upon the flowing evening breeze so heavily that it has to slow down on the steps up hill and take rest on the footsteps of the falling deodar leaves. The thoughts of Vashudha though were not stilled yet, they were moving from one branch of thought to another like monkeys in the first snow fall. Enjoying the fall of white winter with each shake of branch and below, the dry leaves groaned in the cold pain of falling snow. But then Rishikesh never had the snow fall. Is it her thoughts that are so cold making her environments drip icicles or is it her fear of the answer what Yogi Baba will bring to her. Whatever it was, she was not comfortable. She knew in her heart that she is not doing the right thing and she fears her discomfort with her consciousness. Its not even six months she has been here and she is ashamed of herself every day. The feeling that every one of the days, she had cheated herself and loving people around her, does not leave her to sleep peacefully in the night or be awake in herself in the day. Why did she do it? Was it her ego or it’s her hurt? Why is she even here? Why she even got to know that she is supposed to be here some time, some life time? And who told her all these confusing things? She never believed in God, or spiritual world or religious sentiments or come to think of it, never even on a Guru and here she is trying to force her questions, her thoughts on her chosen Guru and asking what she knows, Yogi Baba will have difficulty in answering. She was never like this, living alone in a jungle where the only sound of music she hears comes from the temple bell, conch or the Jhaal that devotees strike in rhythm while chanting Hare Krishna. She was contented in her life of jet set, the page three groupies, the passion and allure of power, money and lust. Her father, one of the top business houses in India, Vaibhav Group, was the most devoted of her movements in the celestial sky of earthly stars. Her mother, if not pushed her into the arms of the Casanova’s at least never raised an eyebrow with the people she was moving about or living with in various beds…. Vashudha’s wonder is not about why she is even here at this point of time, when she was most talked about, most successful and most vibrant society girl, but she wondered how she reached here and what is the purpose. Some times in her previous life, when the cobwebs or her drunken stupor used to lift, she used to wonder what she is doing in this place, this floor or this bed, but now here in Rishikesh, she wakes up with cobwebs every day and still wonder what she is doing in this bed every day. What is it she is waiting for? For Yogi Baba to answer or for his answer or his non-answer so that she can leave every thing again and move on with her life or her non-life. She is not sure anymore just like those stars, in the twilight, are not sure whether to come out or not, whether its dark enough to show themselves or hang around in their backstage a little more before flaring up in the dark sky over the serenity of Rishikesh.
She could now hear the bells earnestly calling her to reach out to her inner self, to find her answers whether Yogi Baba gives it or not. It’s almost Aarti time and Yogi Baba is still not here, so again she will have to walk, in 15 minutes of solitude, with her silent questioning, the path from her room to the temple again. She some times fears this path, this path throws up so many questions to her that she started avoiding walking along this path alone. Some times she picks up those new visitors from Europe, so wide eyed, soaking up everything from a foot fall to the drops of chanting mantras and talk to them about how important it is to use the Japa Mala to focus on one thought, one mantra where she has not picked hers for almost a month now. Lately she realized that Yogi Baba is not there on this path most of the times, to accompany her to the temple with his clear thoughts on what to do and what not to do, when practicing Dhyan, Meditation or chanting. And most of the times, now she is walking alone as even the visitors too have walked away in the winters to be with their families and warmth of love. The aarti in the temple this winter is going to be very cold; she can feel this in her heart. Her heart now is cold and when she is walking towards the temple for Aarti, she gathers her cold shawl around her, just to keep this coldness inside her heart. Why Yogi Baba is not here, when she needs his warmth of his soul, his insights and his love. Is he purposely doing this? Is he a weak person? Does the love she has, for his heart, will hurt him? She does not think so but then there is always a vicarious pleasure in thinking things that can not be and enjoy it. She is such a weak person. Or is she a strong person to meet her demons head on and win… May be she is right or may be not. Only Yogi Baba’s answer will tell. Why I have so many questions, when there are only one answer to all…. Why even I question all this around me and not needing even any answer…. Why?
To be continued next week...
May 10, 2010
A walk across forever....
Welcome!!!! For many years, I have been putting my thoughts on various places, various forums and it was kind of getting haphazard and un-regular too. So I thought of starting this blog where I can keep all those interesting things, creative urges, spiritual experimentations and journeys that happen to happen with me from time to time. I intend to post here every week first thing on Monday, so that if you like you can come back to read on the start of the week. I hope these posts, images and thoughts give you some food for thought in your day to day life and make life more beautiful for you and your family and friends around. I will appreciate it if you leave some comments and add yourself to follow this blog so that you know when some thing new is posted here.
This week's posting contains the following.
Book Section: Some excerpts from one of the books that I have enjoyed reading over the years "From Mind To Super Mind" by Rohit Mehta written around 1966. The book is basically a commentary on Bhagawad Gita - Lord Krishna's discourse to Arjuna on the battle field of Mahabharata about life, duties, soul and God. I loved this book, because more than a discourse about religion, this is more about mind and how to have control over our mind and senses and what is in Bhagawad Gita about the same. I have tried to put the thoughts of the writer Rohit Mehta as well as what is written in Gita that are specific to mind control, making our minds Supreme, in this section.
Photo Section: I have put one picture that I could capture of a street beggar on the way to Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. I don’t think that image needs any explanation, so I have left it as it is for you to draw your own thoughts.
Poetry Section: This has one poetry about how at the fag end of life, one comes to meditate upon things done and not done. The image is of an old lady captured in one of the temple towns in Orissa, known as Puri. The house of Jaggannath - Lord of all the worlds, Krishna.
Story Section: Finally the starting paragraph of chapter two of a story in the making - "Yogi Baba" being written by a friend.
Happy reading, enjoy life, life is beautiful.
This week's posting contains the following.
Book Section: Some excerpts from one of the books that I have enjoyed reading over the years "From Mind To Super Mind" by Rohit Mehta written around 1966. The book is basically a commentary on Bhagawad Gita - Lord Krishna's discourse to Arjuna on the battle field of Mahabharata about life, duties, soul and God. I loved this book, because more than a discourse about religion, this is more about mind and how to have control over our mind and senses and what is in Bhagawad Gita about the same. I have tried to put the thoughts of the writer Rohit Mehta as well as what is written in Gita that are specific to mind control, making our minds Supreme, in this section.
Photo Section: I have put one picture that I could capture of a street beggar on the way to Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. I don’t think that image needs any explanation, so I have left it as it is for you to draw your own thoughts.
Poetry Section: This has one poetry about how at the fag end of life, one comes to meditate upon things done and not done. The image is of an old lady captured in one of the temple towns in Orissa, known as Puri. The house of Jaggannath - Lord of all the worlds, Krishna.
Story Section: Finally the starting paragraph of chapter two of a story in the making - "Yogi Baba" being written by a friend.
Happy reading, enjoy life, life is beautiful.
Om Namah Shivaya
Book: From Mind to Super Mind, A Commentary on Bhagawat Gita
The thoughts from "From Mind To Super Mind".
Its a commentary on Bhagawad Gita, Hindu Spiritualities most powerful book where Lord Krishna gave Arjuna a discourse on life, karma and duty on the battle field of Kurukshetra at the beginning of the Dharma Yuddha, the epic Battle of Maha Bharata. I chose this book by Author Rohit Mehta specially because it’s more focused on the discussion on mind and its various ways and processes. And I have consciously selected passages from the book with those specific thoughts about mind and its control, spirituality and thoughts about consciousness rather than focusing on the religious thoughts of Bhagawad Gita. This book was written in 1966 by Mr. Rohit Mehta from Varanasi.
Introduction
.JPG)
The great scriptures are beyond the limitations of time and space: They are eternal and Universal. The Bhagawad Gita belongs to this category of scriptures and, as such it is not a book merely for the Hindus; its message has a universal application. It is as fresh as it was when given to Arjuna many centuries ago. In fact modern humanity is in need of the message of Bhagawad Gita if he is to find freedom from the tensions and anxieties brought into his life by the scientific and technological developments of today.The uniqueness of the teachings of Bhagawad Gita lies in the fact that it asks man to seek his spiritual objectives in the daily vocations of life…..
By Author - Rohit Mehta – 15th January, 1966 Varanasi India
Below are some selected thoughts on changing from mind to super mind....
There is continual warfare going on within the psyche of man. The battle of Kurukshetra (The epic battle of Maha Bharat fought between Kauravas and Pandavas – Cousins in blood, was fought at this geographical locations in India) was fought not merely five thousands years ago – its being fought every day and every hour within the psychological domain of man
Most of us are like the blind King Dhritrashtra, (Father of Kauravas, whose sons did not allow Pandavas an inch of land as their right from the kingdom of Mahabharata) unable to see what is happening in the battle of life because our close identification with the daily events.
The human mind is always cleaver and logical when dealing with abstractions and generalities – but when it is faced with a concrete reality it tends to develop cold feet.
Arjuna after telling his inability to fight his own cousins and kith and kins, lays down his arms at the feet of Krishna… - Is this not what most of us do in the battle of life? The mind of man forever evades the real issue, it seeks escape after escape from the actualities of life. ….
And Krishna tells Arjuna in very unmistakable terms, the out come of the problem of life which Arjuna faces.. Krishna Says “Time Am I. world Destroying, grown mature, engaged here in subduing the world. Even without thee (Arjuna), all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to be.”
Before Arjuna can act rightly, he must come to the stillness of mind for this indeed is the pure source, uncorrupt and uncontaminated, the root base of action that is right.
Krishna Says “When thy mind shall escape from this tangle of delusion, then thou shall rise to the indifference as to what has been heard and should be heard. When thy mind, bewildered by Shruti (What you have heard in scriptures, religious discourse etc which Arjuna was putting across to Lord Krishna as his reason for not fighting), shall stand unmoved, fixed in contemplation, then thou shall attain into Yoga.
Its easy to discard the objects of sense delight. Its also possible to make oneself utterly insensitive to sense-impacts. But man’s psychological problem resides neither in the objects nor in the senses – it abides in the mind. … While sense objects may be cast away – the mind that dwells on them remains.
The objects of sense turn away from the embodied soul who abstains fom feeding on the, but the taste for them remains. Even the taste turns away when the supreme is seen.
He attainth peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the ocean, which though ever being filled remainth unmoved – not he who desireth desires.
Gita makes a distinction between action and activity. It says; Man winneth not freedom from action by abstaining from activity.
Krishna tells Arjuna that by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the supreme.
The never ceasing activity of mind consitiutes the inner compulsion of man. Just as fire is covered by smoke and a mirror by dust, so it the right understanding of man covered and evefeloped by this ceaselss activity of the mind, moving between the points attachment and repulsion. Mind’s movement is caused by the desire to become something. Its is this becoming which strays the man away from the path of right action.
Sages say that the sense are great; greater than the sense is the mind; greater than the mind is intelligence, but greater than the intelligence is He (The supreme)
For the man who is temperate in food and recreation, who is restrained in his actions, whose sleep and wakings are regulated, there ensures for him Yoga which destroys all sorrow.
Krishna tells Arjuna “Wihtout a doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to curb and restless; but it may be curbed by constant practice and by dispassion. O kaunteya”
The most effective way to control the mind is to pbserve the mind in its process of action or relationship. The control of mind is not by resistance nor by indulgence but by observation. To be a witness to the perations of one’s own mind – this is the unique method which the Gita suggests for dealing with the restlessness of mind.
True security comes to man only when he gives up all thought of security. Man’s insecurity arises out of a two fold consideration. He feels insecure because of the fear that what he has may be taken away from him. But he also feels insecure because he may not get what he desires to have.
I, O Arjuna, am the self seated in the hearts of all creature. I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of beings.
In the vocabulary of mind there is no word like co-existence. The mind knows only sequence – it can not visualize a condition where two things can occupy the same space at the same time. Between two things there must be an interval either of space or of time – So says the human mind.
Krishna says, “He from whom the world does not shrink and who does not shrink from the world – who is free from elation and danger, from fear and agitation, he is dear to me. He who has no expectation, is pure, efficient, unconcerned and untroubled, renouncing every undertaking, he my devotee, is dear to me.
Devotion is not sentimentality; its sensitiveness. Devotion is not an addiction to a code; it’s a free movement having no centers of attachment whatsoever.
.....To be continued next week
Its a commentary on Bhagawad Gita, Hindu Spiritualities most powerful book where Lord Krishna gave Arjuna a discourse on life, karma and duty on the battle field of Kurukshetra at the beginning of the Dharma Yuddha, the epic Battle of Maha Bharata. I chose this book by Author Rohit Mehta specially because it’s more focused on the discussion on mind and its various ways and processes. And I have consciously selected passages from the book with those specific thoughts about mind and its control, spirituality and thoughts about consciousness rather than focusing on the religious thoughts of Bhagawad Gita. This book was written in 1966 by Mr. Rohit Mehta from Varanasi.
Introduction
.JPG)
The great scriptures are beyond the limitations of time and space: They are eternal and Universal. The Bhagawad Gita belongs to this category of scriptures and, as such it is not a book merely for the Hindus; its message has a universal application. It is as fresh as it was when given to Arjuna many centuries ago. In fact modern humanity is in need of the message of Bhagawad Gita if he is to find freedom from the tensions and anxieties brought into his life by the scientific and technological developments of today.By Author - Rohit Mehta – 15th January, 1966 Varanasi India
Below are some selected thoughts on changing from mind to super mind....
There is continual warfare going on within the psyche of man. The battle of Kurukshetra (The epic battle of Maha Bharat fought between Kauravas and Pandavas – Cousins in blood, was fought at this geographical locations in India) was fought not merely five thousands years ago – its being fought every day and every hour within the psychological domain of man
Most of us are like the blind King Dhritrashtra, (Father of Kauravas, whose sons did not allow Pandavas an inch of land as their right from the kingdom of Mahabharata) unable to see what is happening in the battle of life because our close identification with the daily events.
The human mind is always cleaver and logical when dealing with abstractions and generalities – but when it is faced with a concrete reality it tends to develop cold feet.
Arjuna after telling his inability to fight his own cousins and kith and kins, lays down his arms at the feet of Krishna… - Is this not what most of us do in the battle of life? The mind of man forever evades the real issue, it seeks escape after escape from the actualities of life. ….
And Krishna tells Arjuna in very unmistakable terms, the out come of the problem of life which Arjuna faces.. Krishna Says “Time Am I. world Destroying, grown mature, engaged here in subduing the world. Even without thee (Arjuna), all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to be.”
Before Arjuna can act rightly, he must come to the stillness of mind for this indeed is the pure source, uncorrupt and uncontaminated, the root base of action that is right.
Krishna Says “When thy mind shall escape from this tangle of delusion, then thou shall rise to the indifference as to what has been heard and should be heard. When thy mind, bewildered by Shruti (What you have heard in scriptures, religious discourse etc which Arjuna was putting across to Lord Krishna as his reason for not fighting), shall stand unmoved, fixed in contemplation, then thou shall attain into Yoga.
Its easy to discard the objects of sense delight. Its also possible to make oneself utterly insensitive to sense-impacts. But man’s psychological problem resides neither in the objects nor in the senses – it abides in the mind. … While sense objects may be cast away – the mind that dwells on them remains.
The objects of sense turn away from the embodied soul who abstains fom feeding on the, but the taste for them remains. Even the taste turns away when the supreme is seen.
He attainth peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the ocean, which though ever being filled remainth unmoved – not he who desireth desires.
Gita makes a distinction between action and activity. It says; Man winneth not freedom from action by abstaining from activity.
Krishna tells Arjuna that by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the supreme.
The never ceasing activity of mind consitiutes the inner compulsion of man. Just as fire is covered by smoke and a mirror by dust, so it the right understanding of man covered and evefeloped by this ceaselss activity of the mind, moving between the points attachment and repulsion. Mind’s movement is caused by the desire to become something. Its is this becoming which strays the man away from the path of right action.
Sages say that the sense are great; greater than the sense is the mind; greater than the mind is intelligence, but greater than the intelligence is He (The supreme)
For the man who is temperate in food and recreation, who is restrained in his actions, whose sleep and wakings are regulated, there ensures for him Yoga which destroys all sorrow.
Krishna tells Arjuna “Wihtout a doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to curb and restless; but it may be curbed by constant practice and by dispassion. O kaunteya”
The most effective way to control the mind is to pbserve the mind in its process of action or relationship. The control of mind is not by resistance nor by indulgence but by observation. To be a witness to the perations of one’s own mind – this is the unique method which the Gita suggests for dealing with the restlessness of mind.
True security comes to man only when he gives up all thought of security. Man’s insecurity arises out of a two fold consideration. He feels insecure because of the fear that what he has may be taken away from him. But he also feels insecure because he may not get what he desires to have.
I, O Arjuna, am the self seated in the hearts of all creature. I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of beings.
In the vocabulary of mind there is no word like co-existence. The mind knows only sequence – it can not visualize a condition where two things can occupy the same space at the same time. Between two things there must be an interval either of space or of time – So says the human mind.
Krishna says, “He from whom the world does not shrink and who does not shrink from the world – who is free from elation and danger, from fear and agitation, he is dear to me. He who has no expectation, is pure, efficient, unconcerned and untroubled, renouncing every undertaking, he my devotee, is dear to me.
Devotion is not sentimentality; its sensitiveness. Devotion is not an addiction to a code; it’s a free movement having no centers of attachment whatsoever.
.....To be continued next week
Poetry - Stuck in the cycle of life
Anchored in Karma,
Chained to the past
Life tries to break free
From darkness that is lost
Among memories that were forgotten
Among things that were not done
Among friends that were not made
Among roads that were not ...taken
Among choices that were made
And choices that were not.
______________
Chapter Two - Yogi Baba
- To be continued Next Week
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