Showing posts with label consciousness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consciousness. Show all posts
05 April 2010
Just a day at the beach...
Marvelled at Nature's greatness seen in blades of grass growing on a rock - how did it root; how does it get nourished?
Was hypnotised by the infinite colours displayed in the "brown" rock, accentuated by the sheen of water spray... then by the forms sculpted by the same water, so fluid yet so forceful.
Picked some crystals off the rock... they grow the same as the grass?
And enjoyed a much-needed dip in the sea, played with sand, looked down crab holes, saw the sun turn into a red ball and disappear into the distant mist.
Life is most beautiful in its simplicity.
Made friends with the bus-driver, had dinner with strangers-cum-friends in a "real restaurant in town," then sat on the roof of our house talking about life and living and alternative realities.
A soul having a human experience.
May I remember more often to take the time to notice even just a few of Life's millions of miracles that are happening at every moment....
04.04.10
Adikadalai Beach,
d/o Kannur
Malabar, Kerala
South India
13 March 2010
We will never walk alone...
"Happy happy joy joy" I wrote some days back in my facebook status. Within minutes it was tagged with many "likes" and even a few happy comments. People love to share happiness. But are they equally quick to share difficult times?
Several years ago, while backpacking through India, I was sitting in the clothes shop belonging to an Indian friend of mine. The small town of Gokarna was frequented by tourists so when a young French woman walked into the shop, I paused the conversation with my friend to allow him to do his business.
The girl looked a little withdrawn, and when she saw me there she hesitated. Latif attempted to introduce us... apparently she had been in there before. I smiled but did not attempt to make conversation.
She left quickly, with Latif telling her to pass by again for a cup of tea later.
Then he turned to me and looking me in the eyes, questioningly, he said, "You people are strange!"
What was this about now?
He continued, "If Maya walk in shop with smiling you sure to be smiling also, and want friendship. But she sad and you only polite and not care for that."
I was startled by his straight-out observation. He was right, of course, although I'd never have thought about this instinctive reaction of mine.
He added, "In Indian culture if sister looking sad we are asking what help can give. Why you not ask her if she need help?"
I reacted, "Well, I don't know her... she might feel like I was invading her space if I asked her troubles. Normally in our culture we do not like to talk about our problems with others unless they are very close to us."
That was not quite a satisfactory reason, as far as he was concerned. "Nobody want to talk about problem because nobody want to listen. I know you people, I see you every day for many years."
I knew Latif was not judging me. Rather he was making me aware of our cultural norms which were rather inhuman in his eyes!
Later in the day I was sitting in a restaurant for some lunch. Maya walked in. She looked as withdrawn as she appeared earlier. I waved to her and invited her to sit with me. She came. I began light conversation, now more conscious of her need for affection though unaware of the reason why. I soon learned.
She loosened up very quickly and poured out her life story - about being raised by an unloving aunt when her mother left her, and living with the constant bullying by her female cousins... so many difficulties she has had to face in her short life. She was only 19, and fleeing to India was to her the last hope she had to escape from her world and find something different. But she discovered that she was carrying the weight of that world with her. It did not make a difference where she was because of how she was feeling inside.
I was surprised at this outpour of such intimate details of her life. I remembered Latif's words, "Nobody want to talk about problem because nobody want to listen." What an important lesson life was presenting me today!
I decided I wanted to give Maya my friendship, regardless of what she was able to give me. Day after day we met and spent time together. In this relationship I was consciously taking the role of the giver, but in reality, by this experience I received more than I could have imagined.
A couple of days before we were due to part ways and proceed on our journeys, Maya and I were walking on the beach under the light of the moon. We were playing about and giggling as we made our way back to our beach huts, which were not far from each other. Suddenly, she just turned around to face me and, becoming very serious, she said, "All the women in my life have given me nothing but suffering, but you have changed that for me!" Her eyes penetrated me deeply.
As I looked back into her eyes, I could have sworn that I could see her face changing forms. Perhaps it was the shadows from the moonlight, or perhaps it was too much oxygen in my brain from all the giggling, or perhaps it was her energy changing so suddenly that it was strangely visible - or maybe all those things put together or maybe it was something else. I don't know.
But what came to my mind was how, according to Hindu mythology, the name Maya refers to the illusory material energy, which is considered to be feminine, and how this aspect of divinity is said to manifest itself in so many different forms... and I remembered the Indian "Paramatma" philosophy whereby it is told that divinity pervades everything. The Divine was manifest within Maya yet I had not realised that until now.
“I owed it to you,” I said. “Thank you for what you have changed in me.”
The illusion is that we are separated from each other and thus we all live on our own individual mental planets. The unifying factor is love.
If only we could see how we were all connected on the absolute divine plane, it would be so much easier for love to flow naturally regardless of whether the divine Self was being expressed as a tree, a fish, a bird, an animal or another human being. That was what came to my mind.
It is that same feeling of separatedness, caused by the false identification of the ego, that makes us feel alone in our miseries. Admitting our short-comings or our fears feels like admitting defeat in a world where all are taught to strive for the control, power, wealth and fame that belong only to the Absolute.
However, as a friend pointed out, dwelling on our problems and in our expression of them may also be egotistic. Indeed, but perhaps this is born of a feeling of fumbling alone, which nourishes a desperate and forceful need to reach out: Is there anybody out there?
The curtain will some day be lifted and we will never walk alone....
Several years ago, while backpacking through India, I was sitting in the clothes shop belonging to an Indian friend of mine. The small town of Gokarna was frequented by tourists so when a young French woman walked into the shop, I paused the conversation with my friend to allow him to do his business.
The girl looked a little withdrawn, and when she saw me there she hesitated. Latif attempted to introduce us... apparently she had been in there before. I smiled but did not attempt to make conversation.
She left quickly, with Latif telling her to pass by again for a cup of tea later.
Then he turned to me and looking me in the eyes, questioningly, he said, "You people are strange!"
What was this about now?
He continued, "If Maya walk in shop with smiling you sure to be smiling also, and want friendship. But she sad and you only polite and not care for that."
I was startled by his straight-out observation. He was right, of course, although I'd never have thought about this instinctive reaction of mine.
He added, "In Indian culture if sister looking sad we are asking what help can give. Why you not ask her if she need help?"
I reacted, "Well, I don't know her... she might feel like I was invading her space if I asked her troubles. Normally in our culture we do not like to talk about our problems with others unless they are very close to us."
That was not quite a satisfactory reason, as far as he was concerned. "Nobody want to talk about problem because nobody want to listen. I know you people, I see you every day for many years."
I knew Latif was not judging me. Rather he was making me aware of our cultural norms which were rather inhuman in his eyes!
Later in the day I was sitting in a restaurant for some lunch. Maya walked in. She looked as withdrawn as she appeared earlier. I waved to her and invited her to sit with me. She came. I began light conversation, now more conscious of her need for affection though unaware of the reason why. I soon learned.
She loosened up very quickly and poured out her life story - about being raised by an unloving aunt when her mother left her, and living with the constant bullying by her female cousins... so many difficulties she has had to face in her short life. She was only 19, and fleeing to India was to her the last hope she had to escape from her world and find something different. But she discovered that she was carrying the weight of that world with her. It did not make a difference where she was because of how she was feeling inside.
I was surprised at this outpour of such intimate details of her life. I remembered Latif's words, "Nobody want to talk about problem because nobody want to listen." What an important lesson life was presenting me today!
I decided I wanted to give Maya my friendship, regardless of what she was able to give me. Day after day we met and spent time together. In this relationship I was consciously taking the role of the giver, but in reality, by this experience I received more than I could have imagined.
A couple of days before we were due to part ways and proceed on our journeys, Maya and I were walking on the beach under the light of the moon. We were playing about and giggling as we made our way back to our beach huts, which were not far from each other. Suddenly, she just turned around to face me and, becoming very serious, she said, "All the women in my life have given me nothing but suffering, but you have changed that for me!" Her eyes penetrated me deeply.
As I looked back into her eyes, I could have sworn that I could see her face changing forms. Perhaps it was the shadows from the moonlight, or perhaps it was too much oxygen in my brain from all the giggling, or perhaps it was her energy changing so suddenly that it was strangely visible - or maybe all those things put together or maybe it was something else. I don't know.
But what came to my mind was how, according to Hindu mythology, the name Maya refers to the illusory material energy, which is considered to be feminine, and how this aspect of divinity is said to manifest itself in so many different forms... and I remembered the Indian "Paramatma" philosophy whereby it is told that divinity pervades everything. The Divine was manifest within Maya yet I had not realised that until now.
“I owed it to you,” I said. “Thank you for what you have changed in me.”
The illusion is that we are separated from each other and thus we all live on our own individual mental planets. The unifying factor is love.
If only we could see how we were all connected on the absolute divine plane, it would be so much easier for love to flow naturally regardless of whether the divine Self was being expressed as a tree, a fish, a bird, an animal or another human being. That was what came to my mind.
It is that same feeling of separatedness, caused by the false identification of the ego, that makes us feel alone in our miseries. Admitting our short-comings or our fears feels like admitting defeat in a world where all are taught to strive for the control, power, wealth and fame that belong only to the Absolute.
However, as a friend pointed out, dwelling on our problems and in our expression of them may also be egotistic. Indeed, but perhaps this is born of a feeling of fumbling alone, which nourishes a desperate and forceful need to reach out: Is there anybody out there?
The curtain will some day be lifted and we will never walk alone....
17 January 2010
The Power of Association
Energy cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed, but it can be transferred, and transformed, right?
We continuously exchange energy with anyone, anything and everything we come into contact with, whether on a gross or subtle level. From a hug to a handshake, to catching another's eye or a passing thought, from the level of matter to the plane of consciousness, energy is moving through, pervading and influencing the balance of positive and negative.
Good association is everything.
If we associate with godly people who vibrate at higher frequencies; if by their association we are driven to perform good and selfless actions and to have pure thoughts, in an environment free from contamination, our own frequency is likely to adapt accordingly. The opposite is also true.
Live with the gods and become like a god; live with the dogs and become like a dog. But am I drawn to gods or dogs?
"Each soul projects a magnetic force according to its level of development, and we can observe this in our human interactions....
"The awakened soul, aware of its divine mission of Self-realisation, has an entirely wholesome magnetic force, while an unevolved soul may project a strong ego energy which also has its own sort of magnetism. We all gravitate towards that with which our soul has affinity. We draw to us people and circumstances that are in harmony with our soul and type of manifestation that it is seeking."
Thus it is stated by Dr David Frawley, in his book Yoga & Ayurveda - Self-Healing and Self-Realisation (Pgs 70-72), based on the Samkhya philosophy of the sage Kapila, from whence they spring. Ayurveda, the 'Science of Life' born of the timeless Indian Vedic knowledge, claims that the soul's magnetism is: a power of life - a current of energy that is generated by the magnetic force of the soul; a power of light - a power of insight, wisdom and understanding; and a power of love. Hence the soul is known as Sat-Chit-Ananda or Being-Consciousness-Bliss.
"As we evolve spiritually, the Godward magnetised soul draws to itself divine influences - deities,
teachers or experiences - to aid its inner unfoldment. Our soul's magnetism, which is its power of love, brings us into various relationships and links us with other souls who further our soul quality and help us grow.
"The power of soul magnetism is the basis of the yogic emphasis of the guru (spiritual teacher) and satsanga (communion with the wise).
"Yet sometimes the soul draws us to people or situations that test it and challenge its growth as well, just as an advanced mountain climber will seek difficult slopes to climb."
We continuously exchange energy with anyone, anything and everything we come into contact with, whether on a gross or subtle level. From a hug to a handshake, to catching another's eye or a passing thought, from the level of matter to the plane of consciousness, energy is moving through, pervading and influencing the balance of positive and negative.
Good association is everything.
If we associate with godly people who vibrate at higher frequencies; if by their association we are driven to perform good and selfless actions and to have pure thoughts, in an environment free from contamination, our own frequency is likely to adapt accordingly. The opposite is also true.
Live with the gods and become like a god; live with the dogs and become like a dog. But am I drawn to gods or dogs?
"Each soul projects a magnetic force according to its level of development, and we can observe this in our human interactions....
"The awakened soul, aware of its divine mission of Self-realisation, has an entirely wholesome magnetic force, while an unevolved soul may project a strong ego energy which also has its own sort of magnetism. We all gravitate towards that with which our soul has affinity. We draw to us people and circumstances that are in harmony with our soul and type of manifestation that it is seeking."
Thus it is stated by Dr David Frawley, in his book Yoga & Ayurveda - Self-Healing and Self-Realisation (Pgs 70-72), based on the Samkhya philosophy of the sage Kapila, from whence they spring. Ayurveda, the 'Science of Life' born of the timeless Indian Vedic knowledge, claims that the soul's magnetism is: a power of life - a current of energy that is generated by the magnetic force of the soul; a power of light - a power of insight, wisdom and understanding; and a power of love. Hence the soul is known as Sat-Chit-Ananda or Being-Consciousness-Bliss.
"As we evolve spiritually, the Godward magnetised soul draws to itself divine influences - deities,
teachers or experiences - to aid its inner unfoldment. Our soul's magnetism, which is its power of love, brings us into various relationships and links us with other souls who further our soul quality and help us grow."The power of soul magnetism is the basis of the yogic emphasis of the guru (spiritual teacher) and satsanga (communion with the wise).
"Yet sometimes the soul draws us to people or situations that test it and challenge its growth as well, just as an advanced mountain climber will seek difficult slopes to climb."
09 September 2009
Variegatedness
"Bhakta-Chitra!"
So spontaneously these words sprung from your mouth, without even knowing of their existence let alone their meaning. I was stunned.
You were just fumbling, trying to recall the name of that great book of transcendental knowledge that was recorded in the written word more than 5000 years ago in India, the Bhagavad Gita. During our frequent long discussions on religious philosophy, searching for the possible Golden Thread that might unite such different creeds as Achintya Bheda-Abheda Tattva - a school of Vedanta presenting the philosophy of the inconceivable oneness and difference of God and Creation - and Islam, I had mentioned this book and the wisdom it contains on several occasions.
Yet now you said something else, my Algerian friend, words you didn't know but that I recognised as Sanskrit, although their meaning I wasn't really sure of.
Curious about this seemingly transcendental message, I went about investigating their significance the first opportunity I had. This is what I found:
भक्त bhakta adj. devote
भक्त bhakta adj. faithful
भक्त bhakta adj. devoted
भक्त bhakta m. devotee
चित्र citra adj. strange
चित्र citra adj. wonderful
चित्र citra adj. diversified
चित्र citra adj. various
चित्र citra adj. manifold
चित्र citra adj. in different ways
चित्र citra adj. bright
चित्र citra adj. bright colored
चित्र citra adj. variegated
चित्र citra n. vestige
चित्र citra n. picture
The message that was coming through with those two little words was mind-blowing.
Various types of devotees, variegated faiths, a manifold of different ways of being devoted to the Lord... all creating a strange yet wonderful brightly-coloured picture.
And we could say that the whole picture, or absolute vision, is that there is variety to enable different kinds of people with different kinds of consciousness to have different kinds of relationship with the One Supreme Absolute.
And we could say that the whole picture, or absolute vision, is that there is variety to enable different kinds of people with different kinds of consciousness to have different kinds of relationship with the One Supreme Absolute.
In Subjective Evolution of Consciousness, Swami BR Sridhar explains it as such:
"Revealed Truth is distributed in installments according to the capacity of the peaple of the time, place and circumstance. The revealed truth is found in varying degrees in the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, and the other scriptures of the world. Through this process, the truth is partially revealed in different places of the world in proportion to the thinking and capacity of each particular group of people. The revealed truth is reliable, but still it is modified to fit the persons to whom it is extended. For that reason we find differences in the different versions of the revealed truth. It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam that medicine may be hidden within candy to treat children. In the same way, the revealed truth may be hidden within the mundane concessions of ordinary religion to help the ignorant class of men."
Nobody is left out, such Love!
Then what by Bhakta Chitra? – The reminder that there is, ultimately, a non-sectarian conception of God, Love and Devotion... and it came through an almost other-worldly message.
05 August 2009
Action vs Intention
My brother-in-law was telling a story from his younger days, how when an old friend had playfully pretended to hit him, his reflex led him to jerk forward, into a metal frame that cut straight into his shoulder, resulting in 40 stitches. It was meant to be a joke, but it was months before that shoulder was functioning as it should.
It was all over the news just recently. A 21-year-old drink-driver ran over a cyclist on his early morning training, killing him on the spot. It was only meant to be a regular night out having fun, perhaps a little too much too drink, now a husband and father of three is dead.
Action vs intention... what causes the rift? Mindlessness: impulsive behaviour without due consideration of consequence.
So valuable a lesson, to be mindful, always; to be conscious, ALWAYS.
I am thankful my own recent reminder was received without too much repercussion, but may I always be so lucky?
It was all over the news just recently. A 21-year-old drink-driver ran over a cyclist on his early morning training, killing him on the spot. It was only meant to be a regular night out having fun, perhaps a little too much too drink, now a husband and father of three is dead.
Action vs intention... what causes the rift? Mindlessness: impulsive behaviour without due consideration of consequence.
So valuable a lesson, to be mindful, always; to be conscious, ALWAYS.
I am thankful my own recent reminder was received without too much repercussion, but may I always be so lucky?
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