Sunsets always have an otherworldly quality. They always seem to be announcing a gateway to a different world, a different life- or even the after life!
Nature has so much to offer that we cannot begin to assimilate it all in one life time. We, as a race, however, have plundered her and bared her over several lifetimes for millenia.
We are singular in being ABLE to alter what we see and turn it into what we want... and sometimes even into what we did not anticipate or want.
We have raised forests into flatlands to give land for agriculture and Athen nature has reared her head in anger and washed these away Ain floods! Where are the forests?
We have built dams over rivers and seen Nature tell us saving one part of land will drown another in the reservoir that we have created.
We live under a delusion that we are powerful. We assume that global warming, the climate changes, the freak weather changes, the melting ice belts and the receding snow lines are somehow a result of human activity.
Through the ages, earth has gone through periods of warmth and cold. She has seen extinction of old races and species as well seen emergence of new ones. Why do we assume that Earth is not going through one of her Natural cycles and is facing all of these changes because of us?
Are we stronger than Mother Earth?
Sunset Across Danube, Belgrade
Shimla
A concrete jungle that is threatening to overtake the hills and the natural jungle...
The wild life that once adorned the hills has now been taken over by the tame variety...
What is spirituality?
Is spirituality an Ivory Tower discussion with no basis in real everyday life and living? Is spirituality something that teaches others how to live? Or is it something that makes each of us live our lives more truthfully, more sincerely and more attentively than we would otherwise. Is spirituality for others or for ourselves?
I heard this story from one of our friend's mother-in-law. It was very instructive! There were no names. No great people being quoted. I cannot be certain of the source of the story either.
See what you make of it. So... here goes.
Once upon a time, long, long ago there lived a very learned sage. He was well read and well versed. As his knowledge grew, so did his ego. Strange as it seemed, the sage grew increasingly proud of his knowledge and erudition.
One morning, he set out to beg for his meals. Upon reaching a household, he spake, resoundingly," Mai... bhiksham dehi! Oh Mother, give me alms, please!"
The lady was drying out the laundary. She left the clothes in the bucket and prayed," Please give me a minute, O Sage! I shall just be back." The sage waited. And waited. And waited. Then, he began to get irritated. "How can this woman leave me waiting? " He pumped up his own anger. "How dare she!?" His anger began to rise like the mercury in a thermometer on a hot summer day!
By the time the lady came out with the alms, he was livid. "O woman! Do you know who I am!? Let me show you." He looked at the bird sitting on a tree facing the house. The bird fell lifeless to the ground instantly.
The woman was saddened. And somewhat taken aback.
The sage thundered,"Woman, do you realise who I am? How powerful is my spiritual reach! How dare you make me wait! I can kill with one look!"
The lady replied very calmly, " Yes indeed! I can see who you are and what you can do. I went in to get you food. My toddler was crying. I do not know what is your spirituality, sir. But my love did not permit me to leave a toddler crying while you were waiting. I apologise." She quietly walked up to the fallen bird and tenderly picked it up. A tiny sound escaped the bird's frail frame. The sage was surprised.
And ashamed.
The little bird flapped its wings tentatively. The lady outstretched her hands and the tiny thing flew away!
Anger can kill. Spirituality does not.
Spirituality is much deeper and much more tolerant than the sage experienced despite his erudition!
Spirituality is in devotion, in sincerity, in love, in being in the moment- whatever you may be doing. This could be cooking for your family or studying for your theosophy degree. Or meditating for the Lord.
I heard this story from one of our friend's mother-in-law. It was very instructive! There were no names. No great people being quoted. I cannot be certain of the source of the story either.
See what you make of it. So... here goes.
Once upon a time, long, long ago there lived a very learned sage. He was well read and well versed. As his knowledge grew, so did his ego. Strange as it seemed, the sage grew increasingly proud of his knowledge and erudition.
One morning, he set out to beg for his meals. Upon reaching a household, he spake, resoundingly," Mai... bhiksham dehi! Oh Mother, give me alms, please!"
The lady was drying out the laundary. She left the clothes in the bucket and prayed," Please give me a minute, O Sage! I shall just be back." The sage waited. And waited. And waited. Then, he began to get irritated. "How can this woman leave me waiting? " He pumped up his own anger. "How dare she!?" His anger began to rise like the mercury in a thermometer on a hot summer day!
By the time the lady came out with the alms, he was livid. "O woman! Do you know who I am!? Let me show you." He looked at the bird sitting on a tree facing the house. The bird fell lifeless to the ground instantly.
The woman was saddened. And somewhat taken aback.
The sage thundered,"Woman, do you realise who I am? How powerful is my spiritual reach! How dare you make me wait! I can kill with one look!"
The lady replied very calmly, " Yes indeed! I can see who you are and what you can do. I went in to get you food. My toddler was crying. I do not know what is your spirituality, sir. But my love did not permit me to leave a toddler crying while you were waiting. I apologise." She quietly walked up to the fallen bird and tenderly picked it up. A tiny sound escaped the bird's frail frame. The sage was surprised.
And ashamed.
The little bird flapped its wings tentatively. The lady outstretched her hands and the tiny thing flew away!
Anger can kill. Spirituality does not.
Spirituality is much deeper and much more tolerant than the sage experienced despite his erudition!
Spirituality is in devotion, in sincerity, in love, in being in the moment- whatever you may be doing. This could be cooking for your family or studying for your theosophy degree. Or meditating for the Lord.
Story of the umbilicus aka Umbi
Who has paid much attention to this eternal friend of the humans? Umbi, we lovingly call him in our family, reflects our internal life stages quite faithfully.
Consider how he looks when a baby is just born. The little one is full of wonder at the world that greets it. It cries and laughs and eats and gets to explore everything around. Umbi is quite like eyes popping out of their socket at this time. Full of energy. Wanting to see and take in all the eyes can...
The child begins to grow and the sense of wonder imperceptibly becomes an acceptance of the world. It just is. Umbi begins to recede. He still peeps from within its socket. It is open but well encased. Now Umbi is alert but not necessarily gaping in fascination.
Then... further growth and further receession. Now the adolescent and preteen is more full of what they are and what they want to be or do rather than be interested in the world.Now Umbi is just about visible. Not really caring about anything and least bit interested in anything except itself. If you still look for him, you will find him there but he is not looking.
Adulthood sets in. Life takes over. Belly fat tries and often defeats belly button. Umbi is now safely burried but his socket still is toned and youthful. The smile begins to straighten and the crease begins to get defined... Life is no longer fun or funny. Care begins to take over.
Soon, the socket is completely taken over. Umbi has now to be carefully searched for. If you pull apart the two lips of the nonsmiling crease, behaving like a door that has a rather good closer, you will be able to find Umbi.
And then... Umbi begins to lose the battle of the Bulge. The crease becomes an inverted 'C', sad, sad Umbi. Care and daily grind make sure Umbi feels similarly.
Sometimes, in ill-health, Umbi peeps out or pops out to protest. Lo! You have an Umbilical Hernia. It seeks attention. It needs attention. Catch me now... or else...
If we are still mindless of the plight we ( and Umbi) are facing... We land up under the surgeon's knife on the surgeon's table!!!
Whoops!
WOW!!
Whoa!!!
Love you, Umbi!
Consider how he looks when a baby is just born. The little one is full of wonder at the world that greets it. It cries and laughs and eats and gets to explore everything around. Umbi is quite like eyes popping out of their socket at this time. Full of energy. Wanting to see and take in all the eyes can...
The child begins to grow and the sense of wonder imperceptibly becomes an acceptance of the world. It just is. Umbi begins to recede. He still peeps from within its socket. It is open but well encased. Now Umbi is alert but not necessarily gaping in fascination.
Then... further growth and further receession. Now the adolescent and preteen is more full of what they are and what they want to be or do rather than be interested in the world.Now Umbi is just about visible. Not really caring about anything and least bit interested in anything except itself. If you still look for him, you will find him there but he is not looking.
Adulthood sets in. Life takes over. Belly fat tries and often defeats belly button. Umbi is now safely burried but his socket still is toned and youthful. The smile begins to straighten and the crease begins to get defined... Life is no longer fun or funny. Care begins to take over.
Soon, the socket is completely taken over. Umbi has now to be carefully searched for. If you pull apart the two lips of the nonsmiling crease, behaving like a door that has a rather good closer, you will be able to find Umbi.
And then... Umbi begins to lose the battle of the Bulge. The crease becomes an inverted 'C', sad, sad Umbi. Care and daily grind make sure Umbi feels similarly.
Sometimes, in ill-health, Umbi peeps out or pops out to protest. Lo! You have an Umbilical Hernia. It seeks attention. It needs attention. Catch me now... or else...
If we are still mindless of the plight we ( and Umbi) are facing... We land up under the surgeon's knife on the surgeon's table!!!
Whoops!
WOW!!
Whoa!!!
Love you, Umbi!
What is religion?
Religion is any given system of belief in and worship of a God. Who is God? He... or She has been variously described as the all-knowing, the omnipresent, the superconsciousness, the Paramaatman etc.
Most religions accept that God created the universe and us. Most religions, however, 'worship' different Gods. They attribute the same powers to their Gods. They describe the same entity and define this entity into various identities.
The concept of religion, historically speaking, would have been to make a cohesive group that followed common rules and provided safety in numbers. Gradually, rituals and celebrations came into the picture as events that gave people a reason to congregate on these occassions.
So far... so good.
Man grew. He matured- if one could call it maturity. He was evolving. He graduated from the perilous living of being a hunter constantly under threat from his food to a gatherer who discovered safety of collecting his food from the trees that could not attack him. With this came more time at hand and more thinking. Then man moved further down the road learning to grow and cultivate, making life even safer and freeing up even more time to contemplate.
Religion began as a means to provide some rationality in an unfavourable world. It not only laid down the rules that the community had to follow, it also prescribed the punishment God would wreck on those who broke the Law. The safety thus established freed up even more time for culture and conmtemplation.
Till now, man was satisfied with his environment; he fed it with his toil and sweat, and was amply fed by the product of his effort. Somewhere down the road, he became dissatisfied with tilling his own soil. He found his neighbour's or his neighbour's neighbour's soil more attractive. Territorial wars began. He who won, also imposed his own religion and culture on the one who lost.
The concept of "My God, Your God" became a reality. The God was still the same- now came the war of ideas and ideals.
In all of his own history, man forgot the basic premise that had prompted him to create religion. Safety. Contemplation. Maturity, self realisation.
Those who choose to fight wars for their Gods- Is your God so weak that He needs you to defend Him? This might have been the revelation to a certain evolved soul in a taxi ride- but it is the harsh truth. If God is so powerful that he requires nothing, He also does not require to be defended.
Today, religion has become the flashpoint of Human existence. It has become the reason people are unsafe.
Why?
Most religions accept that God created the universe and us. Most religions, however, 'worship' different Gods. They attribute the same powers to their Gods. They describe the same entity and define this entity into various identities.
The concept of religion, historically speaking, would have been to make a cohesive group that followed common rules and provided safety in numbers. Gradually, rituals and celebrations came into the picture as events that gave people a reason to congregate on these occassions.
So far... so good.
Man grew. He matured- if one could call it maturity. He was evolving. He graduated from the perilous living of being a hunter constantly under threat from his food to a gatherer who discovered safety of collecting his food from the trees that could not attack him. With this came more time at hand and more thinking. Then man moved further down the road learning to grow and cultivate, making life even safer and freeing up even more time to contemplate.
Religion began as a means to provide some rationality in an unfavourable world. It not only laid down the rules that the community had to follow, it also prescribed the punishment God would wreck on those who broke the Law. The safety thus established freed up even more time for culture and conmtemplation.
Till now, man was satisfied with his environment; he fed it with his toil and sweat, and was amply fed by the product of his effort. Somewhere down the road, he became dissatisfied with tilling his own soil. He found his neighbour's or his neighbour's neighbour's soil more attractive. Territorial wars began. He who won, also imposed his own religion and culture on the one who lost.
The concept of "My God, Your God" became a reality. The God was still the same- now came the war of ideas and ideals.
In all of his own history, man forgot the basic premise that had prompted him to create religion. Safety. Contemplation. Maturity, self realisation.
Those who choose to fight wars for their Gods- Is your God so weak that He needs you to defend Him? This might have been the revelation to a certain evolved soul in a taxi ride- but it is the harsh truth. If God is so powerful that he requires nothing, He also does not require to be defended.
Today, religion has become the flashpoint of Human existence. It has become the reason people are unsafe.
Why?
Love touches us in several ways
Love creates its own path, has its own life and pulsates with its own life blood. Love does not warn before it invades your body, mind and soul. It does not respect any boundaries and barriers that may be erected to keep it out.
Love simply happens!
Love is not in reading treatises and texts on the subject. Love is in the look that conveys a life-time of togetherness. It is in the touch that electrifies even when innocent and accidental. It is what makes people do great things- reach beyond their percieved limits. Love is what makes a person give freely and recieve greedily. Love feels...... ummmmm....
Love is what makes a man and a woman want to grow old together. Love is what a mother feels when her son wears the graduation day headgear. Love is what makes a bride's father cry and smile simultaneously. Love is what makes a small child bring crumpled flowers in a tiny hand lest they fall and with a tight hug say," I love you, Mom!" Love is what makes a daughter hug you at night and whisper in your ear how much she would want to hold you when she sleeps. Love is also in the teddy bear that she finally holds close.
Love is in the eyes of the teacher who sees his student achieve heights; as also in the heart of the student who comes back to the guru each time he climbs another rung in life.
Love touches us in several ways...
Love is also in the loneliness one feels in the absence of the beloved. It is also in the sadness one feels in the loss of a beloved. Love is in staying together AND in fearing separation.
Love is not an easy feeling to feel or to sustain. It requires a lot of work, devotion and dedication. It requires not just living with but also not being able to live without.
Love is what brings a tear to your eye when you see your little one take the first gold medal. It is what makes your eyes sparkle when you recieve your beloved backe from a trip. It is what makes the world a breathing, pulsating, beautiful place to be in.
Love makes life worthwhile.
He drew a circle to keep me outEdwin Markham
heretic rebel, a thing to flout
but love and I had the wit to win-
We drew a circle that took him in!
Love simply happens!
Love is not in reading treatises and texts on the subject. Love is in the look that conveys a life-time of togetherness. It is in the touch that electrifies even when innocent and accidental. It is what makes people do great things- reach beyond their percieved limits. Love is what makes a person give freely and recieve greedily. Love feels...... ummmmm....
Love is what makes a man and a woman want to grow old together. Love is what a mother feels when her son wears the graduation day headgear. Love is what makes a bride's father cry and smile simultaneously. Love is what makes a small child bring crumpled flowers in a tiny hand lest they fall and with a tight hug say," I love you, Mom!" Love is what makes a daughter hug you at night and whisper in your ear how much she would want to hold you when she sleeps. Love is also in the teddy bear that she finally holds close.
Love is in the eyes of the teacher who sees his student achieve heights; as also in the heart of the student who comes back to the guru each time he climbs another rung in life.
Love touches us in several ways...
Love is also in the loneliness one feels in the absence of the beloved. It is also in the sadness one feels in the loss of a beloved. Love is in staying together AND in fearing separation.
Love is not an easy feeling to feel or to sustain. It requires a lot of work, devotion and dedication. It requires not just living with but also not being able to live without.
Love is what brings a tear to your eye when you see your little one take the first gold medal. It is what makes your eyes sparkle when you recieve your beloved backe from a trip. It is what makes the world a breathing, pulsating, beautiful place to be in.
Love makes life worthwhile.
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