Peaceful Warrior

I saw this autobiographical movie recently and it is a great summary of what I've been blogging about. Here are some quotes from the movie:

• You can spend a whole life not waking up. People are afraid to look on the inside. This is the only place they are going to find what they need.
• Mind is a reflex organ … reacts to everything! It fills your head with millions of random thoughts a day. None of those thoughts reveal anything more about you than a freckle on the tip of your nose. Take out the trash. Learn to throw out everything you don't need in here.
• (Who cares if I am a sloppy eater?) You do.
  
• Life is about developing the wisdom to apply the right leverage in the right place at the right time.
• The trash is anything that is keeping you from the only thing that matters … this moment! Here! Now! And when you are truly in the Here and Now, you will be amazed at what you can do and how well you can do it. (Satori in the shower and the horse routine)
• You are in the past gloating. Not in the present, living.
• Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you come to your senses.
• There is never nothing going on. There are no ordinary moments.
• There is no "better." You will never be "better." Same way you will never be "less" than anybody else.
• A warrior is not about perfection, victory or invulnerability. He is about absolute vulnerability. The same as true courage.
• There is no starting or stopping. Only doing.
• Life has just three rules: a) Life is a paradox, a mystery … don't waste time in trying to figure it out, b) Humor … keep your sense of humor, especially about yourself … it is a strength beyond all measure, c) Change … Nothing stays the same … don't expect it to.
• The journey is the only thing that can bring us happiness, not the destination. (Even when you think it is because of the destination, look closely and it is your moment-by-moment experience after you reach the destination. You can have this experience all the time … as there are no ordinary moments.)
• Death is not sad. The sad thing is that most people don't live at all.

Get it on DVD or at least look at this condensed/edited-down version of it on You Tube. It is in 6 parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OchAhzYrQNw&feature=related
(part 1)

One of the best parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whd4knWdYAo&feature=related

Thanks to Nagaraj for giving me this movie.

Our Calling

It is hard to stay still and listen ... and hear our calling. This is because:

- society's desires and our own experiences reside in us as a bundle of 'rights' and 'wrongs'
- we have made these our own and this forms our reactive mind/ego
- we see nothing unusual about this whole process ... society/the media has taught us say "this is who I am" and we sustain this "i" (the small i, the reactive mind/ego)
- well then, we remain the same as long as we sustain this "i"

- thankfully, there is the "I" (our spirit) in the background (albeit over shadowed, unused, weak, silenced)
- the "I" cannot be held on to ... it is a space, a consciousness, subtle ... it cannot be brought about by will, it has to emerge; it emerges when the "i" becomes weaker

- if we teach ourselves to separate our mind in to two parts: the observer (I) and this reactive mind (i)
- and observe the reactive mind (the whole chain of the initial subtlest feeling (the sponsoring feeling) to higher level gross feelings)
- the "i" weakens and the "I" emerges

Example:

i imagine a panhandler (beggar), what is my immediate/subtlest feeling?
- we may not even be able to describe this "subtlest" of feelings, because by the time we try to frame it in words, it has lost its original form ... but that's ok, it is enough to be aware of it
- let the feelings emerge and subside; your reactive mind will get involved, watch the whole sequence
- repeat this experience after a few minutes and see that you are unconsciously sustaining this chain (you become entangled) ... and it is a chain reaction
- try to just watch, watch for the earliest/subtlest feeling you can and drop the chain earlier and earlier

When we successfully do this (over and over again), the "i" is weakened and the "I" emerges. You can sense it through a feeling of peace and energy that fills the whole body. This "I" is the route to our calling/purpose in life.

What the Bleep Do We Know?

This movie explores various aspects of reality. A key point made here is that the universe exists only as possibilities, until the observer (us) collapses it in to a particular reality. Our clutching "signature" or "pattern" is way we collapse it ... uniquely, in our own way. As we modify our signature, our reality changes.

By Unclutching, we have the freedom to choose a totally different reality.

See sidebar for You Tube clips of What the Bleep. The whole movie is available on You Tube.

Another "must watch" is The Secret. Also, found on You Tube.

Living for the Moment or Living in the Moment?

Sania Mirza is quoted in an article.

Interviewer - Young people today prefer spending to saving, don't they?

Sania - "The younger generation today lives for the moment. I see that among my friends. I'm the old woman of the gang. They have fun, live for the moment. I wish I were like them but I'm not that kind of person."

This brings out an important difference. Living for the moment and Living in the moment are two different things. In fact, they may be opposites.

Still Water

This is from a short article in today's newspaper.

"In this exhibition of photographs, 'Waterborne', Vivek Mathew reveals a discerning eye which brings to focus things which are ordinary, yet beautiful. As the title of his current show suggests, Vivek tackles the theme of water in an absorbing manner. In here, one sees still as well as smoothly flowing water in tanks and ponds, besides some interesting moments of monsoon."

"Reflections of trees, houses, railings, electric towers, and stonewalls; diagonal and circular ripples, and criss-crossing pathways in open fields are not missed. In a stark street scene, the rear wheel of a bicycle casting its shadow on a soggy road tells its own story."

"'In these pictures shot in and around Bangalore, Kolkata, Srirangapatna, and the Nilgiris, I have tried to weave interesting stories,' says Vivek. Sighting ripples, patterns, reflections and refractions, I try to turn very mundane situations in to moments of rarity."

Vivek illustrates the following points in my previous post (just minutes ago ... I was amazed to see this right after I posted that!):

When we experience at this level, each event marker and object have the potential to be priceless. We will not run after events and objects but focus on improving the experience of the events/objects that comes along and also the events that we create.

• Experiencing the space in a room, not the wall/things on the wall
• Experiencing the space in the music, not just the notes (get in to the same space as the composer)
• Looking through the window, than at the window
• Realizing that to hold a prisoner we need the bars in a prison cell, but more importantly the space between the bars (if the bars were too close together, there will be no cell)

You can only point to the space, not grab hold of it. Space is deeply personal and experiential, you can't describe it fully ... just some attributes. We may not be aware of all the dimensions of the experience ourselves, let alone describe it to others. When we find and connect to this space, the whole Universe comes alive ... we experience everything as if for the first time ... in richer and more vibrant color. (as in Vivek's photos)

This "space" is 99% of creation ... our potential ... and the events, just 1% ... our current reality. Just like the bars in a prison cell occupying 1% of the space and the space itself occupying 99%.

This then is the (invisible) secret to creativity, innovation and a joyful life.

If you see this post by Nov 29 2007, you can catch Vivek's exhibition at Industree, 16 'C' Main, 4th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. Ph: 4121.7516, 93413.12147 Also, here is a link to Vivek's website: http://www.vmimages.org/fine02.htm

Symptoms/Objects of Clutching

To clutch, there has to be a handle, an object, an event ... we spend most of our time on these handles or "objects" of our experience, not the experience itself.

Some thoughts:

We usually focus on event markers (met so-and-so today, finished this project, had lunch, took the kids to the park, etc.) and not so much on the experience of the events at a deep level (did I connect with the so-and-so, the project, the lunch, the park and the kids?)

When we focus on the event markers, we deal with reality at a superficial level. Create band-aids than solutions. Miss the core issues. This is cause of dis-ease(s), dissatisfaction, tension ... indeed all of our problems and suffering.

One of my teachers talks about "occupying the same space" ... I understand this to mean "exist in the same reality for a period of time" ... this can only happen when we suspend judgment, don't listen to the words alone, but take it all in ... the words, body language, state of mind, fear, desire, who the person is ... is it empathy?

When we experience at this level, even one event marker in a day or a week may be priceless. We will not run after "events" but focus on improving the experience of the events that comes along and also the events that we create.

This is:

• Experiencing the space in a room, not the wall/things on the wall
• Experiencing the space in the music, not just the notes (get in to the same space as the composer)
• Looking through the window, than at the window
• Realizing that to hold a prisoner we need the bars in a prison cell, but more importantly the space between the bars (if the bars were too close together, there will be no cell)

You can only point to the space, not grab hold of it. Space is deeply personal and experiential, you can't describe it fully ... just some attributes. We may not be aware of all the dimensions of the experience ourselves, let alone describe it to others. When we find and connect to this space, the whole Universe comes alive ... we experience everything as if for the first time ... in richer and more vibrant color.

The space may be 99% of the creation process ... our potential ... and the events the 1% ... our current reality. Just like the bars in a prison cell occupying 1% of the space and the space itself occupying 99%. The (invisible) Secret to creativity, innovation and a joyful life.

Unclutched!

Pleasure and Happiness

We are clutched to pleasure, whereas we should be clutched to happiness -- a sense of well-being, a sense of satisfaction, a sense of being at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. Is this heaven or what? Is this possible?

Rumi said: "I want to sing like birds sing, not worrying about who hears, and what they think." Is this possible for human beings?

Yes, it is, but we need to let go of the pleasure thing first. We need to recognize "this" is a state of mind, not a state of our world at this time as interpreted by us.

You see, the mind struggles to find a logical decision for all the "voices" inside our head that we have collected over time ... this is a crowd ... and a crowd can't agree on anything! Even a simple thing as to what to have for lunch, or to take a day off, or where to go on a day off ... our mind is a crowd and it is never at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing! The mind is never able to sing like birds sing, not worrying about who hears, and what they think!

How do we lose these voices, let go of pleasure, and clutch to happiness? When we achieve this state of mind ... or rather no-mind ... what happens? Check this out:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/191
- the dirty work of happiness
- confusing happiness with pleasure
- building happiness within (rather than pleasure)
- mind training
- measuring happiness in a lab

Awareness of Clutching (and the Programming)

Quotes from the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

"If we are unaware, we live in a completely deterministic Universe ... we are at the mercy of every passer-by on the street, every event, ready to react ... we call this freedom, but it is not. Spirituality is the progression from this unaware state in to the domains inside of us where there is more and more awareness. Ultimately we become aware of awareness itself." (Then it is a free-will universe ... sort of ;-) ... at that point, the Universal Spirit is in charge!)

"Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom. Our thoughts, words and deeds are threads of the net we throw around ourselves." - Swami Vivekananda as quoted by Deepak Chopra

"An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing." (Nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease. Are the birds trying to fly? Is a fertilized ovum trying to become a human being? There can't be any question of effort. It is happening out there in a frictionless transfer of information and energy) - Lao Tzu as quoted by Deepak Chopra

"The known is the prison, the unknown is the field of opportunity." (For every known, there are a million unknowns. Focus on the unknowns, not the known)

"I can (gently) change the past (yes, even the past! but that is another story) and the future, but this moment ... the present ... I should accept. The whole Universe (which includes me) has conspired to co-create this moment. I need to surrender to the people, circumstances in the moment." (The birds and fertilized ovums do this, they don't struggle and hence they succeed ... effortlessly.)

"An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing."

Your will works great when it is "your" will

The following is an excerpt from "Conversation with God, Book 1" ... and answers the question "What are we clutched to?" We start with a key question that most of us are asking ...

When will life take off for me?

What you choose you get ... this is the way things work
My promise is to always give you what you ask and you promise to ask (this is the holy covenant)
In assuming a new body and mind, you have forgotten who you are ... You are his equal ... [this forgetting is part of maya/Illusion] …
[You are CLUTCHED to a limited reality]
You have forgotten, so you can create anew in this life ... and this is how God also creates anew too .. through you! That way each time it is different, interesting
You will do your best work if you see yourself as an all-powerful creator
My promise is to always give you what you ask and you promise to ask (this is the holy covenant) … this is a holy collaboration/communion … the implications are enormous

Life will ‘take off’ when you choose for it to take off

You have not-chosen, denied, procrastinated, protested, prolonged, protracted
You must remember who you are, believe and live the promise of God
You are his equal
But, this is too much to accept, too much responsibility
This puts the responsibility back on you … if you are his equal, then nothing is done to you and all things are created by you … no victims, no villains
Who you are and what you have are outcomes of your thoughts/ideas about who you are

Do you want your life to truly take off?

Then, change the very idea of who you are
[UNCLUTCH from what your idea is currently]
Think, speak and act as the God you are
This will separate you from many … they will call you crazy
You may be dismissed, vilified and condemned
Because your pursuit of the realization of the Self and gets in their way, messes up their plans

Why then do it?

Because you are no longer happy/satisfied/pleased with what the acceptance and approval of the world has brought you … this conformance, this limiting of oneself … no longer concerned
You want the pain, suffering to stop and the Illusion to end
You have had enough of the world as it presently is … you seek a new world
Now, seek it no longer … call it forth … assume it is there and express gratitude
[This is like the karate practitioner who is trained to keep his attention below the bricks (the place where the hand is after going through the bricks) … he focuses on the reality of his hands that have passed through the bricks]

Can you help me better understand how to do this?

Go first to the highest thought about yourself
Imagine how life would be if you lived that thought every day
Imagine what you would think, do and say … and how you would respond to what others do and say
Do you see a big difference between this projection and what you think, do and say now?
You should … since we know that you are not right now living your highest vision of yourself
Look closely at the difference between where you are and where you want to be
Begin to change … you thoughts, words and actions … to match your vision
Massive move to consciousness … you have been unaware, unconscious of the effects of your thought, word and deed
Your soul has called you to this conscious living from the beginning of time. [To live in your own consciousness, your own rules is Dharma/duty. Right now, your concept of duty is socially imposed … a hodge-podge of everyone else’s concept of duty … everyone’s, except your own]

Isn’t this exhausting? Boring? Makes you dull?

Unconditional love, conscious living is never dull … people flocked to see the Buddha
Check all your thoughts, words and deeds … make sure they are in alignment with your highest vision of yourself
If you slip, make a sincere promise that this is the last time … and make it right with whoever you slipped with

Why is this not true for most of us? What about people who are in difficult situations, fail, suffer?

We are not talking about denying any situation, but changing how you think about them
Do you think about them as a victim and not able to change anything? E.g. “this is horrible, unfair, I am a bad person” etc.
Or do you think that they have changed already, now that you are on a different plan? (different though-word-deed pattern that will undoubtedly produce a different situation)
Stop wasting energy on value judgments of others or yourself
Which way things change is dependent on you … your thought-word-deed pattern in the Now
[Focus on this Now/present moment … where everything is born and every moment will become true creativity]
Development of body and mind is meaningless to the soul … don’t waste time/energy on these
There is nothing to develop … you are God’s equal … you just need to remember
There is only the aspect of aligning with your soul’s calling/it’s highest vision of how to behave and interact with the world
It is uniquely yours

Stop judging your own soul and accept its vision

You have been taught that to deny yourself, deny your soul in the name of ‘duty’ is goodness
[This is how your family, friends and society keep you in line, in check … to serve its limited purpose]
Learn what is the soul’s desire and go with it
The soul’s desire is some highest experience of love (different manifestations of it as there are souls)
This is the soul’s purpose
Not just the knowledge/concept of the love, but the feeling and experience of perfect love … which is the feeling of unity with all that is … with “God”
The purpose is to experience of all of it … so it can be all of it … with acceptance/love
How can it be “right” … if it has never been “wrong?” So, wrong is not bad, just repeating is! Fully experience it and don’t repeat what “you” feel is wrong. [Your feeling is important here … not others’. Because right/wrong depends on who you are, your circumstance, hence a very relative concept. Don’t cow down to others’ concept of what is right/wrong … only your soul knows/only you know]
Accept everything in yourself and others [as this necessary, colorful play of right/wrong, good/bad, high/low, etc.]… but seek to make changes within yourself in alignment with your soul
So stop judging others and yourself … just change your actions as you choose/no one is going to prevent you and no one should … this is your highest purpose
[But, watch carefully to make sure that you are indeed aligned with your soul at every moment … only you can decide]

This transcript is about 2/3 of an excerpt I made … is in .mp3 format so we can listen to it every day … E-mail me if you want me to send it to you ... and buy the book to express gratitude to the author.

Hear the whole book at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsrhBQb36E

So what are we clutched to?
The short answer is that we are clutched to a limited notion of ourselves!

Free-will ... What to Do!

There are two assertions on free-will that come to mind.

1. One is that we are body-mind organisms that are programmed to respond in specific ways to specific situations. The situations are different enough that we think our responses are different each time/we are responding with some choice. But, they are also similar enough that we can see that our responses are the same. What does person X choose to do when he has an evening of free tme? How does a person X react when person Y says or does Z? Even when we recognize that we respond in predictable ways, we justify it saying "that is who I am." There is an attachment, a need to defend this person ... that everything else is built on. This person is the last to be challenged because we cannot afford to. Our state of mind is dependent on keeping this person secure. If we feel that this person is a programmed person, nothing special ... this shakes the very foundation of how we feel secure now. Accepting that we are programmed beings is one key step, which is in itself is dependent on our programming and its interaction with situations. Programming + situations = new situation.

Here, there is nothing to do because, by definition, you are dependent on your programming and the situations (both of which you can't control) to create your reality.

(Is there a meta-level from which you can change your programming; how does one get in to the meta-level? Isn't getting in to the meta-level itself dependent on your programming and situations. If you get in to the meta-level by accident, what replaces your programming in choice-making? Masters say this is the spirit which is 100% in tune with the environment ... still there is no choice from your personal perspective.)

2. Another assertion is that even if we are not programmed (and our actions are new and creative and full of choice), the results have never been under my control. Experienced business leaders say that they are right 60% of the time ... or what they choose to do is successful 60% of the time. Just slightly better that 50-50 ... and that too in the biased opinion of the choosers themselves. So, what is the use of choice and free will? Is it better to focus, not on choice and decisions but on getting on with the action as best as you can ... and enjoy it as you go along without the pressure of choosing and decision making. This is the assertion of Hinduism (Vedanta), Zen, Taoism, Sufism ... much of Easter thought ... they focus on action rather than choice. They have been interpreted as license for not acting ... it is actually a license for not being too worried about choosing. Any choice is OK ... acting well is far more important. Free will is not important if it is the free will to choose. If it is free will to act, it is supremely important.

Once again, nothing to do.

While we are not the doer, the language of doing is all we have. In this language: Act as if you have free will to choose, but let this be a thin thread ... be open to allow the choice to change (choicelessness). While you are in action, be totally in action (immersion). Spend more time in action than choosing. Nail down both choicelessness and immersion in action by accepting that results are way beyond your control. You are but one drop of water in the mighty ocean. Your path depends more on the ocean that any choice/action of yours. Relax ... and ... Unclutch.

Freeing yourself from the mind

Mind tries to make sense of the seeing/experiencing. That is the process of clutching.

'Trying to see something' comes from the mind. There is a seeing that comes from emptiness. With it, all the other objects are also empty. Intellectual faculties are still working. But they are included in a greater seeing that is empty as a source. The 'relative' is included in the 'absolute.'

When you start feeling the absolute in the subtlest way, with no processing ... the mind is going to say "let me tell you the answer to 'Who is seeing' ... it wants to put things in place, makes sense of it ... to use it ... and it has already started clutching. You have to reject this ... you have exist in the seeing.

Questions and answers will cease by themselves ... you are home ... and at home, there are no questions because you are not lost.

Unclutched is Inspired ... Often Humorous

When you are unclutched, you are inspired ... and often humorous!

Here is an example:

" Ambi Mama is leading Brahmin relative" - Survey

A survey has revealed that ‘Ambi Mama' is the leading relative among Tamil Brahmin families worldwide, with six in ten families having one of their own (a 60% repsesentation. Apparently, Ambi Mama held off stiff competition from Mani Mama (with 55% representation) and Baby Chitti (39%) for a well-deserved win. “It's a great day for all Ambi Mamas. All the years of hard work – drinking coffee, criticizing the Indian team selection and complaining about blood-pressure – have finally paid off. Yay!”, said Ambi Mama, a spokesman for the Ambi Mamas Association of Dear Old Rascals (AMBASSADOR), a division of the Hardcore Brahmin Organisation (HBO). [Editor's note – The previous sentence has been roundly condemned by the Society for Prevention of Abbreviations that are Needless, Dumb and Execrable (SPANDEX)]

Mani Mamas all over the world watched in anguish as the final results were announced, plunging them into gloom. “It's no fun being a Mani Mama anymore”, said Mani Mama. “ Maybe if I change my name to ‘Ramesh Anna', I will have a brighter future”, he pondered pointlessly.

Follow the above link for more ...
http://www.bosey.co.in/2005/05/ambi-mama-is-leading-brahmin-relative.html

(Comments are hilarious too)

Thanks to my Bala Gopalan who forwarded this to me.

One way to unclutch

Ramana Maharishi is known for saying, "Ask who is having this thought?" or "Ask who is the one who is angry?" With this, his goal is to separate the two states in which we exist :
1) self/ego state in which we see ourselves only in relation to this life (our current roles, capabilities, status, etc.)
2) Self (capital 'S')/spirit state in which the self/ego diminishes and we adopt the perspective of the spirit inside each one of us (pure consciousness/ awareness)

The question "Who is having this thought?" is not to be answered literally. It is a rhetorical question. If you answer it verbally, you will answer it from the reference point of the self/ego. When you don't answer it and exist in the question, the feeling, the thoughtless reflection ... then the Self is invoked. This is similar to Jiddu Krishnamurti's "listen, but not to the words ... because when you get to the level of the words, you have lost the listening ... listen to the feeling behind the words ... the whole statement, without thought ... then you will see an energy arise within you and a level of understanding which is beyond words"

By asking this question, we unclutch from the self/ego and go deep within to the Self/spirit.

I have tried this and it seems to work well. Many times during the day, I would say "Who is thinking?," "Who is driving?," "Who is upset?" and it seems to take me in to different space ... the thinking stops, the driving stops (the stressful part ;-), and the upset stops. Because the Who, the Self does not care about any of these things. It is infinite, limitless, does not have anywhere to go, does not have anything to do! It just is and has no use for thoughts and upsets.

We could all try asking this question and remain silent ... and see if we can invoke a different Us ... an Unclutched Us.

Child Abuse - a natural for the clutched mind

The clutched mind works from the mind/head. What is the mind/head? Simply put, it is our goals, fantasies and fears. A random occurrence of them. We connect a lot of these and create a desired identity for our children. This is an identity that they can't possibly live up to, for the simple reason that even we adults can not/do not live up to them.

We insist that our child not get angry and if she does get angry, we promptly get angry in return. The child has to make sense of this ... and she decides "it is OK to get angry if the other person is angry," "it is OK to get angry if you have a reason for it (and who doesn't?)," or worse yet "it is OK to get angry if you are bigger and impose on the other person."

We insist that our child be patient and promptly lose patience if they are impatient. The child decides ....

We insist that our child share their things with other children and turn them down every time they ask us to share our time with them. The child decides ....

We insist that our child focus on tasks like studying/working and not watch TV, and then spend hours in front of the TV. The child decides ....

No wonder the child doesn't learn. Because you have nothing to teach. You end up contradicting your words almost immediately with your actions. The mind/head is not just mad, it is madness itself. It is built to abuse the other (and oneself).

The problem with the mind is that there is no spirit, no flow. It is hatched out of some canned rules ... a canned identity ... a fantasy ... somewhere in the past and the future. It is always in conflict and always under construction. It wants something that is not and clearly cannot practice it now (in the present).

The unclutched spirit, on the other hand, works from the heart. It has no goals, fantasies and fears and does not create identities. It relaxes and allows the being to flow ... to attend to things in their own order and timing. It believes in the intelligence that flows through every living being ... indeed all of creation. It is never in conflict. It relishes what is available now.

If a child gets angry, the unclutched remain calm. The child decides that it is possible to be calm even when others are angry.

If a child is impatient, it has the awareness/flow/energy to turn on unbelievable patience. The child decides ....

If the child doesn't share, it gets down to the business of sharing something with everyone, not punishing through exclusion (this is frequently expressed as "if you won't share, we won't share with you"). The child experiences sharing and decides that this is a better way.

If the child watches too much TV, it gets down the business of focusing itself and creating some real alternatives that are appealing to the child. The child decides that it is possible to focus and create better alternatives.

The unclutched do not despair that the child does not have x, y, and z but instead see what they do have in the present moment (a situation/a need) and leverage it to demonstrate the desirable x, y, and z.

The unclutched do not abuse their children or themselves. They do not practice madness of the mind/head ... they practice sanity of the spirit/heart.

Unclutch? ... Why?

"Go to a party. Listen to the laughter, that brittle-tongued voice that says fun on the surface and fear underneath. Feel the tension, feel the pressure. Nobody really relaxes. They are faking it. Go to a ball game. Watch the fans in the stands. Watch the irrational fit of anger. Watch the uncontrolled frustration bubbling forth that masquerades under the guise of enthusiasm or team spirit. Booing, catcalls and unbridled egotism in the name of team loyalty. Drunkenness, fights in the stands. These are people trying desperately to release tension from within. These are not people who are at peace with themselves. Watch the news on TV. Listen to the lyrics in popular songs. You find the same theme repeated over and over in variations. Jealousy, suffering, discontent, and stress. Life seems to be a perpetual struggle, some enormous effort against staggering odds."

- from Mindfulness in Plain English, Bante Henepola Gunaratana

The above description may be a bit harsh, but there is no denying that this is the main undercurrent in our lives ... craving, restlessness, dissatisfaction, fear & tension. Many masters in many traditions have insisted that there is no peace because we are clutched to an "unimportant" and "highly detrimental" reality. Clutched to ourselves. Our concerns. Born not to be free, but to struggle. What we are taught by our well-meaning parents and in schools/colleges as the right way actually stands in the way.

Welcome to "Unclutched - The Only Way to Live" - a place where I hope to collect my personal experience on how we wreak havoc on ourselves and others around us ... and how we may stop doing that for a more joyous life.


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