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."