Serena Williams Blowup - Interview with Vignesh
Experimenting with a talk show format (interviewing kids on what is happening around them). Sorry for a bit of coaching/journalist's opinion/help there towards the end ;-)
The Incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAEEpRuO1Go&feature=fvw
Relevance: the "undercurrent of dissatisfaction again ... very costly this time." Sorry for Serena. But, like of all of us, she just has to realize what she is doing to break out of it. She'll enjoy her life more if she has fewer incidents like this. So too, a country can become the darling of the world if their government/people have fewer incidents like this.
[Shot using SANYO VPC-CG9 ( http://sanyo.com/xacti/english/products/vpc_cg9/index.html )]
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Choice is a Myth
Choosing is like trying to “pick up just one side of the coin.” It is impossible because the other side also comes along! So, choosing to do anything is myth. We always make the wrong choice when we operate from our limited ego-perspective! Make no choices ... let the choices find you!
Now a very old story:
Overall Life is full of paradoxes at the surface. Masters operate at a deeper level … where all paradoxes unify in to what is conveniently called “Truth." Arjuna needed a dose of Truth and some part of him sensed this. Going just by numbers, he had no chance. He was undifferentiated (as Kishore put it in the above referenced Blog). The only way he could differentiate himself was through Truth.
Krishna's message later: Stay open to all of life/the whole coin. This includes war and its methods … smaller ‘evils’ are sometimes required to eliminate bigger ‘evils.’ There is no absolute good/bad … only ‘what is necessary’ and ‘what is unnecessary.’ You can't make the right decision, only the circumstances can.
Make no choices ... let the choices find you!
Now a very old story:
[Krishna]turned to look at Arjuna and said “O Partha! You have a choice before you. You can have me on your side but I will not wield a weapon and I will not fight. Or you can have my huge army of Narayanas. Think carefully before you make your choice!”
Arjuna did not hesitate and replied at once “O Lord! I want only you by my side! I do not want anyone else!”
Duryodhana could hardly hide his happiness at what he thought was Arjuna’s foolish choice. For him, Krishna’s army was more valuable as it reached one Akshauhini! Duryodhana thanked Krishna and left at once. There was a strange smile on Krishna’s face as he watched Duryodhana leave.
- Mahabharatha for Children by Neela Subramanyam (courtesy ... Kishore's Blog @ http://kishorekumar62.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/the-original-consultant)
Overall Life is full of paradoxes at the surface. Masters operate at a deeper level … where all paradoxes unify in to what is conveniently called “Truth." Arjuna needed a dose of Truth and some part of him sensed this. Going just by numbers, he had no chance. He was undifferentiated (as Kishore put it in the above referenced Blog). The only way he could differentiate himself was through Truth.
Krishna's message later: Stay open to all of life/the whole coin. This includes war and its methods … smaller ‘evils’ are sometimes required to eliminate bigger ‘evils.’ There is no absolute good/bad … only ‘what is necessary’ and ‘what is unnecessary.’ You can't make the right decision, only the circumstances can.
Make no choices ... let the choices find you!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Rudyard Kipling's "If"
This poem by Rudyard Kipling says it all. Every "If" below is the same thing ... it is an attitude of Clutched and Unclutched at the same time ... beyond Clutched and Unclutched. Apparently, the line 'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster ... And treat those two impostors just the same' hangs in the Center Court at Wimbledon.
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mind is your worst enemy!
"Eckhart Tolle is considered one of the world's most influential spiritual teachers - a master of inner calm and peace. In a nutshell, he teaches that you are not your mind. In fact, Eckhart says, your mind is your worst enemy. It overtakes the real you and creates thoughts that make you miserable. So if you want to achieve peace, you've got to disassociate yourself from your mind. The key ? Live in the present."
"mind overtakes the real you
past only leads to guilt and regret
future brings only anxiety and worry"
TO be in the present, you have to unclutch from the past and the future.
More: Search YouTube for video talks of Eckhart Tolle ...
"mind overtakes the real you
past only leads to guilt and regret
future brings only anxiety and worry"
TO be in the present, you have to unclutch from the past and the future.
More: Search YouTube for video talks of Eckhart Tolle ...
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Field and the Authentic Swing
The Field
"The Shot chooses you ... you don't choose the shot ... all you do is get out of the way."
Authentic Swing
"You have an Authentic Swing ... just need to remember."
"The Shot chooses you ... you don't choose the shot ... all you do is get out of the way."
Authentic Swing
"You have an Authentic Swing ... just need to remember."
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Last Word on Unclutching!
BHAJA GOVINDAM OF SANKARA
Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda, Oh one of clouded mind, seek Him for when the final appointed time comes repeating the grammar rules is for sure, not going to save you.
O one of clouded mind, cast off this desire for money. Devoid of passions create in your mind thoughts about the reality. With whatever you get be happy and contented.
Do not get driven by desire after seeing young women with full breasts with navel regions exposed These are made of things like flesh and fat only. Think of this again and again.
(Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda)
Like a water drop playing on a lotus leaf all this life is extremely uncertain gripped as it is by disease and ego and is full of sorrow.
As long as there is the ability to earn all dependents are attached to you. Later on when you live with your worn out body no one at home even care to speak to you.
As long as there is breath in the body at home they enquire of your welfare. Once the breath leaves the body the body decays even the wife is afraid of that very body.
In boyhood one is obsessed with play; in youth one is obsessed by young women and in the old age one is immersed in thought yet no one is ever devoted to the supreme Lord.
Who is the wife? Who is the son? Strange indeed is this samsara. Of whom are you ? Where from have you come? Oh brother think of this truth here.
Through the company of the good non attachment arises. Through non attachment one comprehends the real unchanging core and by grasping that one attains freedom from the cycle of life and death.
When one gets older where is lust when water has evaporated where is the lake when wealth has grown weak where are the followers when truth is realised where is this worldly existence ?
In your youthfulness take no pride in your wealth or the people at your command. Time takes away all these in a trice. Leaving these aside knowing their delusive nature enter the state of Brahman.
Day and night morning and evening winter and spring come and depart again and again. Time plays and life ebbs away. Yet the passion of desire does not leave.
O crazy one why worry about wife wealth etc? Is there not an ordainer ? In all the three worlds it is the company of good people alone that can serve as a boat to cross the sea of samsara.
One with matted locks, one with shaven head, one with pared hair another parading in ochre robes --- these are fools who though seeing, do not see. Indeed these exist only for belly's sake.
Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda, Oh one of clouded mind, seek Him for when the final appointed time comes repeating the grammar rules is for sure, not going to save you.
O one of clouded mind, cast off this desire for money. Devoid of passions create in your mind thoughts about the reality. With whatever you get be happy and contented.
Do not get driven by desire after seeing young women with full breasts with navel regions exposed These are made of things like flesh and fat only. Think of this again and again.
(Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda)
Like a water drop playing on a lotus leaf all this life is extremely uncertain gripped as it is by disease and ego and is full of sorrow.
As long as there is the ability to earn all dependents are attached to you. Later on when you live with your worn out body no one at home even care to speak to you.
As long as there is breath in the body at home they enquire of your welfare. Once the breath leaves the body the body decays even the wife is afraid of that very body.
In boyhood one is obsessed with play; in youth one is obsessed by young women and in the old age one is immersed in thought yet no one is ever devoted to the supreme Lord.
Who is the wife? Who is the son? Strange indeed is this samsara. Of whom are you ? Where from have you come? Oh brother think of this truth here.
Through the company of the good non attachment arises. Through non attachment one comprehends the real unchanging core and by grasping that one attains freedom from the cycle of life and death.
When one gets older where is lust when water has evaporated where is the lake when wealth has grown weak where are the followers when truth is realised where is this worldly existence ?
In your youthfulness take no pride in your wealth or the people at your command. Time takes away all these in a trice. Leaving these aside knowing their delusive nature enter the state of Brahman.
Day and night morning and evening winter and spring come and depart again and again. Time plays and life ebbs away. Yet the passion of desire does not leave.
O crazy one why worry about wife wealth etc? Is there not an ordainer ? In all the three worlds it is the company of good people alone that can serve as a boat to cross the sea of samsara.
One with matted locks, one with shaven head, one with pared hair another parading in ochre robes --- these are fools who though seeing, do not see. Indeed these exist only for belly's sake.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Shifting our reality with our beliefs
A Harvard professor conducted a research in which he told 1/2 a population of hotel maids that the strenuous work they were doing cleaning rooms is great exercise for the body (the other 1/2 was not told anything) ... within a month, with no change in their routine, all their biological markers (blood pressure, heart rate) improved tremendously and they had lost weight also.
This relates to my previous post: "You can't get oil from a borewell" where the main question was "What if the world has a way of giving us more of what we are being in each area?" The hotel maids were being "I am doing boring work to make ends meet. It is strenuous, hard work but just work." Their way of being was shifted to "This work is great exercise. It is good for my body." Hence their reality shifted.
The placebo effect is well known in medicine. We look past the placebo effect to see the drug's effect. Why not look at ways to sustain/increase the placebo effect? Big plus: there is no medicine given (just a sugar pill) and there will be no side effects.
(NPR story - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17792517 )
This relates to my previous post: "You can't get oil from a borewell" where the main question was "What if the world has a way of giving us more of what we are being in each area?" The hotel maids were being "I am doing boring work to make ends meet. It is strenuous, hard work but just work." Their way of being was shifted to "This work is great exercise. It is good for my body." Hence their reality shifted.
The placebo effect is well known in medicine. We look past the placebo effect to see the drug's effect. Why not look at ways to sustain/increase the placebo effect? Big plus: there is no medicine given (just a sugar pill) and there will be no side effects.
(NPR story - http://www.npr.org/templates
But I like my tiredness!
I have been experimenting with observing impartially the various sensations in my body like fatigue or chillness and intellectually subscribe to the idea that they will disappear within a few seconds. And they have. But, I can't make it happen all the time. Many friends of mine have gotten over infections quickly or had their wounds heal very quickly by doing the same thing. But, they can't make it happen all the time.
Today, I found a clue to why this is.
Vignesh, my son, was feeling too tired to eat and wanted to sleep. I suggested that he observe all his body sensations for 2 minutes without sustaining those sensations. He tried half-heartedly and as he was giving up ... said something very interesting ... "But Dad, I don't want to do it. I like feeling tired and sleepy. I like going to sleep." He was sustaining the tiredness and sleepiness by choice!
Same way, we enjoy our times of illness ... the license to take it easy, the opportunity to quit, and whatever else that illness gives us. So, we sustain it unconsciously. Just being aware that the illness is a choice (albeit unconscious or subconscious) gives us an opening. We can ask: Am I looking forward to some aspect of the illness? Do I really choose that aspect now? Is there another way to get that aspect without sustaining the sickness? All these questions bring awareness to our choice making and give us more options.
(In the famous double-slit experiment electrons behave like waves when the slits are unobserved and behave like particles when the slits are observed (with the intention that the electron is a particle and must be passing through one of the slits). That is, we get an idea that the electron must be a particle (hypothesis) and sustain this idea and it willingly responds!)
Leading questions:
- If I look at my son as irresponsible and sustain this idea, will he respond that way?
- If I look at the world as a dog-eat-dog place, will it respond that way?
Today, I found a clue to why this is.
Vignesh, my son, was feeling too tired to eat and wanted to sleep. I suggested that he observe all his body sensations for 2 minutes without sustaining those sensations. He tried half-heartedly and as he was giving up ... said something very interesting ... "But Dad, I don't want to do it. I like feeling tired and sleepy. I like going to sleep." He was sustaining the tiredness and sleepiness by choice!
Same way, we enjoy our times of illness ... the license to take it easy, the opportunity to quit, and whatever else that illness gives us. So, we sustain it unconsciously. Just being aware that the illness is a choice (albeit unconscious or subconscious) gives us an opening. We can ask: Am I looking forward to some aspect of the illness? Do I really choose that aspect now? Is there another way to get that aspect without sustaining the sickness? All these questions bring awareness to our choice making and give us more options.
(In the famous double-slit experiment electrons behave like waves when the slits are unobserved and behave like particles when the slits are observed (with the intention that the electron is a particle and must be passing through one of the slits). That is, we get an idea that the electron must be a particle (hypothesis) and sustain this idea and it willingly responds!)
Leading questions:
- If I look at my son as irresponsible and sustain this idea, will he respond that way?
- If I look at the world as a dog-eat-dog place, will it respond that way?
Friday, May 9, 2008
You can't get oil from a bore well
The world is a given. The only thing we have control over is our "way of being."
What is our "way of being" with various things? Some examples may be:
Son - critical
Daughter - complacent/taking for granted
World - dissatisfied
Sports/Exercise - resigned
Boss - suspicious
In-laws - angry
What if the world has a way of giving us more of what we are being in each area?
Then,
Son - will give us more reasons to be critical
Daughter - will give more reasons to take for granted
World - will give more dissatisfaction/imperfections
Sports/Exercise - will give more obstacles whenever we try
Boss - will give more reasons to be suspicious
In-laws - will give more reasons to get angry
Are we choosing our reality by our way of being?
Are we trying to get oil (we want oil) from a bore well (we keep feeling it is a bore well)?
All of us want "something else" from our world. Can we create it by being that way first?
What is our way of being this minute? skeptical? unsure? dismissive? curious? interested? Are we saying "I don't understand" or this is "too esoteric", "too simple", or "too philosophical"? Are we having a Ah-ha moment? ... Will it automatically become that? Can shifting our reality be that simple?
- After the "ways of being" and "inauthenticities" distinctions of the Landmark Forum
- Also, "we are reality-making machines" from the movie What the Bleep Do we Know
What is our "way of being" with various things? Some examples may be:
Son - critical
Daughter - complacent/taking for granted
World - dissatisfied
Sports/Exercise - resigned
Boss - suspicious
In-laws - angry
What if the world has a way of giving us more of what we are being in each area?
Then,
Son - will give us more reasons to be critical
Daughter - will give more reasons to take for granted
World - will give more dissatisfaction/imperfections
Sports/Exercise - will give more obstacles whenever we try
Boss - will give more reasons to be suspicious
In-laws - will give more reasons to get angry
Are we choosing our reality by our way of being?
Are we trying to get oil (we want oil) from a bore well (we keep feeling it is a bore well)?
All of us want "something else" from our world. Can we create it by being that way first?
What is our way of being this minute? skeptical? unsure? dismissive? curious? interested? Are we saying "I don't understand" or this is "too esoteric", "too simple", or "too philosophical"? Are we having a Ah-ha moment? ... Will it automatically become that? Can shifting our reality be that simple?
- After the "ways of being" and "inauthenticities" distinctions of the Landmark Forum
- Also, "we are reality-making machines" from the movie What the Bleep Do we Know
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Wise Men Do Nothing
FINAL TRANSMISSION
A wise old Zen master, very near death, lay quietly on his mat with his eyes closed, all his disciples gathered around. Kneeling closest to him was his number one disciple, a longtime practitioner who would succeed the old man as head of the monastery. At one point the old master opened his eyes, and lovingly gazed at each and every one of his disciples assembled in the crowded room. Finally his glance rested on his successor, and he managed to speak his last words to the man: "Ah, my son, you have a very thorough knowledge of the teachings and scriptures, and you have shown great discipline in keeping the precepts. Your behavior has, in fact, been flawless. Yet there is one more thing remaining to be cleared up: you still reek and stink of 'Zen'!"
WHO ARE YOU?
Keiji, a long-time Zen student, approached his master and said: "I don't see how there can be any enlightenment that sets you free once and for all. I think we just get ever greater glimpses of Buddha-nature, the vastness that is our true Reality. It's an ever-expanding process." The master, looking penetratingly at Keiji, replied. "That may be what you think. But what is your experience, your experience right now?" Keiji looked momentarily confused. "My experience right now, Master?" "Yes. Do you know yourself as Keiji, having ever-expanding experiences of Buddha-nature? Or do you know yourself as Buddha-nature, having the experience of Keiji?"
THE WISE MAN
The 4th Chinese Ch'an Patriarch, Tao-hsin (580-651), stated: "The wise man does nothing, the fool ties himself up."
from: http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Zen_Humor.html
A wise old Zen master, very near death, lay quietly on his mat with his eyes closed, all his disciples gathered around. Kneeling closest to him was his number one disciple, a longtime practitioner who would succeed the old man as head of the monastery. At one point the old master opened his eyes, and lovingly gazed at each and every one of his disciples assembled in the crowded room. Finally his glance rested on his successor, and he managed to speak his last words to the man: "Ah, my son, you have a very thorough knowledge of the teachings and scriptures, and you have shown great discipline in keeping the precepts. Your behavior has, in fact, been flawless. Yet there is one more thing remaining to be cleared up: you still reek and stink of 'Zen'!"
WHO ARE YOU?
Keiji, a long-time Zen student, approached his master and said: "I don't see how there can be any enlightenment that sets you free once and for all. I think we just get ever greater glimpses of Buddha-nature, the vastness that is our true Reality. It's an ever-expanding process." The master, looking penetratingly at Keiji, replied. "That may be what you think. But what is your experience, your experience right now?" Keiji looked momentarily confused. "My experience right now, Master?" "Yes. Do you know yourself as Keiji, having ever-expanding experiences of Buddha-nature? Or do you know yourself as Buddha-nature, having the experience of Keiji?"
THE WISE MAN
The 4th Chinese Ch'an Patriarch, Tao-hsin (580-651), stated: "The wise man does nothing, the fool ties himself up."
from: http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Zen_Humor.html
Attachment and Love
"Many people confuse attachment with love. But, in attachment you become selfish, interested in your own pleasure, and you misuse love."
The whole thing is conditional on the behavior of the one who is "loved." Payoffs and costs result out of attachment ... like approval, pride, shame, and guilt.
"You become possessive and try to gain the objects of your desires."
Gaining the objects means desiring or exercising some sort of control. Good and bad, right and wrong are very much in the picture.
"Attachment creates bondage, while love bestows freedom."
Usually in life, there is only bondage, no freedom.
"When yogis speak of non-attachment they are not teaching indifference, but are teaching how to genuinely and selflessly love others. Non-attachment, properly understood means love. Non-attachment can be practiced by those who live in the world as well as those who are renunciates."
In non-attachment, we are indifferent only to ourselves ... and our needs. It is a subtle trick. Our ego tricks us in to believing that in non-attachment, we are indifferent & uncaring. But, only in non-attachment can we put yourself in the other person's shoes and appreciate their true needs (short-term and long-term). Only then, can we be fully relevant to the other person and to life.
-Quotes are from Swami Rama's book "Living with the Himalayan Masters" and are attributed to his Master.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Utilitarian Mind
Heard Deepak Chopra say yesterday in a You Tube video that he meditates for 2 hrs every day. I tried that today. It was a different feeling, probably because of the long duration.
I could see that the mind very clearly. Grabbing on to one thing after another ... very utilitarian. May be a sound I heard, a thought from the past, a task I had to do ... it didn't matter, the mind wanted to grab it and put it to use in some way ... create a theory or a plan.
Then, there were moments of pure awareness in which I could immediately feel an energy rising in me. At these times, many sounds would be heard simultaneously and in all their depth and fullness. As far I could tell, no interpretation or analysis was going on. The mind was off. Just awareness was on.
My thoughts: We are seeking something we can identify with or use all the time. Meditation helps us have at least a few moments of pure awareness. This can expand our consciousness throughout the day and uncover more possibilities. Even daily exercise may be dispensable, meditation may not be (because body may just follow the mind ... Anthony Robbins gives an example of a person with multiple personality disorder who would become diabetic when he was assuming the personality that "had diabetes" and lose that condition when he switched to a different personality)
I could see that the mind very clearly. Grabbing on to one thing after another ... very utilitarian. May be a sound I heard, a thought from the past, a task I had to do ... it didn't matter, the mind wanted to grab it and put it to use in some way ... create a theory or a plan.
Then, there were moments of pure awareness in which I could immediately feel an energy rising in me. At these times, many sounds would be heard simultaneously and in all their depth and fullness. As far I could tell, no interpretation or analysis was going on. The mind was off. Just awareness was on.
My thoughts: We are seeking something we can identify with or use all the time. Meditation helps us have at least a few moments of pure awareness. This can expand our consciousness throughout the day and uncover more possibilities. Even daily exercise may be dispensable, meditation may not be (because body may just follow the mind ... Anthony Robbins gives an example of a person with multiple personality disorder who would become diabetic when he was assuming the personality that "had diabetes" and lose that condition when he switched to a different personality)
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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:
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.
- 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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
(part 1)
One of the best parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whd4knWdYAo&feature=related
Thanks to Nagaraj for giving me this movie.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
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.
- 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.
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.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
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.
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.
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
"In this exhibition of photographs, 'Waterborne', Vivek Mathew reveals a discerning eye which brings to focus things which are ordinary, yet beautiful.
"Reflections of trees, houses, railings, electric towers, and stonewalls; diagonal and circular ripples, and criss-crossing pathways in open fields are not missed.
"'In these pictures shot in and around Bangalore, Kolkata, Srirangapatna, and the Nilgiris, I have tried to weave interesting stories,' says Vivek.
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)
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
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