My life, may not have an answer to the beginning of life, till the ending of it.
But the full experience has just been truly amazing, such a blessing. This is why I remember to say my thanks with each meal. My favourite part about having a meal is appreciating the sharing of life - to give thanks to having sensory ability, physical limbs to eat with, meals that miraculously appear in front of me through such an amazing cycle of life and energy exchange from earth to life to the infinite sacrifice of life/s, just to feed this body of mine.
The Tibetan Buddhism tradition says, there's 3 ways to go.
1) when we've exhausted our life span through accumulation of good altrustic deeds
2) when we've exhausted our physical body's life span
3) when we meet with accidents - unprepared, unexpected
So, I guess, we never really know when I will be gone, will we? they say, high practitioners do. ; )
It would be realistic to say that, you would surely be a part of all the infinite thoughts I will flash before my eyes, mind or heart, and if i never had the chance to say this to you, today i will do that.
I guess it never seems like a right time to say this when we are alive and well, usually going about like tomorrow will not end.
Well, in those chaotic life journey moments, there has been at least one really special moment, that I was really present with you, saw you from inside out, i could feel through you. the real quiet honest you.
This moments and presence when I was with you, I may not have been happy, smiling or nice. It could've been when I was being quiet. Or observing, or listening, or sharing, or seemingly aloof, or totally attentive.
it was a moment. and in this moment, I was really with you. when we crossed path.
i could close my eyes, and have a full sense of you, all over again. i guess i may not look like i care. but the depth cannot be described in words, cannot be manipulated in expressions. it may be felt in the quietness in your heart, perhaps. or perhaps when u're sitting with one single link to a whole completion of all thats around u.
yes there.
some say, we love and care not always for altruistic reasons. well, i feel that i care because its basic human nature to reach out and extend, expand. embrace.
what I know for sure is, i would only wish you peace. love. joy. because we are an entity in unity.
you shall have all that life's blessings has to offer ~ it is with you.
you shall have the highest respect in divine love and friendship ~ from me to u.
I would deeply thank you for everything you've shared and taught me, through your expansion, through you.
may peace always be with you.
namaste.
Oct 5, 2008
Oct 1, 2008
Yoga Facts
* Yoga is over 3,000 years old
* Yoga builds strength, flexibility and coordination
* Yoga creates cardiovascular health
* Yoga relieves stress and helps keep you healthy
* Yoga creates mental clarity, focus and emotional balance
* Yoga is safe for all ages and body types (choose a right teacher with depth)
* Yoga facilitates healing from injuries
* Yoga is not a religion
courtesy of Purna Yoga: purnayoga.com
The most open, gentle and loving teacher i've learned from: Aadil Palhivala, Purna Yoga. Very safe. Full of light and flow of love. Awesome space.
* Yoga builds strength, flexibility and coordination
* Yoga creates cardiovascular health
* Yoga relieves stress and helps keep you healthy
* Yoga creates mental clarity, focus and emotional balance
* Yoga is safe for all ages and body types (choose a right teacher with depth)
* Yoga facilitates healing from injuries
* Yoga is not a religion
courtesy of Purna Yoga: purnayoga.com
The most open, gentle and loving teacher i've learned from: Aadil Palhivala, Purna Yoga. Very safe. Full of light and flow of love. Awesome space.
Sep 16, 2008
The Secret Affirmation
An affirmation for the rest of your life.
In the new picture of the coming years, "I see my life growing and expanding in everything: in health, youth and unlimited energy at all times and in all circumstances. I see myself in complete freedom. I see unlimited growth in my personal capacity, mental power and intellectual brilliancy. I see constant improvement in all the elements of my personality and my body. I see daily growth in my wisdom, understanding. insight and realization.I see myself in peace, harmony, love and joy, and I see my character expanding to stronger and more beautiful.I see the never ending betterment of friends associations and environments.I see myself in everlasting joy and infinite bliss."
courtesy of The Secret - http://www.thesecret.tv/
In the new picture of the coming years, "I see my life growing and expanding in everything: in health, youth and unlimited energy at all times and in all circumstances. I see myself in complete freedom. I see unlimited growth in my personal capacity, mental power and intellectual brilliancy. I see constant improvement in all the elements of my personality and my body. I see daily growth in my wisdom, understanding. insight and realization.I see myself in peace, harmony, love and joy, and I see my character expanding to stronger and more beautiful.I see the never ending betterment of friends associations and environments.I see myself in everlasting joy and infinite bliss."
courtesy of The Secret - http://www.thesecret.tv/
Sep 14, 2008
Marriage Commandments
hilarious!
COMMANDMENT 1
Marriages are made in heaven.
But so are thunder and lightning.
COMMANDMENT 2
If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every
word you say, talk in your sleep.
COMMANDMENT 3
Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!
COMMANDMENT 4
Married life is very frustrating.
In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens.
In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens.
In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.
COMMANDMENT 5
When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.
COMMANDMENT 6
Marriage is when a man and woman become as one;
The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
COMMANDMENT 7
Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about
something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.
COMMANDMENT 8
Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical,and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife.
COMMANDMENT 9
Marriage and love are purely matter of chemistry.
That is why wife treats husband like toxic waste.
COMMANDMENT 10
A man is incomplete until he is married.
After that, he is finished..
BONUS COMMANDMENT STORY
A long married couple came upon a wishing well.
The husband leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.
The wife decided to make a wish too.
But she leaned over too much, fell into the well, and drowned.
The husband was stunned for a moment but then smiled and said,
Hey! This thing really works!
courtesy of some anonymous being...
COMMANDMENT 1
Marriages are made in heaven.
But so are thunder and lightning.
COMMANDMENT 2
If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every
word you say, talk in your sleep.
COMMANDMENT 3
Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!
COMMANDMENT 4
Married life is very frustrating.
In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens.
In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens.
In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.
COMMANDMENT 5
When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.
COMMANDMENT 6
Marriage is when a man and woman become as one;
The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
COMMANDMENT 7
Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about
something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.
COMMANDMENT 8
Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical,and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife.
COMMANDMENT 9
Marriage and love are purely matter of chemistry.
That is why wife treats husband like toxic waste.
COMMANDMENT 10
A man is incomplete until he is married.
After that, he is finished..
BONUS COMMANDMENT STORY
A long married couple came upon a wishing well.
The husband leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.
The wife decided to make a wish too.
But she leaned over too much, fell into the well, and drowned.
The husband was stunned for a moment but then smiled and said,
Hey! This thing really works!
courtesy of some anonymous being...
Laws of Cat Physics ; )
Law of Cat Inertia
A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some
outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying
mouse.
Law of Cat Motion
A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good
reason to change direction.
Law of Cat Magnetism
All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct
proportion to the darkness of the fabric.
Law of Cat Thermodynamics
Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat,
in which case all heat flows to the cat.
Law of Cat Stretching
A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap
just taken.
Law of Cat Sleeping
All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as
uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.
Law of Cat Elongation
A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top
that has anything remotely interesting on it.
Law of Cat Acceleration
A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready
to stop.
Law of Dinner Table Attendance
Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.
Law of Rug Configuration
No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.
Law of Obedience Resistance
A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to
do something.
First Law of Energy Conservation
Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will,
therefore, use as little energy as possible.
Second Law of Energy Conservation
Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.
Law of Refrigerator Observation
If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along
and take out something good to eat.
Law of Electric Blanket Attraction
Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed
of light.
Law of Random Comfort Seeking
A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable
spot in any given room.
Law of Bag / Box Occupancy
All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the
earliest possible nanosecond.
Law of Cat Embarrassment
A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment
times the amount of human laughter.
Law of Milk Consumption
A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.
Law of Furniture Replacement
A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the
cost of the furniture.
Law of Cat Landing
A cat will always land in the softest place possible.
Law of Fluid Displacement
A cat immersed in milk will displace her own volume, minus the amount
of milk consumed.
Law of Cat Disinterest
A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of
effort a human expends in trying to interest him.
Law of Pill Rejection
Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape
velocity.
Law of Cat Composition
A cat is composed of "Matter" plus "Anti-Matter" plus "It Doesn't
Matter".
courtesy of some anonymous being...
A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some
outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying
mouse.
Law of Cat Motion
A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good
reason to change direction.
Law of Cat Magnetism
All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct
proportion to the darkness of the fabric.
Law of Cat Thermodynamics
Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat,
in which case all heat flows to the cat.
Law of Cat Stretching
A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap
just taken.
Law of Cat Sleeping
All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as
uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.
Law of Cat Elongation
A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top
that has anything remotely interesting on it.
Law of Cat Acceleration
A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready
to stop.
Law of Dinner Table Attendance
Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.
Law of Rug Configuration
No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.
Law of Obedience Resistance
A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to
do something.
First Law of Energy Conservation
Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will,
therefore, use as little energy as possible.
Second Law of Energy Conservation
Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.
Law of Refrigerator Observation
If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along
and take out something good to eat.
Law of Electric Blanket Attraction
Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed
of light.
Law of Random Comfort Seeking
A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable
spot in any given room.
Law of Bag / Box Occupancy
All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the
earliest possible nanosecond.
Law of Cat Embarrassment
A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment
times the amount of human laughter.
Law of Milk Consumption
A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.
Law of Furniture Replacement
A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the
cost of the furniture.
Law of Cat Landing
A cat will always land in the softest place possible.
Law of Fluid Displacement
A cat immersed in milk will displace her own volume, minus the amount
of milk consumed.
Law of Cat Disinterest
A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of
effort a human expends in trying to interest him.
Law of Pill Rejection
Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape
velocity.
Law of Cat Composition
A cat is composed of "Matter" plus "Anti-Matter" plus "It Doesn't
Matter".
courtesy of some anonymous being...
Sep 13, 2008
Siem Reap - beautiful Cambodian smiles melt my heart
When I returned from my trip, I could not stop glowing in grins. These were due to memories of how I fell in love with the beautiful Khmer cambodian smiles from the heart which did melt my heart.
They were graceful, humble, sincere, caring, forgiving, happy, compassionate, so full of love and devotional. That's what i felt, hear, and saw.
Angkor Wat facts:
81 hectares, comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat's five towers symbolize Meru's five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond.
Places we went :)
- Ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th).
- South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Royal Enclosure
- Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King
- Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara)
- Ta Prohm Temple of similar design to the Jayavarman VII temples. A quiet sprawling monastic complex partially cleared of jungle overgrowth. Intentionally left partially unrestored, massive fig and silk cotton trees grow from the towers and corridors.
- Watch sunset at Bakheng Mountain.
Sep 12, 2008
Why Not?
We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.
George Bernard Shaw
In an indian movie I saw recently, a villager leaves home for the first time to travel to the city of Bombay. When he returns, his family and friends crowd around him, asking what it was like in the big city. His laconic reply sums up our era: "Such tall buildlings ... and such small people."
If we were asked to give an accounting of our society's achievements, we could claim many great technological developments and scientific discoveries, plenty of skycrappers, and the amasement of huge sums of money, but few truly secure, truly wise, truly great men and women. It is not for lack of ability of energy, though; it is because we lack a noble goal.
To grow to our full height, we need to be challenged with tasks that draw out our deeper resources, the talents and capacities we did not know we had. We need to be faced with obstacles that cannot be surmounted unless we summon up our daring and creativity. This kind of challenge is familiar to any great athlete or scientist or artist. No worthwhile accomplishment comes easily.
Taken from A Daily Guide to Leading an Exceptional Life, Words to Live By by Eknath Easwaran
George Bernard Shaw
In an indian movie I saw recently, a villager leaves home for the first time to travel to the city of Bombay. When he returns, his family and friends crowd around him, asking what it was like in the big city. His laconic reply sums up our era: "Such tall buildlings ... and such small people."
If we were asked to give an accounting of our society's achievements, we could claim many great technological developments and scientific discoveries, plenty of skycrappers, and the amasement of huge sums of money, but few truly secure, truly wise, truly great men and women. It is not for lack of ability of energy, though; it is because we lack a noble goal.
To grow to our full height, we need to be challenged with tasks that draw out our deeper resources, the talents and capacities we did not know we had. We need to be faced with obstacles that cannot be surmounted unless we summon up our daring and creativity. This kind of challenge is familiar to any great athlete or scientist or artist. No worthwhile accomplishment comes easily.
Taken from A Daily Guide to Leading an Exceptional Life, Words to Live By by Eknath Easwaran
If not now, when?
If I am not for me, who will be?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?
~ Rabbi Hillel
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?
~ Rabbi Hillel
Aug 14, 2008
Declutter Your Finances! tips
Step 1. Envision the Life You Want
Step 2: Look at the True Cost of Your Debt
Step 3: Explore Your Limits
Step 4: Assess Your Spending Habits
Step 5: Discuss Necessities vs. Luxuries
Step 6: Consider Your Happiness Quotient
Step 7: Create Space for What Really Matters
Step 8: Make It Real
courtesy of oprah.com - peter walsh
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahandfriends/pwalsh/20081010_oaf_pwalsh_101
Step 2: Look at the True Cost of Your Debt
Step 3: Explore Your Limits
Step 4: Assess Your Spending Habits
Step 5: Discuss Necessities vs. Luxuries
Step 6: Consider Your Happiness Quotient
Step 7: Create Space for What Really Matters
Step 8: Make It Real
courtesy of oprah.com - peter walsh
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahandfriends/pwalsh/20081010_oaf_pwalsh_101
Jun 22, 2008
Celebrating Silence with HHSSS
~ compilation of talks by His Holiness Sri Sri Shankar
Celebrate while you are alone and celebrate when you are with people. Celebrate silence and celebrate noise. Celebrate life and celebrate death ~ New Delhi, March 13 1997
SENSES - HABITS - VICES
The senses are like fire. Your life is like fire. Some fires pollute and others purify. The same fire that supports life in winter also destroys. If your senses are engaged in goodness, you will create light and fragrance. It is samyama that transforms the quality of fire in you. ~ Montreal Ashram, July 24, 1995
Life wants to be fre and when a soul does not know how to be free, it wanders through lifetimes desiring freedom. The way to break habits is through vows. Rise above habits through samyama. All those habits that bother you, that bring you pain – bind them in vows, in samyama. A vow should be time bound, and the time and place for making the vow should be considered. ~ Brookfield, Connecticut, July 30, 1995
Your inability to break a habit causes a pinch and when you are deeply pained by something, the pain will rid you of that habit. If you are pained by your shortcomings, then you are a sadhak - a seeker. Pain takes you out of addiction. ~ LA, Jan 30, 1997
If you cannot eliminate vices, magnify them. Give them a bigger dimension and a different direction. Be averse to aversions. Attach yourself to the guru. Get intoxicated with the Divine. ~ Rishikesh, April 3 1997
DESIRES
Desires for sensory pleasures are electric in nature and these desires get neutralized as they move towards the object of your senses. They are nothing but energy and you are the source of it - the pure electricity. Dedication and devotion maintain the purity of your electricity, moving you upward. Once you realize that you are pleasure or electricity, your craving subsides and serenity dawns. ~ Milano, Italy, Jan 7, 1998
Desire kills joy yet the goal of all desires is joy. Yet all that we desire is happiness. The conclusion "My desires have killed my happiness." ~ Bangalore, April 26, 2000
Have you thought about the nature of desire? It simply means tomorrow, and not now. But joy is never tomorrow, it is always now. That is why desire is maya - illusion. ~ Banagalore, March 6, 1996
A desire arises with the memory of a pleasant experience or with past impression. It might also arise through listening. Desire can be triggered through association with people and places. Someone else's desire may manifest in you as your own. When someone is hungry, you might have a desire to feed them. Desnity, may trigger a desire but you will not be aware of the reason for your actions. ~ Dharamshala, April 6, 2000
Desire arise on their own. When they come, if you say that you do not want any desires, then that want becomes another desire. On the journey of life, you have to keep submitting your desires and not hold onto them. As you keep submitting your desires, fewer desires arise. Unfortunate are those who keep on desiring yet their desires are not fulfilled. A little more fortunate are those whose desires get fulfilled over a long period of time. More fortunate are those whose desires get fulfilled as soon as they arise. The most fortunate are those who have no desires because there is fulfillment even before the desire arises. ~ Swargashram, Rishikesh, March 20, 1996
Buddha said that desire is the cause of all misery. If desire does not get fulfilled, it leads to frustration. If it does, it leaves you empty. Vasishta says desire is the cause of pleasure. You get pleasure from an object or a person only when you desire them. Whatever gives you pleasure binds you and bondage is misery. WHEN YOU DESIRE TRUTH, all other desires drop off. Desire for truth removes all other desires; then it dissolves and what remains is bliss. ~ Denpasar, Bali, May 11, 2000
Your desires and sankalpas - or intentions - separate you from God. Offer all your desires and all your sankalpas to the Divine. Then you are divine. You are God. You are free - lacking nothing. ~ Bangalore, Oct 16, 1996
Pleasure and pain are intense sensations in this body. All your misery surrounds the 'I, I, I...'. Just let go. Remember - the sun rises and sets, the moon shines and I am here forever. ~ Bad Antogast, Germany, May 14, 1997
ATTACHMENTS
Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction, and merely hold onto the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes. Krishna means the most attractive. He is the divinity, the energy that attracts everything to it. The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna, "I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise." In this way he arrests the mind from moving away from him. ~ Rotterdam, Netherlands, Aug 16,195
Attachments cause feverish breath. Feverish breath takes away your peace of mind. Rid it through surrender and sadhana - spiritual practices. When you are drowning in the ocean of attachments, surrender is a life jacket. Without fighting attachments, observe your feverish breath and go to the cool place of silence within. our first step in this direction is directing your attachment to knowledge, to the Divine. Your non-attachment to the mundane is your charm. Your attachment to the Divine is your beauty. ~ Sydney, April 3, 1996
CONFUSION
Decision comes only when there is confusion. When there is no confusion, there is no decision. If there is a piece of wood and a biscuit on your desk, do you decide which one to eat?
A decision is always about choice and choice is confusing. So, all decision makers are confused. Are you confused, decided or happy? When you are confused there is no freedom.
Action is spontaneous when there is no actor. In you, there is an actor and there is a witness. An actor is either confused or decisive, but the witness smiles and realized that the action is spontenous.
The more decisions you make, the more confused you are, and as a result you swing between pain and pleasure. The more the witness grows in you, the more playful and untouched you are. Trust, faith, love and joy all manifest in and around you. ~ Hamburg, April 29, 1998.
DOUBT
Doubt cannot come when there is a sense of closeness. Doubt needs distance to appear. You never doubt something that is dear to you, close to you. The moment you doubt something, it is no longer dear to you, a distance has come. You may doubt yourself, but you do not doubt that which is yours. Self-doubt is a lack of closeness to oneself. Belonging, closeness and intimacy are all antidotes for doubt.
~ Rishikesh, March 11, 1999
Doubt is a gray area. Gray is neither black or white. Doubt means you want to get rid of something. It is a temporary state. It is neither up nor down and that is where tension arises.
So how do you eliminate doubt? An event, knowledge or conventional wisdom cannot help. What can help"? Accept what you doubt as either black or white. Make it black and accept it or make it white and accept that, regardless of wheter is it black or white or something in between. See the gray as just a shade of black or white. Either way, you accept it. Honest or dishonest - accept it. Then the mind is quiet and you are no longer in the gray area. ~ Montreal, July 20, 1995
Celebrate while you are alone and celebrate when you are with people. Celebrate silence and celebrate noise. Celebrate life and celebrate death ~ New Delhi, March 13 1997
SENSES - HABITS - VICES
The senses are like fire. Your life is like fire. Some fires pollute and others purify. The same fire that supports life in winter also destroys. If your senses are engaged in goodness, you will create light and fragrance. It is samyama that transforms the quality of fire in you. ~ Montreal Ashram, July 24, 1995
Life wants to be fre and when a soul does not know how to be free, it wanders through lifetimes desiring freedom. The way to break habits is through vows. Rise above habits through samyama. All those habits that bother you, that bring you pain – bind them in vows, in samyama. A vow should be time bound, and the time and place for making the vow should be considered. ~ Brookfield, Connecticut, July 30, 1995
Your inability to break a habit causes a pinch and when you are deeply pained by something, the pain will rid you of that habit. If you are pained by your shortcomings, then you are a sadhak - a seeker. Pain takes you out of addiction. ~ LA, Jan 30, 1997
If you cannot eliminate vices, magnify them. Give them a bigger dimension and a different direction. Be averse to aversions. Attach yourself to the guru. Get intoxicated with the Divine. ~ Rishikesh, April 3 1997
DESIRES
Desires for sensory pleasures are electric in nature and these desires get neutralized as they move towards the object of your senses. They are nothing but energy and you are the source of it - the pure electricity. Dedication and devotion maintain the purity of your electricity, moving you upward. Once you realize that you are pleasure or electricity, your craving subsides and serenity dawns. ~ Milano, Italy, Jan 7, 1998
Desire kills joy yet the goal of all desires is joy. Yet all that we desire is happiness. The conclusion "My desires have killed my happiness." ~ Bangalore, April 26, 2000
Have you thought about the nature of desire? It simply means tomorrow, and not now. But joy is never tomorrow, it is always now. That is why desire is maya - illusion. ~ Banagalore, March 6, 1996
A desire arises with the memory of a pleasant experience or with past impression. It might also arise through listening. Desire can be triggered through association with people and places. Someone else's desire may manifest in you as your own. When someone is hungry, you might have a desire to feed them. Desnity, may trigger a desire but you will not be aware of the reason for your actions. ~ Dharamshala, April 6, 2000
Desire arise on their own. When they come, if you say that you do not want any desires, then that want becomes another desire. On the journey of life, you have to keep submitting your desires and not hold onto them. As you keep submitting your desires, fewer desires arise. Unfortunate are those who keep on desiring yet their desires are not fulfilled. A little more fortunate are those whose desires get fulfilled over a long period of time. More fortunate are those whose desires get fulfilled as soon as they arise. The most fortunate are those who have no desires because there is fulfillment even before the desire arises. ~ Swargashram, Rishikesh, March 20, 1996
Buddha said that desire is the cause of all misery. If desire does not get fulfilled, it leads to frustration. If it does, it leaves you empty. Vasishta says desire is the cause of pleasure. You get pleasure from an object or a person only when you desire them. Whatever gives you pleasure binds you and bondage is misery. WHEN YOU DESIRE TRUTH, all other desires drop off. Desire for truth removes all other desires; then it dissolves and what remains is bliss. ~ Denpasar, Bali, May 11, 2000
Your desires and sankalpas - or intentions - separate you from God. Offer all your desires and all your sankalpas to the Divine. Then you are divine. You are God. You are free - lacking nothing. ~ Bangalore, Oct 16, 1996
Pleasure and pain are intense sensations in this body. All your misery surrounds the 'I, I, I...'. Just let go. Remember - the sun rises and sets, the moon shines and I am here forever. ~ Bad Antogast, Germany, May 14, 1997
ATTACHMENTS
Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction, and merely hold onto the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes. Krishna means the most attractive. He is the divinity, the energy that attracts everything to it. The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna, "I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise." In this way he arrests the mind from moving away from him. ~ Rotterdam, Netherlands, Aug 16,195
Attachments cause feverish breath. Feverish breath takes away your peace of mind. Rid it through surrender and sadhana - spiritual practices. When you are drowning in the ocean of attachments, surrender is a life jacket. Without fighting attachments, observe your feverish breath and go to the cool place of silence within. our first step in this direction is directing your attachment to knowledge, to the Divine. Your non-attachment to the mundane is your charm. Your attachment to the Divine is your beauty. ~ Sydney, April 3, 1996
CONFUSION
Decision comes only when there is confusion. When there is no confusion, there is no decision. If there is a piece of wood and a biscuit on your desk, do you decide which one to eat?
A decision is always about choice and choice is confusing. So, all decision makers are confused. Are you confused, decided or happy? When you are confused there is no freedom.
Action is spontaneous when there is no actor. In you, there is an actor and there is a witness. An actor is either confused or decisive, but the witness smiles and realized that the action is spontenous.
The more decisions you make, the more confused you are, and as a result you swing between pain and pleasure. The more the witness grows in you, the more playful and untouched you are. Trust, faith, love and joy all manifest in and around you. ~ Hamburg, April 29, 1998.
DOUBT
Doubt cannot come when there is a sense of closeness. Doubt needs distance to appear. You never doubt something that is dear to you, close to you. The moment you doubt something, it is no longer dear to you, a distance has come. You may doubt yourself, but you do not doubt that which is yours. Self-doubt is a lack of closeness to oneself. Belonging, closeness and intimacy are all antidotes for doubt.
~ Rishikesh, March 11, 1999
Doubt is a gray area. Gray is neither black or white. Doubt means you want to get rid of something. It is a temporary state. It is neither up nor down and that is where tension arises.
So how do you eliminate doubt? An event, knowledge or conventional wisdom cannot help. What can help"? Accept what you doubt as either black or white. Make it black and accept it or make it white and accept that, regardless of wheter is it black or white or something in between. See the gray as just a shade of black or white. Either way, you accept it. Honest or dishonest - accept it. Then the mind is quiet and you are no longer in the gray area. ~ Montreal, July 20, 1995
Sep 24, 2007
My poem ~ to Spirit of Yoga's beautiful music
Intoxicating beauty to the heart and soul,
it creeps like mist in a field of snow.
The haunting ethereal sounds,
strums like a river
like tears in my heart
in joy,
in peace,
and in sorrow.
A deep sense of a familiar homeland,
A depth so deep, a million lives that lived.
All this is, but resonance of Everything in all.
Oh how blissful when she strums and she sings.
Oh, how beautiful it is, when she dances with us.
Oh how beautiful it is when we weep with her.
and hereforth we share this everlasting essence of our earth.
The everflowing, the essence of peace. Recharged, renew, revisited
once more.
it creeps like mist in a field of snow.
The haunting ethereal sounds,
strums like a river
like tears in my heart
in joy,
in peace,
and in sorrow.
A deep sense of a familiar homeland,
A depth so deep, a million lives that lived.
All this is, but resonance of Everything in all.
Oh how blissful when she strums and she sings.
Oh, how beautiful it is, when she dances with us.
Oh how beautiful it is when we weep with her.
and hereforth we share this everlasting essence of our earth.
The everflowing, the essence of peace. Recharged, renew, revisited
once more.
Jul 17, 2007
The famous 10 Actors Studio's Questions
1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
4. What turns you off?
5. What is your favorite curse word?
6. What sound or noise do you love?
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
here's my list ;) whats yours?
1. love
2. kill
3. divine love & nature (grace, reverence, selflessness, compassion etc) & sensitive observers
4. whiners
5. HOLY 'anything'
6. total deep silence
7. mental noise
8. philanthropist with entrepreneur skills
9. the one who orders to kill
10. love has arrived.
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
4. What turns you off?
5. What is your favorite curse word?
6. What sound or noise do you love?
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
here's my list ;) whats yours?
1. love
2. kill
3. divine love & nature (grace, reverence, selflessness, compassion etc) & sensitive observers
4. whiners
5. HOLY 'anything'
6. total deep silence
7. mental noise
8. philanthropist with entrepreneur skills
9. the one who orders to kill
10. love has arrived.
Jul 12, 2007
little things in life...
...makes a big difference
magnetic smiles
lovely memories
kind gestures
hot coffee & tea
animated conversations
a friend who listens and shares
someone who truly cheers me up
magnetic smiles
lovely memories
kind gestures
hot coffee & tea
animated conversations
a friend who listens and shares
someone who truly cheers me up
Jul 1, 2007
Loosing myself
"Why are we so full of restraint? Why do we not give in all directions?
Is it fear of losing ourselves? Until we do lose ourselves there is no
hope of finding ourselves." -- Henry Miller
"The impulses that make a fool or worse of us in certain circumstances
may be necessary for our happiness." -- Gertrude Atherton
We were born to shine! Andrea Bocelli!
"Let me arise and open the gate, To breathe the wild warm air...." --
Violet Fane
Is it fear of losing ourselves? Until we do lose ourselves there is no
hope of finding ourselves." -- Henry Miller
"The impulses that make a fool or worse of us in certain circumstances
may be necessary for our happiness." -- Gertrude Atherton
We were born to shine! Andrea Bocelli!
"Let me arise and open the gate, To breathe the wild warm air...." --
Violet Fane
Jun 26, 2007
My Poem - Symphony in the Sky
Last night at Fort Canning Hill,
I lay on someones sarong throw.
Over the prickly grass,
stretching feet wide,
hands by my side.
My ears perks wistfully,
To melancholy tunes,
Unplugged, with vocalists in duets,
audiences abreast.
I lay face up watching the sky
And this is what I see ...
A wonderful glimpse it was,
Of a yearned craving met,
of a merged oneness,
with the night sky above.
Darkness has fallen but
Sky looks daylight blue,
Stars’ abundant,
winking back at me.
Air high high above,
Fresh, clear and crisp.
White Clouds floating by,
in different shapes and sizes,
In very slow motion,
waving and chuckling at me.
In different layers,
sequenced unplanned,
unfazed by each other's
type of dance.
Floating by like a symphony,
orchestrated beautifully
in this very musical night.
Yet in this sequence,
There is a special quietness
A stillness in his gaze.
A stillnes in her gestures.
In this stillness
Lies a peaceful grace,
In this thoughtless moment,
lies complete silence.
O’ Blue Sky, O’ White Clouds, O’ Starry Night,
My symphony in the sky.
In this stillness, in this silence,
How I fell in love with thee.
I lay on someones sarong throw.
Over the prickly grass,
stretching feet wide,
hands by my side.
My ears perks wistfully,
To melancholy tunes,
Unplugged, with vocalists in duets,
audiences abreast.
I lay face up watching the sky
And this is what I see ...
A wonderful glimpse it was,
Of a yearned craving met,
of a merged oneness,
with the night sky above.
Darkness has fallen but
Sky looks daylight blue,
Stars’ abundant,
winking back at me.
Air high high above,
Fresh, clear and crisp.
White Clouds floating by,
in different shapes and sizes,
In very slow motion,
waving and chuckling at me.
In different layers,
sequenced unplanned,
unfazed by each other's
type of dance.
Floating by like a symphony,
orchestrated beautifully
in this very musical night.
Yet in this sequence,
There is a special quietness
A stillness in his gaze.
A stillnes in her gestures.
In this stillness
Lies a peaceful grace,
In this thoughtless moment,
lies complete silence.
O’ Blue Sky, O’ White Clouds, O’ Starry Night,
My symphony in the sky.
In this stillness, in this silence,
How I fell in love with thee.
Jun 19, 2007
Maya Angelou
Sharing another inspiration to me..
Maya Angelou, shares some thoughts about the important virtue of courage, growing into the seventies and defining our principles.
Oprah and Maya AngelouListen in on Oprah's one-on-one conversation with Maya Angelou in link below.
She is hailed as a remarkable Renaissance woman, a beloved poet and best-selling author and an actress. She has moved generations with her talent and passion for social change and is recognized around the world as a leading civil rights activist.
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/200012/omag_200012_maya.jhtml
Maya Angelou, shares some thoughts about the important virtue of courage, growing into the seventies and defining our principles.
Oprah and Maya AngelouListen in on Oprah's one-on-one conversation with Maya Angelou in link below.
She is hailed as a remarkable Renaissance woman, a beloved poet and best-selling author and an actress. She has moved generations with her talent and passion for social change and is recognized around the world as a leading civil rights activist.
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/200012/omag_200012_maya.jhtml
Awesome Songs/Artists
MICHAEL JACKSON - Earth Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rch7ey-v7ks
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
The That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?
What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores
Aaaaaaaaaaah
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far
INDIA.ARIE
Hear: I am not my Hair Remix Feat. Akon, Little Things, God is Real
http://www.indiaarie.com/ (under Media)
Lyrics: http://www.treehouse.cz/india/lyrics/
Julia Fordham
Hear: Love moves in mysterious ways
http://www.juliafordham.com/looklistenbuy.php
MY other favs:
Ben Leinbach - The Spirit of Yoga
Sting
Seal
Andrea Bocelli
Queen
Movies in my books:
Splash
Phenomenon
Always
Big Blue
I dreamed of Africa
Motorcylce Diaries
5th Element
Girl on the Bridge (Fille sur le pont, La)
Powder
Shawshank Redemption
Million Dollar Baby
Elephant Man
My Left Foot
Le Papillon
Braveheeart
Schindlers List
A Beautiful Mind
Lord of the Rings
Wedding CRashes **
THe Pianist
The World's Fastest Indian
Ocean's 11/12
City of Joy
The Last Samurai
The Untouchables
The Notebook
Shine
Letters from Iwo Jima
Too Hot to Handle
Forest Gump
Babel
Once Upon a Time in CHina series
Hero
etc etc etc
and all others with Richard Gere of course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rch7ey-v7ks
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
The That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?
What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores
Aaaaaaaaaaah
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far
INDIA.ARIE
Hear: I am not my Hair Remix Feat. Akon, Little Things, God is Real
http://www.indiaarie.com/ (under Media)
Lyrics: http://www.treehouse.cz/india/lyrics/
Julia Fordham
Hear: Love moves in mysterious ways
http://www.juliafordham.com/looklistenbuy.php
MY other favs:
Ben Leinbach - The Spirit of Yoga
Sting
Seal
Andrea Bocelli
Queen
Movies in my books:
Splash
Phenomenon
Always
Big Blue
I dreamed of Africa
Motorcylce Diaries
5th Element
Girl on the Bridge (Fille sur le pont, La)
Powder
Shawshank Redemption
Million Dollar Baby
Elephant Man
My Left Foot
Le Papillon
Braveheeart
Schindlers List
A Beautiful Mind
Lord of the Rings
Wedding CRashes **
THe Pianist
The World's Fastest Indian
Ocean's 11/12
City of Joy
The Last Samurai
The Untouchables
The Notebook
Shine
Letters from Iwo Jima
Too Hot to Handle
Forest Gump
Babel
Once Upon a Time in CHina series
Hero
etc etc etc
and all others with Richard Gere of course
Remembering Your Spirit
The Nurture of Nature
"My spirit is honored when I think of my connectedness to the Universe."
Sidney Poitier
When Sidney Poitier remembers his spirit, his mind wanders back to the Bahamas where he grew up..
"The sounds that came to me as a boy were sounds of the environment, the sounds of insects, the sounds of water against the shore," Sidney says of walking the beach for hours by himself. "There was a purity. There was a closeness to nature. I know that it was a most powerful influence on the rest of my life."
Sidney honors his spirit when he thinks of the core values his parents instilled in him as he grew up. "My father didn't define himself by material things. He loved us. And he cared for us. And he talked to us. And he nurtured us. My mother's spirit is always around me. Always there, guiding me almost. I first felt that sense on Cat Island. I never lost that."
The virtues of simplicity and the values he learned from his parents have kept him connected to the powerful inner spirit that continues to guide him.
"I feel that I am a part of everything. I am a part of nature."
"My spirit is honored when I think of my connectedness to the Universe."
Sidney Poitier
When Sidney Poitier remembers his spirit, his mind wanders back to the Bahamas where he grew up..
"The sounds that came to me as a boy were sounds of the environment, the sounds of insects, the sounds of water against the shore," Sidney says of walking the beach for hours by himself. "There was a purity. There was a closeness to nature. I know that it was a most powerful influence on the rest of my life."
Sidney honors his spirit when he thinks of the core values his parents instilled in him as he grew up. "My father didn't define himself by material things. He loved us. And he cared for us. And he talked to us. And he nurtured us. My mother's spirit is always around me. Always there, guiding me almost. I first felt that sense on Cat Island. I never lost that."
The virtues of simplicity and the values he learned from his parents have kept him connected to the powerful inner spirit that continues to guide him.
"I feel that I am a part of everything. I am a part of nature."
Jun 9, 2007
AUM
Aum (also Om, Devanagari, Chinese: 唵) is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Dharmic religions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or previously to any prayer or mantra. The Mandukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable.
Origin, name and written symbols
With preceding a or ā, the o of om in Sanskrit grammar in sandhi (Sanskrit: संधि, "joining") does not form vriddhi (au) but guna (o) per Pāṇini 6.1.95.
The Sanskrit name for the syllable is praṇava, from a root nu "to shout, sound, praise", verbal pra-nu- being attested as "to make a humming or droning sound" in the Brahmanas, and taking the specific meaning of "to utter the syllable om" in the Chandogya Upanishad and the Shrauta Sutras. More rarely used terms are akṣara or ekākṣara, and in later times omkāra becomes prevalent.
The Aum symbol is a ligature of Devanagari ओ+ँ (oṃ, encoded in Unicode at U+0950 ॐ, the Tibetan script variant ༀ at U+0F00, and the Chinese 唵 at U+5535 or 吽 at U+543D) it is said to represent the vibration of the universe.
In Hinduism
is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Today, in all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'Aum' can be seen virtually everywhere, a standard sign[citation needed] for Hinduism and its philosophy and mythology.
Upanishads and Sutra literature
Further information: Mandukya Upanishad
The syllable is mentioned in all the Upanishads, specially elaborated upon in the Taittiriya, Chandogya and Mundaka Upanishads. set forth as the object of profound religious meditation, the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed not only to the whole word but also to the three sounds a (a-kāra), u (u-kāra), m (ma-kāra), of which it consists.
The Katha Upanishad has:
"The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which humans desire when they live a life of continence, I will tell you briefly it is Aum"
"The one syllable [evākṣara, viz. Aum] is indeed Brahma. This one syllable is the highest. Whosoever knows this one syllable obtains all that he desires.
"This is the best support; this is the highest support. Whosoever knows this support is adored in the world of Brahma." (1.2.15-17)[1]
The Chandogya Upanishad (1.1.1-1) states:
om ity etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta / om iti hy udgāyati / tasyopavyākhyānam
"The udgitha ["the chanting", that is, the syllable om] is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth."
The Bhagavad Gita (8.13) has:
Uttering the monosyllable Aum, the eternal world of Brahman, One who departs leaving the body (at death), he attains the superior goal.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali states in verse (1:27):
"tasya vacakah pranavah" which translates as, "God's voice is Aum."
In the following sutra it emphasizes, "The repetition of Om should be made with an understanding of its meaning".
Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum
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