Coming Full Circle

Great Photography

2010-11-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

Photography is capturing the moments.

Great Photography is capturing the moments between those moments.

Want vs. Need

2010-05-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

Both are desires. The difference between a Want and a Need lies in its source.

Want arises from the mind.
Need arises from the depth of your heart.

Know the difference and life gets simpler and enjoyable.

And when the difference is muddy, every decision becomes a struggle and life feels empty.

Fulfilling your Wants gives you temporary pleasure as they arose from your mind whose nature is flickering and illusory because it can only function with reference to a projected and falsely perceived external reference point. The common analogy given is that of a monkey hopping restlessly from branch to branch of a tree.

Fulfilling your Needs gives you true and long lasting satisfaction as they arose from the real - your heart.

Now the million dollar question,
How do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
When you have the doubt, One way I have found is to deliberately procrastinate. Wants will die as the mind that once powered it has now moved on - the Maya has played out - whereas
Your Needs will still have the same energy and spark to them if not more.

Pick your Present

2010-04-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

'Be in the present moment' is another way of saying don't be attached to your thoughts.

When you are attached to your thoughts, you are stuck and vice-versa.
You are stuck to the story that your mind is playing - sometimes it may be painful and sometimes it may be pleasurable.

This is where it can be deceiving.
Deceiving because, after all why not be stuck to the pleasurable story.
Well, the caveat here is that, you can't have just the one, without the other.
If you develop the habit of sticking to the pleasurable stories, you have to live through the painful ones as well.

Being with your thoughts is like living your life from a recorded script. Eating the same kind of food, watching the same kind of movies, responding the same way to events, circumstances and people when you wish you could have done differently - all because that is how you have always been. How boring is that.

Above all, you lose the thrill, the magnificence that is present in the present moment. You miss out on the serendipity.

So the first thing to do when you are stuck, is to be aware of the thoughts flowing through your mind - the story that your mind is telling you.
Awareness is the first step in shifting your inner Self. It is the first step towards getting your life off from autopilot mode and into the present moment.

The more you are in the present moment, the freer you will be.

Become aware of your breath, be with each and every activity that you perform, no matter how mundane it may be, be it brushing your teeth or chewing your food or tying your shoes. Start feeling the warmth of the Sun on your exposed skin and the chill of the breeze, listen to the notes of the chirping birds, the smell of grass and the sight of the squirrel and the sparrows in your backyard and finally sink into the silence when the feeling is over. Being will gradually become a habit.

And of course, be patient and persistent while you work on this.

Have Patience, for your own sake

2010-04-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

If something is not manifesting for you, look inside and work on the inside.

Have Patience, for your own sake.

Yeah, really.

When you get impatient, it is because you are upset that something is not going your way.
Well, whatever it is, here is the bitter truth - you have to work on yourself to get that "something" going your way - no matter what that something is.
This is the way Universe works.
Here is what the Upanishads say,
As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm. As is the atom, so is the universe.

Having said that,
It is easy to get impatient when somebody else has to do the work - crack the whip mentality sets in. Sure, in the external reality, others may have to do the work but way before that you should have done the work in your inner reality.

Start in you, first and go back in you as well when things are not manifesting or going your way. Work on shifting your state of consciousness to where you can experience your desires as reality. The shift inside is the key.

Now that the tables have turned, how do you feel about being patient?
So, be kind to yourself - Patience, for your own sake :)

Perspectives

2010-02-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

When you teach something that you understand, at first, you realize what you know and that what you know is but one perspective. As your understanding increases, you start seeing how others are perceiving that same thing.
As a teacher, you are in this unique position to witness the various perspectives on the same thing.
Finally you come to the realization that all the perspectives are an illusion arising out of the individual's life stories.

Amazing Technique of the Bottlenose Dolphins

2010-02-15T21:49:00.000-08:00

De-Stress

2010-01-20T04:41:00.000-08:00

While there are several sources of Stress, the most common one is when

when you have a lot of things on your plate and you are struggling to do them.

Stress is good because it is telling you that you do not need to do them all.

You only think you need to do them all.

There is room to simplify is what that Stress is telling you.

It is hard to get this at first, understandably, because we put those things on our to-do list for some "good" reason.

A good start would be to get a cup of your favorite drink, settle down in a quiet place and take 3 deep breaths first,

saying "In" as we breath in and "Out" as we breath out.

For a more detailed exercise, see here.

Start going down your to-do list.
And instead of seeing which items to strike off, see what you are trying to accomplish (your goal) with each of those tasks and what that goal means to you right now.

You may conclude that the goal can pushed out and is not as urgent as you thought it should be and in the best case, you may realise that that goal is not important anymore and hence can be struck off completely.

If nothing gives, i.e. if it has to be done and done now,

there may be a better way to do what you are trying to do.

In other words, Stress is an indicator for you to change your ways.

If you heed, you can benefit from it. If not, proceed at your own risk.

It is indeed a Zen moment, when you can identify the task that you thought you had to do but when you saw through it, it withered away like it never mattered.

Are you Planning?

2009-11-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

I might as well ask, "Are you living?"

I am not going to talk about how planning helps you reach your goal, you know that already, don't you?

So why else then, do you have to plan?

Planning is the way to get out of the rut that you are in.
(If you are not in a rut, you are already planning.)
Planning is saying actively that,

this is what I want to have
this is what I want to do &
this is what I want to be

in my life.
Planning is living life to its fullest.

When you are not planning, you are giving up control over your life and becoming like a driftwood in a river.

Two caveats:
I must add, that I am not advocating sweating over every minute detail of your plan.
I would also add that if your plan does not work out, that is fine as well.

After all, the point of planning is to show your commitment to living your life a certain way.
And that's something to be proud of, in and of itself.

If you keep doing this, your success rate will certainly increase as you keep tweaking your goals and plans according to your experiences and knowledge you will be gaining every day.
and in no time, you will be on the path of growth.

Don't confuse 'Goal setting' with 'Planning'.
'Planning the steps' is a much more concrete thing to do and a strong statement you are making. It reflects commitment and that is the key to making things happen in your life.

Planning clarifies your intentions, helps you focus and brings out what you really want.

Two Touching Stories

2009-07-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Source: Gaia Groups

Story #1:

A little girl was ill in hospital with a rare blood disorder and was badly in need of a blood donor but a match could not be found. As a last resort, her six year old brother was checked as a match and much to everyones relief, he was. Both his mother and Doctor sat the little boy down and explained how they would like his blood to help his sister so she would not die. The little boy waited a few moments then asked if he could think about it. It wasn't the reaction the mother or Doctor expected but they agreed……

The following day the little boy sat in front of the Doctor with his mother and said he agreed to give his sister what she needed. The hospital staff moved quickly for his sister was fading quite fast. So the little boy could understand what was happening, he was placed in a bed next to his sister and so the transfusion began. Quickly, the colour and life began flooding back into the little girl and every one was over joyed. The little boy turned to the Doctor and quietly asked, “How long will it be before I die?”

Story #2:

“A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I've been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

Do unto others first

2009-07-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

A lot of times, we want others to "listen, comply and be" first before

we "listen, comply, be".

If he behaves, then I will.

She better treat me nice, then I will think about it.

I will play the game right when you do.

If she smiles, I will.

It never works, does it? irrespective of whether it is with kids or adults.

Flip the order.

Remember the Golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

I would make it explicit, "Do unto others first as you would have them do unto you."

I have heard people say this quote in the context of "Don't do or say hurtful things",

but I think it is underused when it comes to getting things done from others OR

in other words, getting others to "listen, comply and be".

The Secret to Public speaking

2009-05-17T10:16:00.001-07:00

Find who you are.
Find what you stand for and what you are about.
Find your inner voice.
Find your life's meaning or theme.
Find your values.
Find your perspective.

It becomes effortless then to talk from who you are.

Whether it is in public speaking or in private social conversations or in personal chats within family, your words become valuable.

Your Gift is waiting

2009-05-07T10:12:00.001-07:00

You have a gift and the gift is in hidden behind a challenge that you are having right now.
Solve that challenge and claim that gift. The size of the challenge gives you a clue about the size of
gift.

As you solve the challenge, document the steps you are taking, irrespective of whether
they are successes are not.

In the process of overcoming the challenge, use as many resources (people and tools) as necessary.
Invent things, processes as necessary if they don't already exist.

Remember to document everything.

By the time you overcome your challenge, you would have already had a impact on others.
That is the ultimate gift.

If not, publish a book about your journey.

Sit back and relax. You have now done your job.

Your next challenge will be arriving shortly.

Creativity, Attitude and a Great Message

2009-04-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Change is Good

2009-03-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Why Love Change?

Change shuffles things around.
Change requires people to Adapt.
Adapting to new requires Help.
Requirement of Help creates opportunities to Serve.
Serving well generates Wealth.

Love Change. Serve Others. Become Wealthy.

Rinse and Repeat

2008-10-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

You are what your deep, driving desire is.

As your desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV 4.5

So what actions did you repeat today?

Are they becoming a habit?

Are they serving you?

Are they leading you towards your goal?

Are they helping you grow?

Pause and Observe your actions, for they are your destiny.

Perform this exercise everyday for a few minutes.

The Trip

2008-09-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

After the trip, I was showing

photographs that I took:

There were the tall pine trees,

the Sun rise and the rays shining through

the holes of the thick blanket of the forest.

The mighty Ocean hiding behind the morning fog,

The omnipresent, rhythmic and tireless waves

the essence of which I naively thought I captured in a photo.

The heart-shaped leaf of a plant,

its close-ups and the long shots,

the puddle in the trail going into the woods,

and a bird making a meal of a worm.

Then, came the question,

"Where are you? We aren't you in any of the pictures"

After a few quiet moments, I said,

"You just did. Who do you think took all these pictures?"

You cannot

2008-09-06T08:40:00.001-07:00

The ironic thing is:

You cannot plan to do a great work
You cannot plan to give a great speech

You cannot plan to improve

You cannot change your existing habits

You cannot discipline yourself

You cannot deliberately work hard

You cannot plan to have a focus or goal in life

You cannot improve your finances

You cannot aspire to be passionate

You cannot plan to have security in life

You cannot plan to grow.

Of course, you cannot plan to be happy and peaceful either.

You just cannot.

The only thing you can do is get inspired.

Fall in love with something and Just do it.

Then, you will have given your best and that is Great work. Inspired work.

You will then magically "find" yourself

being passionate, working hard towards a goal and growing

and in the process exhibiting different behaviors than before and doing things differently than before ending up feeling happy, secure and at peace always.

Two sides of the same coin

2008-07-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that Giving should not be done out of pity or guilt.

How then, do you know if you are Giving for the right reasons.

Here is a quick check:
If you feel honored to give, then you know it is right.
If you feel blessed to give, then you know it is right.
If you feel grateful for the opportunity to give, then you know it is right.

Giving and Receiving are two sides of the same coin.
Without Giving there is no Receiving.
Without Receiving there is no Giving.

One gives or offers something to the Other.
While receiving, the receiver has given the "opportunity to be charitable" to the giver and
While giving, the giver has become the recipient of that opportunity.

The Giver is also the Receiver and Receiver is also the Giver.

What is Real?

2008-07-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

Your 'Present' is real.

Your present circumstances are real.
Your present challenges are real.
Your present feelings are real.

You only have to deal with your present.
If you acknowledge your present totally and act accordingly,
then the natural Flow of the Universe aids you and
creates a future that you will be comfortable with.

The Power of ONE

2008-07-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

I am not referring to the ONE reality stuff here.
but
one unit of something, anything.

For example, If you want to make money by investing,
when you start out, if you focus your efforts on making a million dollars, you are heading in the wrong direction.

You can certainly have that as a goal, your intention, and in fact, you should.
Once you are clear, write it on a piece of paper, put it in a box
and keep the box in a place where you can take a look at it once a day to remind yourself of your goal.
Or do something to the equivalent of this to remind yourself everyday of your goal.

Then the rest of the day, you will be focusing on your efforts, right?
That's where the power of ONE comes into play.

Focus on earning one dollar, that's right one, 1, numero uno, dollar.
Make it, then make it again. Perfect it.
Get to the point where you can do it like it's magic, pulling it off effortlessly.
Become a master where you can do it consistently.
Then focus on earning 10 and only 10
and then 100 and only 100
and so on.

This might seem silly if you are an adult but I'm sorry but there is no other way.

Just to be clear, 'One' here, refers to 'One unit' and It may very well refer to
One hundred of something too.

P.S. Since, the earlier you start the better or look less sillier, teaching the kids now would be a good idea.

What is important?

2008-07-01T02:57:00.000-07:00

Having a desire to cook is more important than having a spacious, well equipped, well stocked kitchen or even being knowledgeable.
Having a desire to go some place is more important than having the means to get there.
Having a desire to play is more important than having toys or a backyard.
Having a family is more important that having a home.
Having fun is more important than what you do.
Having an experience is more important than accomplishing.
Having a desire is more important than having the means, as,
The desire has the power to manifest.

Mind: deactivate

2008-07-01T02:54:00.000-07:00

Few Tips to deactivate your mind so that you can be fully present in the moment.

1)Put time on your side.
Avoid situations where you are running out of time.
Because when you do end up in such situations, it becomes easy for the mind to get charged up.

2)Engage in something you love to do and get lost in it.

3)If something is nagging you, address it right away.
If you are unable to address it directly, you could employ other ways like writing it down and setting a reminder to get back to it at a later time.

4)Become Aware and Acknowledge what is happening.

5)Direct your awareness to the sensations in your body and feelings.

Why be Grateful?

2008-07-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

You be grateful/thankful for your own sake.
The state of being grateful eliminates the mind and puts you in direct contact with the Source.
and hence the more often you are thankful and the longer you remain in that state of gratefulness, the better you feel.

So do yourself a favor, and take every opportunity to be very very grateful, right from the fact that you are 'breathing right now' to 'all the opportunities you have had so far in your life'.

Career Path

2008-07-01T02:43:00.000-07:00

You can go about it 2 ways:
You can look for the needs/demands/opportunities that are existing or will exist and adapt yourself to cater to them
OR
Focus on being who you are thereby pronouncing and exemplifying "yourself" clearly.
Demonstrate those traits that make you "you" and feel good about them,
and as a result,
have appropriate Opportunities find you like bees find the flowers.

I like the latter. What about you?

Be patient!

2008-07-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

"Be patient!".
We hear it often times when we get anxious about something.
What does it mean?
While it certainly can mean, keep your mouth shut, stop twiddling your thumbs and sit in one place without biting your finger nails, it definitely means much more than that.

To acquire something, reach somewhere, accomplish something - you need patience.
Patience is the journey to the state of Knowing,
knowing that you are going to get what you desire without an iota of doubt.

Unless that state is achieved, you will not experience your object of desire.
You may flicker into that state of knowing and hence
you may have a fleeting experience of your desire but
for you to remain rooted in it,
requires you to score the necessary belief points to reach that level.
You need the belief that you can have what you desire because you are worth it.
That requires work on your part.
You may have to start out in small steps and gradually build up on the points on your belief scale to get to the score you need, but it sure does require work on your part.
And that is the journey.

In the process of building your confidence and hence belief by focusing on incremental acts, as a side effect,
you may be shedding certain beliefs, fears and negative emotions all of which allow you to direct even more of your energy towards your object of desire.

So Patience, then, is all about the work needed inside so you can have what you desire.

Who are you

2008-07-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

'Who you are' is never communicated through words.
They are self evident through your presence.
Just like a rose flower.
The moment you are articulating who you are, by that very act,
you are not being yourself.

Let your actions speak.
Better yet,
Let your presence speak.
They are louder, clearer and accurate.

Simplicity

2008-03-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

What is simplicity?

According to MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE, there are two entries that I found relevant
a: directness of expression : clarity b: restraint in ornamentation : austerity

If austerity were to refer to the external, tangible, physical stuff, that would be too superficial and does not provide us any insight into how clarity fits in as a synonym.

So, then, it has to be in the mind.
What state of the mind do we refer to as simple.

Let us say, you have been preparing hard for a job interview and now the day is nearing and you need a dress.

You go to the store, browse, select one and go to the check out counter, buy and come home.
Simple, right?

So,then, what would a non-simple mind have you do.

You go to the store, browse, select one, and while standing in the checkout line find this helpful and resourceful lady next to you in line, who tells you that,
for one penny more, you could buy another one of the same dress, 'It is the Penny Sale!'.
The next thing you know, you are driving home reveling in your good fortune and announcing the bargain sale to all your friends and some.

So why is this a non-simple behavior of a mind?
After all, you got such a value for almost nothing.

Because, in this instance, the mind lacks focus and clarity. There is clutter in the mind, in that, it cannot identify the priorities.

So then, Simplicity would equate to Clarity and Focus of the mind.
The clearer and focused you are about your priorities, the simpler you become.

When clarity and focus exist, your being expresses itself in all its glory.

Let Simplicity reign!

Coffee anyone....

2008-03-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently sent this to me. It has a nice analogy that reminds us to focus on what matters most.

Enjoy Life

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving
behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, sometimes that is the source of your problems and stress.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now if Life is coffee, then money, position, etc. are the cups.
They are just containers to hold Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Don't let the cups distract you... Enjoy the coffee instead.

Pay attention to what you feel

2007-09-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

It is not what you do, it is how it makes you feel, that matters.
It is not what you eat, it is how you feel when you eat, that matters.
It is not what you wear, it is how you feel when you wear, that matters.
It is not what you say, it is how you feel when you say, that matters.

you get the drift...

Why do I care?

Because what you feel is what produces the desired outcome that you intended and not what you do/eat/say/wear etc.

And so if you care about results, you should pay attention to your feelings associated with what you do.

Flip the Switch

2007-05-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

Think of yourself as a pipeline.
One end of the pipeline is hooked to the physical world. The other end is hooked to one of the two.
By default, it is hooked to the subconscious mind that is your belief system.
Your other choice is the Source or the womb of creativity of the higher Intelligence.

When you do connect to the Source, you are channeling the creative
energy and delivering it to the physical world in a variety of forms.
When
you are channeling the creative energy, you feel good and that is a
pretty good indicator of your connection and this can be
experienced on demand when you engage and feel in activities as mentioned below.

With a flip of a switch, you can shift from one to the other and it is your choice Now.
How do you bring yourself to flip this switch since the default setting is connected to your belief system.
In order to bring yourself to choose to flip the switch, engaging in certain type of activities and being in certain type of environments help.
Acts of Love, Kindness, Generosity, Creativity, Service are some of them. Remember, you could be on either side of the act i.e. the lover or the loved, the giver or the receiver, the benefactor or the benefited. Both are equally sacred and critical for the act to be committed and hence for the flow to happen.

Being in the presence of Beauty, Nature and Clean and clutter-free environment helps.
Being with a loved one(s) contributes.
Being helps.

In essence, through your being and actions, you can choose to allow energy to flow through you and end up feeling good and at peace.

True Experience

2007-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ego lets you experience the physical reality but through a filter - the filter of judgment. The judgment is based on the belief system and hence the experience is always tainted.

Judgment classifies any moment into pain or pleasure. The thought that somehow you can change your experience from the painful into pleasurable brings about suffering and that you can hang on to the pleasurable ones bring about addiction.

Pain becomes suffering as result of judgment. That somehow you can change the "now" is a root cause of aggravation leading to guilt, suffering, disappointment, fear and so on.

Judgment keeps your mind busy with the past and so you lose the "now" moment.
Not accepting what is happening in the "now" with thoughts of "what ifs", "should have" snowballs into aggravation.

Shoot for the pure experience of the reality. If you realize that the
present reality is inevitable and you can do nothing about it, then it might
help one to not judge and just let it all in.

The remedies, then are, stop judging and accept what is happening in the present moment.
Oh Wait, if you simply surrender to "now" and accept "now", that takes care of everything.

No reason

2007-05-18T19:19:00.002-07:00

Follow your "no reason" thoughts and desires. See what happens, you will be pleasantly surprised.
In my case, one such thought lead me to a solution for a problem that I have been trying to solve.
Such thoughts and desires will seem incoherent, irrational, irrelevant but such is the world of possibilities.
They seem that way because we are trying to look at them through our ego-driven mind which looks for structure and closure.

These are divine guidances, for they cannot be from ego because if it were, there would be a rationale behind them.

Treasure them, value them, follow them - they are the best guides for your life.

Effortless Help

2007-05-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

You can never help someone by offering anything when they are not ready. This applies to offering advice as much as offering some thing or service.
You cannot teach, advice, suggest, provide things or services and expect anything come out of it except frustration and aggravation if they are not ready.

Given this, you can do 2 things:
1) listen to what they are ready for and provide that if you feel you have something to offer,
and it will be gratifying.
2) On the other hand, if you do want to offer something, resist the urge to shove it down on someone. Instead, make it available broadly exposing it to as many as you can and let whoever is ready come to it.

"I want" to "I am"

2007-05-08T05:31:00.000-07:00

This is the transition that produces results in life.

Anisa Aven notes in one of her newsletters,

When we focus on what we want, what we desire, we send forth an energetic signal that is creative. However, that signal is not vibrationally aligned with what we say we want but instead it is aligned with 'the longing' for what we want. Desire is a descending emotion filled with longing, an intense wish for something that we feel separate from.

It's the experience of separation that prevents us from intentionally creating. As long as we feel separate from the essence of our desire, we vibrate in opposition to it.

"You can't have what you want." - God, in A Conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch

You have to change your 'wanting' to 'accepting'.

"I want" to "I am".

So what does it mean?

If you have been wanting to start something, don't wait. Start it today.

If you have been thinking about having something, break it down into actionable steps and take the first step today.

It is critical to start taking the first step as soon as possible because if you don't, you remain in the "I want" mode and the longer you are there, you are distancing yourself from that you want.
But if you take even a small step, you already are and it just requires practice and tweaking to get to your want.

Say, you want to be a marathon runner one day, if you get up and start jogging today and cover a mile in 15 minutes, you already are a runner and you are much closer to getting there than sitting on the couch and wanting.

Taking the plunge today, even if it is a baby step, is extremely important as it means
"You already are" and not a hopeful anymore. You may fail, face roadblocks but you are a lot closer to what you wanted at one point.

When you say "I want" you are taking yourself out of the playing field whereas "I am" puts you right into it.

"I want" is inaction and "I am" is taking action. Actions shift your state of the mind and your beliefs which are what are required for manifesting.

You need the "I want" thoughts to know your desires which is the starting point. Once you are convinced of having it, move to "I am" thoughts. They help you internalize that you want.

You may not be able to completely avoid the "I want" thoughts as you
are marching toward your goal, but the more you shift your focus on
where you are, accept it and do what you can at this moment, you will be manifesting in no time.

Sample progression from a "want" to "having" it.

I want to be a writer.
I am starting a blog.
I am writing my first post.
I am writing my second post.
.
.
.
.
.
I am writing my hundredth post.
I feel like a writer.
I am a writer.

Ok. Now I want to be a published writer.

I am getting ideas from my blog posts.
I am listening.
I am journaling.
I am outlining the chapters.
I am writing my 1st chapter.
I am writing my 2nd chapter.
....
....
....

....
....

I am writing my 12th chapter.
I am revising.
I am editing.
I am getting a publisher.
The book is published.
I am a published writer.

Happy Manifesting!!!

The most important rule

2007-04-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

Seth in his blog post titled "The most important rule" says,

How's this for a 98% rule: By a factor of three, what you do is not nearly as important as how it makes people feel.

I, for one, totally buy that. In the spirit of this blog, I would add that,

Every single time, what you do is not nearly as important as how it makes YOU feel.

If you are giving away time, effort and/or money and you are feeling that you are losing something, that feeling has a profound effect on how you perceive the world, a world of scarcity instead of infinite abundance.

What you feel is a natural reaction stemming from your belief system and it also can affect it.

If you are selling a product/service and you are pushing for a sale somehow through some outrageous claims or by undercutting price, you are feeling that it is a win-lose proposition and you believe that what you are selling is not the best.

In your career, if you are settling for not-so challenging projects every time, then you are believing that you are not good enough.

Not that you are not great but that is what you made yourself feel by choosing the unchallenging project and so you are, for now. But that can change, if you become aware of this, and make a statement to yourself by choosing differently.

The key is to be aware of your actions and their effect on your feelings.
What you feel impacts your belief system and your belief system dictates what you perceive in this world and to what extent. More on beliefs here.

Whenever you come across a new person, thing or event, ask yourself, how it is making you feel and check to see if it is not negatively impacting your belief system in any way.

Are you "Exception-safe"?

2007-04-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

Life throws exceptions at us all the time
- the driver that suddenly cuts in front of you, angry client calls, curve balls thrown by family members and not to mention the crimes in the community, catastrophes around the world and so on.

Exception handling in software programming is basically handling abnormal scenarios gracefully even though we don't like for them to happen. Bad handling or no handling includes yelling at the user by showing them the internal error messages, blaming the user for the problem and/or crashing the application.

We all know why not having exception safe code is bad. It is simply asking for trouble as it is denial of the reality. Things happen. The best approach is to do as much as possible to prevent it but accommodate the rare occurrences of the odd ball cases that you are not aware of. The truth is you cannot anticipate everything.

Exception handling routines acknowledge the problem, log them for analysis later and help the program resume or quit in a reasonable fashion.

Just as it is good for your application, having such routines for your life also can be very beneficial for the same reasons.

So do you have exception handling routines for your life?

How would a template of such routine look like?

1. Catch the exception

It sounds trivial, but a lot of times we resist, deny, react angrily, get frustrated, blame others and so on when faced with "exceptional" people, situations and events.

Accept the exception that has been thrown. Understand that the present moment is the reality and it is inevitable.

90% of the problem is solved right here.

2. Handle the exception

Contemplate on the exception based on what information you have with an open mind.

If you do not want it to happen again, see what you can do about it.

Like, on your morning commute to work, you may want to give yourself additional buffer time so that when someone cuts in, you are ready because you are now relaxed and alert and most importantly not in a hurry.

Remember, the only thing you have control over is yourself just like the only thing you have control over in your application is your code and not what the user or machine or network does.

Change your attitude towards life.

Practice breathing and relaxation routines.

Eat healthy, Exercise, Drink plenty of water and

Dedicate some quiet time to yourself everyday.

Soon, you will find yourself handling the exceptions with ease and grace as they happen that they would merely become event handling.

Happy coding and stay exception-safe!

Us Vs. Them

2007-03-30T17:14:00.001-07:00

Quite simply, conflicts arise when we come across objectionable behavior in others.

Instead of pointing out the behavior that is disturbing us, we take exception to the person

exhibiting the behavior. Although it may make sense at the outset, like the person is responsible for the behavior and hence no need to disassociate, this kind of thinking and approach does not lead to the solution and hence the need to look at this closely.

Take a simple example of your neighbor, who smokes and that bothers you because the kids play outside in the evening and the you are worried about the second hand smoking.

Now, clearly smoking in the open where kids may be exposed is an irresponsible act.

However, one type of response would be to judge the neighbor as being irresponsible and irrational and the moment this judgment is made by you, you eliminate the possibility of having a rational discussion with the neighbor. We know what happens after that, talk behind the back, scowl, generate hard feelings every time you come across this person and so on.

On the other hand, you disassociate the irresponsible behavior from the neighbor(the person)

(and perhaps focus on the goodness in him/her - the time when he picked up groceries when you were sick etc)
and consider the neighbor as your friend. Suddenly the true culprit - the behavior is isolated and can now be presented as such to your friend. In this case, you and your neighbor friend are one and you can present your case in an atmosphere where both can truly discuss, listen (this is important) to each others' concern and you have now created the possibility to finding an amicable solution.

This applies to conflicts arising between couples in a relationship to conflicts between cultures, religions, traditions, nations and everything in between.

Now the question arises, why do we associate the behavior with the person so often?

Perhaps, because that is how we treat ourselves. When we commit an idiotic act, we say, "I am an idiot", don't we? No matter how nasty, compulsive, addictive and detrimental our behaviors are, they are simply behaviors that we have chosen to exhibit and if we so choose, we can discard and adopt whatever we want.

We are not our behaviors.

So if we, from now on, pay careful attention to our behaviors and see them as our choices, we can gain control over them and not be so harsh on ourselves when we act angrily the next time knowing that it too can be changed

and perhaps it will help us to see others in the same light as well.

Instant Vs Delayed gratification

2007-03-30T16:20:00.001-07:00

Why not buy it now and save for it later as opposed to save now and buy it later?

With the former, you will be at least be forced to save and hence discipline yourself while gratifying. So what then is the case for the latter?

Here is what I feel about the latter:

If you decided to save some amount every month for 6 months and then buy it, one of two things would happen at the end of 6 months.

1) You will have saved enough and by that you have proved to yourself that you care about it enough that you could set apart the amount every month and live without it.

It may still be a want but your priority is clear or if it is truly a need, it has withstood the test of time and the
whims of mind.

You can now afford to buy if you still feel you want it and you can do so with a clear conscience and no debt.

You totally deserve it, You are the man, all is well.

2) You will not have saved it, and in here, I believe, lies the true value of this latter proposition.

It either means you were not disciplined enough to put away the set amount every month which in turn means that it was simply a "want/nice to have/don't care" and not a "need", which is good to know OR

It means you do not care about it that much as compared to the other things that you spent that "set" amount on every month, and this insight is also very valuable - at least now your priorities are clear and it also made it glaring that you cannot afford it now.

Either way, besides the obvious benefit of cutting down on the impulsive buying behavior, the waiting/saving period really tests if it is a need or a want, highlights your priorities, reveals your affordability and as a side effect, you won't end up with stuff that you don't really need and in some cases, even, less debt.

Unknown - A chance to Grow

2007-03-15T15:23:00.002-07:00

When you afraid of the Unknown , you are afraid of growth, because that's what the Unknown brings you. Unknown forces you to confront your fears and once you confront, you begin to overcome it and once you overcome your fear, you would have grown.

People and circumstances that you come across reflect who you are.

So if they are new, then there is a potential that they may reflect an aspect of you.
That may be your strength or weakness.
What if it is a weakness - then you may not like to confront it.

That weakness may embarrass you at first, unnerve you, your ego will get hurt and so your ego will do everything in its power to make you avoid that Unknown in the first place.

This has the unfortunate side effect wherein you will not come to know what your strengths are either.

But if you stand your ground and are committed to growth, you will be richly rewarded.
Learn your strengths and develop them and learn your weaknesses so that you can overcome them and all of this possible only if you keep moving out of your comfort zone as soon as you end up in one and into the Unknown.

If you have trouble confronting your weaknesses, highlight some of your strengths and fall back on them, languish in them and then remind yourself that you are a worthy individual and that you are fine as you are, complete as you are and the weaknesses in no way, make you less of a person and that the only reason for your confront is to gain new experiences.

The reason you want to discover your strengths and weaknesses is, a whole new world of experiences will open up to you, which is a treat in itself but you also get to serve others in new ways as well.

And the only way to get here is to actively look out for and get to know new (read unknown) people, confront uncomfortable situations, do things you are afraid of, basically,
by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and into the Unknown.

The Belief Factor - 2

2007-03-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

Continuing from a previous post,
Be mindful of what you tell others on what is impossible and/or how difficult something was because your words have the potential to influence their belief system.

Since not everybody is reading this blog and hence may not be following what I just said ;),
also be mindful of what you listen to, be it from your family members, friends, tv, radio, books, internet etc.when it comes to possibilities and experiences.
Because the truth is that their possibilities and experiences are are unique to them and they have attracted those into their lives because of who they are.
You are not them and hence you may experience it differently unless you let them weaken your belief in which case, you may be subjected to the same fate or close to it.

When you do want to relate your experiences and not necessarily an inspiring one at that, make sure you tag it with a disclaimer, preferably in bold and big fonts that the experience was unique to you and that their mileage will vary, if they so choose.

This is especially true while raising children, we sometimes tend to impregnate them with our opinion on the possibilities as if they were set in stone. It would be an injustice as we just corrupted their belief system as what parents say tend to carry a weight. We may not realize that we are doing so but if we become mindful, we can catch ourselves. Of course, with children, this does not apply to anything that will pose a threat to their lives.

Case in point, an extreme case but nevertheless a fine illustration of external input affecting the belief system of what is possible and not, found in the book The Biology Of Belief: Unleashing The Power Of Consciousness, Matter And Miracles by
Bruce H. Lipton.
In short, it is the case of Dr. Albert Mason, where he finds success treating a boy's case of warts using hypnosis and later when he learns that the boy had been diagnosed incorrectly and that he did not suffer from warts but from a lethal genetic disease called congenital ichthyosis, which until that time had been considered incurable, he was never able to replicate the results he had had with the young boy.

Spring Cleaning Tips

2007-03-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

There is this overarching goal in our lives and/or several other passions that we would like to pursue and then there are some routine, mundane things in life which one has got to do.

However, there are certain sucker thoughts and activities, "energy vampires" as Dr.Orloff calls them, that simply occupy our thoughts and suck up our energy leaving us exhausted and drained. The mind cleverly disguises these suckers by presenting them in a manner that is appealing to our ego - pampering it sometimes, threatening it certain other times using fear and guilt and forces us to engage in them.

Over time, engaging in such thoughts and activities become a habit that we don't even complain or question and not realize why we don't have time or energy to spend on what matters most in our lives.

A little spring cleaning every now and then on our thoughts and activities helps bring vitality back to our lives.
This spring, I am scrutinizing and sorting my thoughts, organizing my activities, asking myself the question "Am I thrilled?" or "Am I inspired?"
before pursuing a thought or activity and using the answers to prioritize.

Incomplete is the new complete

2007-03-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

The mind hijacks my thoughts promising closure on the other thoughts, and
convinces me that the other thoughts are of higher priority than the current one.

Why is closure important? Why do I go for symmetry? Why do I value completeness?

That must be the mind playing tricks on me. If every moment is precious, then everything as it is, in this moment should also be precious.

So I proclaim, Incomplete is the new complete.

The journey should be savored as much as being at the destination.

Getting there should be enjoyed as much as Being there.

Learning should be enjoyed as much as being Accomplished.

Growing up should be enjoyed as much as being Grown up.

Longing should be enjoyed as much as Having.

In the longing,
In the learning,
In the growing up,
In the journey

lies the
experience without which the end is meaningless.

When is it complete?

2007-03-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

When you are at peace with it.
It is your choice.

The Belief Factor

2007-02-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

If I said,
"If you want to become a millionaire by next week, you could", would you believe it?

If you answered, "No way", then that is exactly why you will not.

Does that make sense?

You have to believe in something for that to actually happen.
It is not just a criteria but the creator or the facilitator.

The belief factor should be at 100%. If there is even an iota of doubt lingering somewhere,
the belief factor becomes less than 100% and so chances of it happening gets remote.

Try it, the next time you want something, wish for something, see where your belief factor is on that. If you believe that you deserve it totally with all your being, then it will happen instantaneously.
If not, work to get it to 100%.
Work on your thought, words and actions.
Visualize and go about your life as if you already have it because that is the truth.

To fly as fast as thought
To Be anywhere There is
You must first begin by knowing
That you have already Arrived.
-Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

This may take time, because of your past conditioning.
Be aware of them, consciously work on replacing your old beliefs with new ones.
Let go of fear and any other negative feelings
and start beliving that you deserve anything that you desire.
If you still can't believe it, then accept it.

But the bottom line is, anything that has got a belief factor of 100% on it, manifests in your life
whether you like it or not.
If you believe that the economy is getting worse, it will, for you.
If you belive there are opportunities and abundance everywhere, there will be, for you.

Smoking hurts because of the belief that smoking hurts.
Just ask a group of smokers, how many believe smoking hurts and you will be surprised.
No wonder their bodies get affected - their beliefs have to manifest.

For another fascinating example of the power of belief, check out the story in Chapter 5 of the book
The Biology Of Belief: Unleashing The Power Of Consciousness, Matter And Miracles by Bruce H. Lipton

Belief creates every experience in your world. Put it to your benefit.

Continued here...

Welcome what comes your way

2006-11-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

When a dog runs at you, whistle for him.
-Henry David Thoreau

What a beautiful proverb. Wisdom for life conveyed simply.
I love metaphors, such a powerful way to convey a message.

Accept life now as is, with enthusiasm and smile and things would be just fine.

Own your perspective

2006-11-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Your life provides you with a perspective of the outside world that is truly unique.
Really, Nobody else in the world has got a perspective as yours of the outside world.

The combination of your past, your upbringing, your circumstances, your family and friends,
your job, in essence, your experiences is unique and hence you look at outside events in a unique fashion as well.
And that is a gift handed to you.

So recognize it, make use of it, be proud of it, own it, capture it and express it.

We all want to see what is your perspective.
The world is waiting.
The Universe is watching and so is God.

Now and One

2006-11-02T04:15:00.000-08:00

Want to create something?
Want to change something?

Have a goal and a plan.

But here is the secret.
You have to come up with steps small enough that can be done NOW
because it can only happen ONE at a time.

If you want to feed millions,
1. feed ONE NOW.
2. Repeat Step 1

If you want to handle a billion dollars,
1. start managing your pennies NOW.

You begin saving the world by saving

one man at a time; all else is grandiose

romanticis or politics.

-Charles Bukowski

So, What are you doing?

2006-11-01T11:27:00.001-08:00

Before you answer that, I'll tell you a story.

There are three stonecutters, and they are all cutting stones. The first stonecutter is asked, "What are you doing?"

He answers angrily, "I'm cutting stones as any idiot can see."

He is angry because every day is the same, He gets up and cuts stones,
His life has no purpose that he can see, and he is unhappy.

The second stonecutter is asked, "What are you doing?" He is irritable.
"I am cutting stones so I can raise a family and afford a nice house."
He will die an unhappy, selfish man in a nice house, He has served only himself.

The third stonecutter is asked, "And what are you doing?"

He is happy. "I am cutting the stones for a great cathedral that will give comfort to thousands of people." His life has purpose, and the purpose feeds him and feeds his family and makes him feel good.

So now go ahead answer the question to yourself,

"What are YOU doing?"

Why are you doing what you are doing?

2006-10-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Why are you doing what you are doing?
Why do you want to do what you want to do?

I hear this reply sometimes,
"I like to do it and there is a great demand for it. "

and Reasons like

People need me.
People need my service.
People just don't get it, they need my message.
They need to be more productive.
They are in a bad shape.
They are suffering.
They will go bankrupt.
They will fall sick.
They will die.

There is a flaw in doing what you want to do because of reasons like above.
The reasons seem reasonable, right? There is a demand and I can successfully fulfill the demand. What's wrong with that?

Guess what.. People may never get you or your message.
They fall into a bad shape, go bankrupt, fall sick and die for various reasons.
Things are the way they are for various reasons.
Those reasons are beyond us.

Ofcourse, it is a good idea to check if there is a need for it, a demand for it, but that alone should
never be your driving factor.

It's good to help them but not because of their state but because of your state.

If you do because you want to do, then results won't matter or affect you.

If you do because you want to do, you will continue to help no matter what.

If you do because you want to do, you live from your being.

If you rely on the state of the receiver to do what you want to do, they dictate your ability to do.

If you rely on your desire to do, then you will keep doing it for as long you desire and nothing can stop you.

Simply, Your reason to do what you want to do must come from inside you

Because,
that is the only time, the only time
when you can do your best.

You "got" it when...

2006-09-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

You got it when....

you see beauty in ugliness
you hear music in the silence
you hear silence in the music
you see perfection in imperfection
you see meaning in meaningless
you see completeness in the incomplete

you see action in inaction
you speak by not speaking
you can "see" it before you actually see it

you see order in chaos
you see opportunity in a challenge
you see success in a failure
you see profit in a loss

you see death in life and life in death
you see receiving in giving

you see the miracle in the mundane
you see the extraordinary in the ordinary

you see the unmanifest in the manifest

and
when you see the whole in nothing.

Success & Failure

2006-09-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

When you take failure as a negative, you are taking it personally, and that indicates that
Ego is hurt. The same way, if you let success get to your head, it is your Ego that gets inflated.
Neither is real.

If you learn to look at failure and success equanimously, then you have removed Ego
and you have realized the true meaning of this life, which is nothing but to experience.
Both success and failure are necessary to give you the experience that you are seeking.

In a dance, you take a few steps forward and a few steps backward, only then it becomes a dance, isn't it? You don't take it negatively when you have to take steps backward, all you care about is the dance, the experience.
Roller coaster ain't no fun if there no ups and downs, infact,
the more there are, the more fun it is. Both the ups and downs combine to give you the thrill that you seek. You can't get an experience without either one.

Success and failure are the same way. Don't focus on them. Instead make sure you have plenty of successes and failures in your life, by taking bold actions, which in turn will give you great experiences and enjoy those experiences.
They make your life come alive and worth living.

Why be an Optimist?

2006-06-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

Never mind the research that came out and said,
Optimists tend to live 10 times better than the pessimists,
Never mind the adage that says, Your attitude decides your altitude.

Remember that Your reality is dynamically cocreated by you, Yes You.
Garbage in Garbage out. Your thoughts and emotions create your reality.

Hence in ANY given circumstance and at any given moment, always focus on bringing in the helpful, positive thoughts and emotions which will in turn facilitate the creation of your life the way you want. Focusing on anything else is simply a distraction. Feelings of disappointment, frustration, desperation etc. only block the flow of the desired things from coming in to your life.

You may be in a disaster situation, yet do not let that open your mind up to negative thoughts
and emotions because if you do, you are just creating your future.
So in the interest of creating a life that you want, you need to focus your mind now on that, that will help you.

It requires training your mind and it can be done and when you do, you will be called an optimist. But you know better than that. You just created the life you wanted.

Why Detachment ?

2006-04-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Why are we so attached to the goals, results?

They are the endings.
You already are what you are aspiring to be
and you already have what you are yearning for.

The game lies in the journey. And life is a game.
You decide to experience certain attributes.
You set yourself a goal of either becoming someone and attaining something.
You forget that you already are that something or already have that something and
then play the game of reaching the goal.
And in the process you are presented with circumstances that will allow you to experience those attributes.

Have you ever had the feeling,
Once you have attained some state and/or something you desired, that it was no big deal to have come to that state and the experience of getting there is what mattered.
If you have, it is because, The state is just native to you whereas the experience is brand new.

That, my friend, is the game of Life. It is all about the path you take and the experiences you encounter along the way. It is all about the ups and downs. The goals, aspirations etc only act as flag markers to aim at but in how you get there lies the key. That is what this life is about.

If you realize this, then you will not be so attached to the outcome and pay more attention to the everyday moments, everyday acts of kindness and enjoy life as it presents you with its challenges - because that is what you signed up for to begin with - to experience and NOT to possess or attain.

Some quotes:
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow - what a Ride!"
Peter Sage - Entrepreneur and Speaker

Be focused on action and not on the fruits of action. Do not become confused in attachment to the fruit of your actions and do not become confused in the desire for inaction (2,47).
Bhagavad Gita

Technorati tags: spiritual life spirituality spiritually speaking detachment results goals

Are you Satisfied?

2006-03-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

I recently read this post that highlighted some comments made by
Barry Schwartz, author of the book "The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less "

The author says,
People are so overwhelmed with choice that it has two effects. Instead of liberating people it tends to paralyze them. Second, with all of this choice people may do better objectively—they may get a better salad dressing, CD player or spouse—but they will feel worse. When there are lots of options out there and you choose one and it is less than perfect, it is easy to imagine that there is a better one out there.

Too much choice makes people more likely to defer decisions. It raises expectations and makes people blame themselves more often for choosing poorly. As Schwartz puts it:
You don’t expect much if there are only two pairs of jeans to choose from. If there are hundreds, you expect one to be perfect. We end up being dissatisfied with an outcome that is better even than when we had fewer choices. When there are only two types of jeans to choose from and the one you choose is not perfect, it’s the world’s fault. If there are 200 choices, it’s your fault.

Why are more choices confusing? Is it really the case? What is the problem here?

Ironically, as individuals, to be satisfied itself is a choice that we all have to make.
It does not depend on any"thing". If it does, then your satisfaction is tied to that "thing"and what seems like satisfaction will only last until the next best "thing" comes along.
The author says, by limiting the choices one has, you can drive someone to satisfaction BUT Spiritually speaking, we can approach this along different lines, I believe.

Like I said before, for satisfaction you have to simply choose to be so
as it is a state of awareness.
IF you let your mind kick in, it brings with it a slew of analysis and comparison tools along with it and starts presenting you with choices like a search engine.

Sure, there is a place for it, to find the thing that meets your needs/wants but then again, if the mind extends its stay, it certainly can make your life miserable as it will prevent you from choosing that state of satisfaction
by appealing to your Ego through the "better" concept and we all know going after "better" is chasing illusion as there is always something better.

You have to draw the line at "good" - what is good for you - good enough to meet your needs/demands/wants. Then, deliberately Choose to be satisfied irrespective of your decision. Infact, you can choose to be satisfied all the time by accepting the present moment as is.
It is your choice to make and only you have to power.

Celebrating YOU!

2006-03-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful story I got from my friend that reminds us all to not only recognize our individualities but to celebrate and rejoice in them.

A water bearer in China had two large pots,
each hung on the ends of a polewhich he carried across his neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked potarrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect forwhich it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream, "I am ashamed of myself, and because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The bearer said to the pot,"Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.

Moral: Each of us has our own unique "flaws". We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the goodness in them including you.

Celebrate your individuality because it is worth it!

Technorati tags: spiritual life spirituality spiritually speaking

Who is your Role Model?

2006-02-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

Who is your Role Model?

Very often, the answer to this question is a loved one or a celebrity who could be a movie star, an athlete, an entrepreneur, an environmentalist, a scientist, an inspirational speaker or a spiritual guru etc.
As you can see, it is often a person although it is the qualities that they personify, embody and exude that inspire us. These qualities carry the energy that attracts us to them.

This observation and awareness is important in this ostentatious world because over time, we tend to subconsciously carry our admiration of the attributes over to the person exemplifying them and once the shift happens, we cling on to the personality and hence we are subjected to their whims and caprices that tend to hijack our attention and needless to say, it is a distraction.

Also paying attention to any aspect of the personality's life is often times misleading and misguiding. People make mistakes, often times, as a result of their personal karma.
We will be doing a disservice to ourselves by paying attention to them as opposed to the qualities that they demonstrate to us so well.

So if we start concentrating on the attributes in a person as opposed to the person , soon we would find those very qualities blossoming in our lives as well,
which by the way is the purpose of having a role model in the first place.

You were attracted to a particular quality in a person for a good reason - that quality that has been dormant all along wants to be born now. And having a role model that is demonstrating that quality acts a reminder for us of that quality.

So who is your role model now?

Technorati tags: spiritual life spirituality spiritually speaking role model

The Art of Kite-Flying

2006-02-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Living Life is, in a way, like flying a kite.

How does one fly a kite...First, You need a kite that is well balanced with a strong frame because, the higher you want the kite to fly, the stronger the structure ought to be.

Once you release it, the kite-flier needs a good understanding of the role the Wind plays for the kite to soar. It is the Wind that is going to propel the kite higher, however, the flier has a key role to play - tugging and releasing the kite deftly, harnessing the Wind's power to carry the kite to heights.

If the flier tugs the kite too often, the kite can not go as high as it could, as was often the case with mine.
If the flier releases the kite too often, the kite will not remain higher long enough and will drift down quickly.

Only the delicate balance between "tugging and releasing" will result in an enjoyable and fulfilling kite-flying experience.

In Life, first, we need to make sure that we care for our bodies and minds and keep them in a good shape as they are the frames for our journey.

As we go through our journey, when we struggle to go higher, often times, guess what is the problem - It is the exact same as it is with the kite -
the lack of understanding of the art of "tugging and letting go" of life.

It is a constant dance between our ego and Self to propel us to have truly great experiences and take us to a higher levels.

Just as a skilled kite-flier needs to understand that the Wind is what makes the kite soar high,we need to understand that our Higher Self is what makes our lives soar and so we should "let go and release" to allow the Energy to guide our physical existences to higher levels
AND
at the same time we should also "tug" our egos at the appropriate times to do our dharmic duties to create the circumstances in our lives that will enable us to EXPERIENCE life to the fullest.

Once we understand this delicate art of "tugging and letting go", we will be able to propel both our lives and kites to dizzying heights that result in memorable experiences.

Let us allow our Higher Self to show us the way and
let us use our physical existences to create the circumstances that will allow us to experience what comes along the way.

Be aware of this and you will be flying high!

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Running out of Time

2006-02-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

How to tackle "lack of time" / "running out of time" situations ?

Recently one day, on my way to work, I was waiting at a traffic light, antsy that I was getting late for a meeting at work, and the light seemed to take forever to turn green that those few seconds seemed like eternal. I was feeling that those few moments just get erased so I could move along.

Suddenly out of the blue, it occured to me that instead of squirming in the car with no way out,
why not think of a way to use those few moments for something else, other than thinking about how it is not helping me....

Sure, those few moments should come in handy for something.

How can I ..... What kind of things can I ..... Ah....

Practice some deep long breaths.....
Say some affirmations.....
Look around and have some good thoughts for a stranger...

I did some...
Wow.. that felt good, and so I decided I am going to have a list of these things to do while I am stuck at times like at a long queue at the post office, riding the elevator and of course at the lights.

I realized Just by asking the right question, you can turn the tables around to your favor.

Instead of focussing on how waiting at the lights is not helping me to getting to work,
I focused on how can that time be effectively utilized?

And from that day on, I look forward to those little pockets of time during the day... It's fun and not to mention a stress reliever.

Technorati tags: spiritual life spirituality spiritually speaking stress tips

Be a good receiver

2006-02-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have come across a few instances where people are too skeptical about donating to charities which brings me to focus on one of the yin yang attributes – Giving and Receiving.

Lot of times, Giving and the Giver are glorified to the extent that Receiving and the Receiver are almost neglected and undervalued and looked upon as the unfortunate - and in the process failing to recognize the bigger picture.

Quite simply, there is no Giving without Receiving. That’s how critical is Receiving. Without a receiver, there cannot be a giver.

Understanding that Giving and Receiving are two sides of the same coin is vital as it will impact the state of the mind as a Giver favorably.

The state of the Giver while giving decides what effect the act of giving will have on the Giver.

If the Giver is having a mindset that he is bestowing a favor on the Receiver, the unfortunate, then he is reinforcing the "I am separate from them" notion and hence clinging on to the Ego self and away from the Higher Self.

If the Giver is having doubts about how the Gift will be utilized, managed etc., then she is implying that she does not trust the Universe's intelligence and hence distancing away from It.

If the Giver has regrets and or fears while giving, then he is believing that there is only limited amount of abundance to go around and hence, missing out access to the Universe's infinite abundance.

Also, something else to remember is that, if the Giver has feelings of doubt, fear, regret and so on, she will be attracting circumstances into her life that reflect exactly those feelings.

On the other hand,
If the Giver believes that she is simply participating in the flow of energy while gifting and is passing on only what came from Universe's infinite source of abundance, and is grateful that there is a receiver and an opportunity to give, then all the doubts, fears, regrets, egotist feelings will vanish and will be firmly lodged in the Truth and the Universe will have more coming your way to fill the vacuum you have created by Giving away.

So simply act per your calling while Giving and
You should give only because you want to give.

Technorati tags: spiritual life spirituality spiritually speaking

Celebrating New Year !!!

2006-01-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

I love it when something I have been writing falls nicely in place.
I wanted to write a piece for the ‘Celebrating New Year’ thing and with New Year resolutions being so closely tied to this event, I found this blog that I have been writing for a while to be a perfect and meaningful complement to this subject. Simply love it when that happens.

What Matters Most to You

“Why can’t we buy the Plain Dealer (our local daily)? “ asked my wife with genuine curiosity.

That seems like a good idea but we don’t have the time to spend reading it everyday, dear. “Well, shouldn’t we be making the time to read it then” replied my wife and that segways us to the core of an issue that plagues many people called the “I don’t have enough time” syndrome.

While everyone in this planet has only 24 hours in their day, some seem to accomplish more than the others. Some seem to be more content and fulfilled with their daily activities than the others. What is their secret?

The key is prioritization of the activities. We all have more things to do than we have the time for. However, if you look closely at each one of them, you will find that accomplishing some will mean more to you or will have the highest impact or fulfillment in your life than others. Lots of them are mundane activities like paying the bills, cleaning the dishes (although done mindfully, it can be a very meditative experience as it is for Dr. Weil, he once mentioned) and so on.

But there are time sucker activities that we mistake for “have-to-done” activities simply because we are habituated to them. Like watching television, reading a newspaper (I’m not saying reading is bad, more on this later), playing a video-game, gossiping, window shopping, internet surfing and so on.

Rather than stare at the mindless TV shows or worse a re-run of them, taking the time to exercise for 30 minutes, playing or learning to play a new game like tennis or softball or bowling, taking the pet out to the park, reading/talking to your child, having some meaningful family time every day, taking the time to solve a crossword puzzle, engaging in your hobby activity and if you don’t have one, find one you would love to do (it’s never too late – you might end up living till 100, ya know ;-)), taking a stroll in the nature, talking to your long distance friends and family, volunteering for a cause that matters to you, learning some healthy, nutritious recipes, taking a class at a local college on something you like to learn new or to improve existing skill (learning a language is fun for some, I recently came across a language called ‘Esperanto’ – it is a constructed language that is only a 100 some years old and is supposedly very easy to learn and has a nice network of people around the world and you can even stay with them for free when you visit their country. Lovely. Check it out.), relaxing your body and mind by learning techniques like yoga or tai-chi, or just simply not engaging in anything and be in silence for 30 minutes and you know where I am going with this, any such activity will nourish your body, mind and soul and help you to be true to yourSelf.

May I also remind you that not all of the above mentioned tasks are meaningful and fulfilling to all of us, each of us have to decide for ourselves and only we can know which ones are meaningful in our lives.

The more “meaningful-to-you” activities you engage in, the more satisfying your life will be and the lesser you will care about not getting the “other” tasks done.

Planning Ahead

The secret is in knowing what the “What matters most to me” tasks are and then prioritizing/balancing them with your mundane tasks. This can only be accomplished if you plan your tasks ahead as opposed to doing things on the spur of the moment.

Unless you make it clear to yourself what those “high value” tasks are beforehand, you will be swayed by those trivial tasks throughout the day and your life and leave you wondering at 60 “Gosh, I wish I spent more time with my kids or learnt to do or tried my hand at ”.

Now you may wonder, wouldn’t I know when I come across these trivial tasks and avoid them. Well, you know the answer to that. If you don’t and are not sure, just jot down the activities that you did for the past week and check it out for yourself. Well, even if you catch yourself about to do an unimportant task and steer yourself away from it, where would you steer yourself to? That’s why sitting down and planning your activities ahead is critical.

“Miss a day. Miss a lot”, proclaims our local daily newspaper.
I am sure, I would miss a lot but the question is Does it matter? I can’t seem to flip through and come across one page (other than an Ad page) that is without negativity. I certainly don’t need that.
I better miss a lot.

Happy New Year to everyone!
My Best wishes to all of you as you make your “meaningful” New Year resolutions this year!!!

P.S. If you would like get some help in accomplishing your new year resolutions, write them down, share them with a friend, come up with a plan, write that down too, commit to achieving them, write down your commitment too. This will empower your resolutions quite a bit.
There is a link to join the Yahoo groups for this very purpose, if you like.

Technorati tags:
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Understanding Free will

2005-12-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

Free will is tied to our growth spiritually. It is very crucial to our growth.
We may have been assigned (or agreed to) our life’s purpose but to align our choices that we make everyday with our life’s purpose is a challenge, to say the least.

Life presents us with so many set ups every moment (more like traps ;-) ) to see us exercise our free will to choose and those set ups are so real that if we don’t exercise self control, we will end up making choices that don’t serve our Higher purpose.

At a physical level,
For example, some of these setups that apply to most of us are obvious and ubiquitous like fried and sugary foods that if we let our taste buds have their say, we will end up making choices that don’t serve us.
Some others that apply to all but are not obvious yet ubiquitous are pills that we take for instant relief without truly healing ourselves.

Lot of these setups provide instant gratification.

At a mental level,
Some of the setups include what we see, hear, and do every day. With the amount of information that we are bombarded with through television, radio, newspaper and the Internet, if we do not make conscious selections, it is more than likely for us to be exposed to stuff that don’t necessarily serve our Higher purpose.

At an emotional level,
Some of the setups include the way we interact with people, react to events and so on. Considering the stressful situations that we are exposed to at work, on the congested roads, in our family circumstances, etc. once again, if do not make deliberate choices, we are likely to falter.

As you can see, we have plenty of opportunities to exercise our Free Will.

The key to remember is that we have been provided with all kinds of choices all the time and we have also been given the power of Free will to choose that either serves our Higher Purpose or not. It is perfectly ok if the choices we make turn out to hinder rather than help us
as long as we are willing to learn from them.

That is what IS Life and that is how Growth happens. The only way we can grow faster is by making every choice consciously so that we can learn from the results and make more choices that serve us than those that don’t.

Sometimes, it is hard for us to see the choices we have and we feel stuck and think that we don’t have choices. But that is seldom true. We have to KNOW that we always have choices and if we could just bring ourselves to this moment, quieten our minds, listen to our hearts and look beyond our egos, we can SEE those choices as well.

Remember,
This game of life cannot move on if we do not choose (Mind you, not making a choice is also your choice) and so there will always be choices and also free will for us to choose.

So, Be aware and Make it the “right” choice for you.

Technorati tags:
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Sunrise on a winter morning

2005-12-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Sunrise on a winter morning

Sunrise on a wintry day

2005-12-25T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sunrise on a wintry day

Celebrating Christmas

2005-12-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

As we were breaking for the holidays, I wished my colleague "Merry Christmas" and he wished me back but a second later, he realised that I coule be a non-Christian and whether his wish was a valid one or not. So in his attempt to get some clarification, he asked me if I celebrated Christmas and if I wasn't if there was an equivalent festival in my tradition.

Hmmmmm.....

Being spiritually aware, I couldn't answer that without getting some clarification myself.
So I asked him, "Ok, so what is Christmas, what does it mean to you?"
His reply was "You know, from a religious view, it is the birth of Jesus but basically it is people exchanging gifts and families getting together, type of thing".

Fair enough...

Being exposed to the meta physical meaning of the Bible, I knew that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ's or God's principles in each and every one of us.

The birth of principles like unconditional Love, forgiveness, kindness, generosity are worth celebrating and in this day and age, I hope each and every one of us celebrates this birth in them.
Also, it only makes sense to celebrate Christmas not just on Dec 25th but everyday.
Doesn't it?

To my colleague I replied, "Yes, I do celebrate Christmas", long after he had left.

Merry Christmas to everyone,

There is no way to Peace, Peace is the way.

Create the LIFE of your DREAMS

2005-12-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Now, I have been noticing a pattern lately that is quite mind boggling in terms of its consequences.

Although, it is a well-known phenomenon amongst the New Age thinkers, I am coming to realize it first hand

recently.

It is "You and only you have created the reality that you are experiencing NOW".

If you are experiencing wonderful times, then it is you to be credited for it.

If you are experiencing tough times, then again, it is you that has brought about the circumstances.

You can look at this as an empowering or as a scary notion.

Scary because, how could you have done this to yourself and Empowering because, if you could bring about tough times then

you have the power to bring about good times as well, isn't?

I tend to choose the later attitude.

Not just because it is nice to have a positive attitude, but because it is the truth. Hmmmmm... The TRUTH... How is that?

Well, if you are aware of our essestial nature as nothing but energy, then it is easy to understand that energy vibrates at a

frequency and frequencies attract like frequencies.

Beginning from our thoughts & emotions to our physical bodies, everything is vibrating at frequencies and thoughts being the

pre-cursor to our emotions and the phsical body, thoughts play a major role is what we manifest, be it our own body or the

circumstances in our life, relationships we attract, job, friends, the place we live and pretty much everything in "our" world that we experience.

So, there, if you want to change anything in "your" world, now you know where to start...

Well, it is a good idea to start changing the thoughts to create the life you want, to be spiritually correct, I have to

mention that there is a pre-cursor to the thoughts as well and that is your BEING.

Everything originates from your BEING.

Celebrating Diwali!

2005-12-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Diwali - Festival of lights, they say. It symbolises the victory of good over evil.

The story of Lord Krishna's victory over the demon Narahasura is celebrated during Diwali.

All these seem to give one the impression that Evil is real and it exists as an entity of its own like in the form of demons of the mythological age and terrorists of the current age).

What needs to understood is that Evil much like any other negative quality doesn't and cannot exist on its own.

For example, darkness is not an entity, it cannot exist on its own, it can exist only as long as "light" is absent. So are attributes like

cold(absence of heat), hatred (absence of Love) and so on.

What's the point of my saying all of this.... Well, if you want to reduce or eliminate cold in a room, the only way is by focussing on adding more heat. The only way to eliminate darkness in a room is to focus of bringing light in.

Focussing on attributes like cold and darkness is futile. It is either heat or absence of heat, light or absence of light, love or absence of love, goodness or absence of it...

By focussing on the negative attributes, we empower them and fighting them is like chasing a shadow.

Ok, back to Diwali, my point here is, the mythological stories where evil is personified and depicted as being killed by goodness personified seems to do a disservice to folks that read them as it insinuates the notion that we can find evil lurking around with a life of its own that is out there to destroy us and so we have to find them and destroy them.

This mindset seems to have carried over into this day and age.

Whereas, Diwali is a reminder to light up the goodness in your life and the darkness will vanish away, just like that.

Desperate call for help for the Pak Earthquake victims

2005-10-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Posted by Kavita Chhibber at October 26, 2005 05:40 AM on intentblog.com

Another heart breaking email was sent to me yesterday as a follow up to the one I posted earlier about the aftermath of the earthquake in Pakistan. Please read this and find a way to help...

By Umair Khan, (email: ukhan@clickmarks.com)Spare a scream for the 100,000 dead and 3 million homeless, muted out of world media.Unmourned by the news media, unmarked by the world, Saturday October 22 was the two week anniversary of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan, India, and Kashmir. An estimated 100,000 have been killed and, of the 3 million made homeless, at least another 100,000 are in high peril as winter rolls down from nearby K-2. If they perish, they would surely have been suffocated by the silent air waves. For the 3 million homeless the bell tolls noiselessly. Beyond Pakistan's national news media, their coverage is a silent movie playing out on inside pages (if at all). Four more weeks of radio (and print and TV) silence and the region will become as quiet and stone cold as the news media. The news folks whose attention to the tragedy has declined as swiftly as the deaths have mounted, may finally get to report a "frozen" death toll. In four weeks, winter too will white-out the survivors. Intense and swift and whole-hearted as the response has been among the compassionate and the aware, it has been far too noiseless. For Pakistanis, for Kashmiris, for South Asians, for Asians, for humans and for humanity everywhere, this is not the time for whispered tears, silent if ardent prayers, mumbled grumblings, and soundless emails. This is the time to scream.Not in despair, or panic, or anger. But in recognition and in resonance.This is the time to broadcast the unbroadcasted. And this time expires in 4 weeks. There will be little point to being heard after that.There have been No vigils to mark the disaster: week 1, week 2, now week 3 - I keep counting. No silent, candlelight vigils at sunset. No minute of silence at 8:51am. No day of mourning. No protest march (silent or loud) against NATO's refusal to airlift the injured. No sit-ins to demand of governments the desperately needed helicopters, tents, medicine, monetary aid. And no demonstrations in front of the oblivious offices of world media. 3 million people have cried out, shouted, groaned, and screamed for 14 days. Cries of pain, of loss and mourning, out of deep rubble, for a sip of clean water, in despair, in panic, in anger. That is a lot of noise muffled down by the media. These screams must make it through us into radio, TV, online editions and hard copies. Why? Because compassion and humanity do not stifle the cries of the helpless. Villainy and inhumanity do that.Why else? Because as long as these screams are unheard, they will keep multiplying.This is the time to scream.Here is one scream that keeps ricocheting within me. The scream of a boy born the same month and year as my 6 year old son, who was laid out on grass and given candy in place of anesthesia, as one leg is amputated with a non-surgical instrument. Given the 40 or so similar amputations on children each of the last 15 days, there is a scream from a child who was born the very same month and year as your child. If you make his scream heard, it may not multiply. Why, I wonder, have we not screamed till now. Those for whom the quake struck close to home have responded with unimaginable emotion and effort. I have never seen anything like it within my community. But the din of our passion blocked out the silence around us. That must be why the even the most well-intentioned among us have not reached out to all colleagues, friends, family, schoolmates, neighbors, bystanders, celebrities, talk radio hosts, politicians, journalists. That must be why Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz who met with Angelina Jolie a few months back has not called upon her to raise awareness of the plight of these people. That may be why we have not plastered our local public spaces with flyers and posters. Or called our local TV stations and demanded that they cover the news. Or incessantly called and emailed world governments to send in helicopters. Or protested NATO's refusal out in the streets. Or bombarded the detached media with voicemails. But there is still 4 weeks of time left to scream out to the what-you-never-hear-never-exists world. Not just a metaphorical scream but a real one: close your eyes, clasp your hands in font of you, focus on the unheard scream of a victim, then exhale a loud "Aaaaaaaaaah" till you have no breath left. Smile at the absurdity or cry in relief. Do this at home, at work, in public places, at non-silent vigils you hold, during commemorative moments of non-silence that you declare, and at rallies you help organize (preferably in front of news media offices). And when others (colleagues, friends, family, schoolmates, neighbors, bystanders, celebrities, talk radio hosts, politicians, journalists) see and hear this, and ask if you are feeling alright, tell them about the earthquake: about the helicopters, the tents, the winter, the 100,000 dead, the 100,000 to save, the 3 million homeless, the injured, the amputated, the NATO refusal, the silent media. Tell them about the screams and how to stop them.
For more info and guidance about how and what you can do, goto www.saquake.org and www.opensiliconvalley.com

Love or Hate... Which is it?

2005-08-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I experience alternating feelings of love and hatred towards some one.

Wonder which one is my real feeling.

It occurred to me that both feelings are equally real at the moment that I have them. Both feelings produce their corresponding physical effects in the body.

There is no such thing as " My official feeling towards this is ...".

It IS what it IS at that moment.

Ofcourse if you have more of the loving feeling than hatred towards someone, you tend to think
"Generally speaking, I like ..." and vice versa.
But the truth is that each feeling that we have is real at that moment.

Now this is a scary truth - looking back at events and people on whom I have had feelings of hatred.

But, as every cloud has a silver lining, How does the awareness of this truth help me?

If I would like to have more of the feelings of unconditional love, compassion, kindness etc.
then keep the state of your mind accordingly.

Feelings originate from your heart, however, if your mind is clouded with negativity, then that will drain the positive energy out of your feelings and leave you dry and negative.

So surround yourself and create an atmosphere of whatever it is that you would like to have feelings of.

Listening, reading, mingling with people and thinking - all contribute to creating
that environment.

In turn, That will help create and nurture your desired feelings.

Grow Younger

2005-08-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

I came to this country about 9 years ago for my higher studies
along with several of my undergraduate collegemates.

Back home, We did a lot of things together,
watched the same movies, talked the same talk, wore the same style of clothes,
ate the same type of food,read the same type of books, cracked the same type of jokes, you know what I mean. I guess that's why we got along
pretty well.

Now We have a Yahoo groups where we share what's happening in our lives.
Observing some of the comments posted there and observing some of my friends
where I live currently who have come from a similar background
as me and my friends, I can see that they derive their pleasure from doing the exact
same things that they did 10 years ago. Nostalgia, habit, whatever it is, they find comfort in them.

Something doesn't feel right. Now, what's wrong with that? I ask myself.

First, I feel you are not giving yourself a chance to explore new things, let new thoughts come into your life which is the foundation of one's growth.

New thoughts, doing new things lead to new experiences which IS growth.

Second, if you don't grow,
you will start feeling old and vulnerable as you are not keeping up with the change of your inner self. Those rituals that we find comfort and security in, shield us from the internal change and shifts we're constantly undergoing.

I have experienced the converse of the second effect in my own life. My reading habits,eating habits, thinking habits have changed in the past few years and I am better for it.

I feel young and 21 and now I know why and I also know why my fellow peers sometimes feel old and
find life, well, lifeless. So there's the secret to eternal youth.

How to find your Life's Purpose

2005-03-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest frustrations in life ought to be when you are not clear on what you are supposed to do in this life.. It ought to be.. cos if you don't handle it right, it saps the energy out of our personal, professional and social life.
You are unable to make clear decisions on anything. You walk around like a zombie.
You simply lack the vigor in your life and possibly infect others too.

As I was walking this morning on a clear, nice, "spring"y weather, I guess my mind got a little clearer too.

It occurred to me

"Instead of living life miserably, why not accept the fact that
this moment is exactly as it should be,
It is only from confusion and chaos that order results,
Take life as it is presenting itself in this moment and be in awe of it
but at the same time, have a strong intention to know your purpose in life.
Whenever you find yourself feeling miserable, remember that you are resisting something in the present and resistance is futile if you are resisting the NOW.

So simply let it be but be firm in your intention to know your purpose.

Then the Universe will and has to reveal it to you and
you will be in a position to "see", from what is coming your way,
the answers, the clues, to your questions.

Christopher Reeve's life

2004-10-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were watching the special on Reeve last night on ABC and she made an interesting comment.
She said, If I was paralysed like he was, I wouldn't want to live. It would be a burden on the ones around me.
Infact, later in the program, Reeve acknowledged that he had the same feeling for a while after the accident.
My wife also wondered, What use is one's life after such a debilitating accident...

A few things that I shared with her with Reeve's life as the backdrop.

First, we, the human beings, have to remember that we are NOT here to pursue our personal agenda in this life.
We are all here to fulfill the unique purpose that God has handed over to each of us. Quite often, we ignore this divine purpose for our lives and get caught up with our egos and decide to pursue our personal agenda that are primarily materialistic. And when accidents or any undesirable incidents happen in our lives that are disruptive to our egoistic agenda, we feel disappointed, frustrated, dejected, desperate, sad, suicidal etc .

On the other hand, if we view this life of ours as an instrument to accomplish God's mission, then every challenge that comes our way will be easy to understand.
Now one may wonder, How can I accomplish God's mission or for that matter any mission at all, if I am paralysed.

Well, Christopher Reeve is a perfect example.

During his last few years, he certainly was not living life like most of the world does, going to work, make money, going on vacations, partying and so on, YET, honestly, he wouldn't have accomplished as much as he has today
if not for the debilitating paralysis. If his life had continued to be the way it was before the accident, he wouldn't have been able to inspire millions around the world with paralysis, inspire and fund research organizations etc. These acts
will have a profound impact for decades to come and that's what God's mission was for him. And he executed it perfectly.

His life should be a reminder to all of us to dump our ego's desires and pursue our true mission in this life.

A wise man once noted, when God does one thing, he accomplishes several things out of it.

Aside from what Reeve offered to this world after he got paralysed, his soul had something to gain from this experience too .
He could not have experienced true, unconditional love which he got from his family especially from his wife
if he hadn't gotten into the paralysed state, perhaps.

Christopher Reeve lived his life exactly as he was supposed to - Just look at the help and inspiration he has given to the people around the world.

Richard Bach said,

"Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished;
If you're alive, it isn't."

2004-10-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

Busy bee

2004-10-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Busy Bee

What I learnt from an oil lamp

2004-10-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Something I observed while lighting an oil lamp at the altar for God in my house.

Look at an oil lamp.
The purpose of the wick in an oil lamp is simple. It is always in touch with

the oil and lets oil flow through it freely
to let out a bright flame and it lasts long that way.
If the wick is too tight for the oil to flow,

then it will burn itself out quickly.

I believe we can learn a thing or two from this.

Our lives are similar to that of the wick's.

Be always in touch with God. Let God flow through us and allow him to work

His miracles through us.
Thats when our lives radiate brightness like that of a flame.

If we get too uptight with ego, then the flow of God's miracles through us

gets constricted and hence we get burned out quickly with stress, anxiety etc.

So just let the energy flow!

When does Coal turn into Diamond?

2004-09-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

A strict disciplinarian, he was dogmatic in everything and extremely fastidious when it came to household chores. He rarely appreciated anyone. He had a judgmental character and was distrusting of everyone around him. He scolded anyone for committing the simplest of mistakes. He was a grumpy old man, my dad.
Needles to say, I and my siblings and our mom were full of resentment and indignation coupled with a feeling of helplessness for as long as he was alive.

Now, the reason I have divulged this, is because it occurred to me today that this man, my dad had played his role extremely well from a spiritual standpoint. He was placed in our midst for a divine reason; for us to learn patience and forgiveness and he provided plenty of opportunities for us to practice them. We must have been quite stubborn in learning the virtues, so he had to be tough. We weren’t thankful for the opportunity. So we couldn’t move on to a different experience. It was all perfectly orchestrated. Without pressure, coal wouldn’t turn into diamond.

This thought dawned on me as I was praying in the morning and as I do everyday, I was thanking God for everything he has blessed me with by going over a list in my mind and I was drawn to thank my dad for providing me the opportunity to be forgiving and patient. This simple act of thanking greatly reduced the resentment and indignation that I held in my mind and I realized the more I practice gratitude, the easier it will be for the virtues of forgiveness and patience to become part of my consciousness.

The Universe provides us with challenges all the time with only one purpose, to experience the various attributes. If you go through these experiences with equanimity, acceptance and gratitude, your experience becomes complete and hence it will be easier to tide over them. Resistance is futile.

So what challenges and pressures are you facing currently? What do you think you are supposed to learn from them?

Serendipity at the Used book Sales store

2004-09-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite activities is to browse through the 'Used Book sales' at my local library. What I love about it is the serendipity. I have been drawn to so many topics that otherwise I would have never come across even though they are fairly common topics. Frankly I am surprised at the topics that interest me.
It is like looking at yourself in a mirror, the topics that appeal to you are part of who you are, sometimes those parts
have been ignored or buried because of the busy lives we lead.

Some of the material that I have read/glanced include Speed Reading, PowerSpeaking, Public Speaking, Improve your memory, Photography, lot of books on Self-help, motivational topics by Anthony Robins, spiritual texts by Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsh, Puzzles, Gardening, Autobiographies by Sam Walton, Lee Iacocca , Stock market, Relationships, Parenting (bought a couple of books recently titled '52 Simple ways to teach your child about God' and
TV-Proof your Kids) , Child development and many many more.
I have to mention though, I don't read every single book from cover to cover, sometimes I read only a few sections or
even a few pages but I believe that that's all I need to know from them at that time. It doesn't hurt that it costs just a quarter.

Sometimes they are fun, sometimes they are even answers to my problems.
For example, once I was upset at myself for accepting an assignment at work when I was already overwhelmed and that day a book jumped at me titled 'Don't say yes when you want to say No' by Herbert Fensterheim . Hmmm.... Quite a message that was.
You bet I bought that book and read it. It even helped.

I love the excitement of not knowing what book might jump at me.
There are scores and scores of titles and I keep an open mind while I glance at all topics.

Everyone should try this sometime. It is fun and I feel it provides a means for God to answer your prayers, if you are listening.

2004-09-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hello World !!!

I am delighted to BE here !!!