Coming Full Circle

Great Photography is capturing the moments between those moments.

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.

Labels: mind wants needs

'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.

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 :)

Labels: manifesting, patience

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.

Labels: perspective

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.

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.”

Labels: stories