Here is my Reflection to a famous story: This article has drawn my attention to the importance of the value of seeing objects, situations, people, relationships and above all my own self. There is a wise saying in Sanskrit: Yatha dristihi tatha sristihi: The world appears as we see it. People, objects, situations, relationships and above my own self are perceived according to my inner mind state: with a clear mind state like the clear sky or the cloudy state. We tend to project our inner world onto our world. Our perception creates the outer world. Our mind, our inner vision is the cause of inner freedom or inner bondage. As the Bhagavad Geeta says: Manaha eva manushyanam karanam bandhmokshayho. As I am advancing in age and as I am getting older, my inner world has been getting more free from the inner bondage I myself have created. I have learned the significance of seeing and relating to people clearly, empathetically and compassionately. The first teachers in my life were my parents. My father taught me the value of mindfulness, awareness and meditation. My mother helped me follow the path of loving people unconditionally and acting selflessly-Bhakti Yoga- Yoga of Devotion and Karma Yoga- Yoga of Selfless Service. It is a path of serving people with no expectation of getting any reward for power, pleasure and prestige. It is a path of non-attachment called Anasakti Yoga. Both of my parents practiced different spiritual paths of living without any conflicts. Growing up this way laid the foundation of my spiritual life and I am very deeply grateful to them. Practicing non- judgemental awareness and Mindfulness Meditation have been very helpful to me for living holistically.
​Namaste! 

Based on the poem by William Wordsworth, here is my reflection:

When our body sleeps, our souls are awake. Body represents our physical self bound by worldly desires. Physical self also represents birth and death. It represents a state of bondage- a state of blindness. It also represents attachment to desires. Our body is the first gift given by the Divine Being. It is up to us how we use this Divine gift. We may use our gift with discretion or without discretion. One way may cause physical problems. Then the body becomes a burden. The same body when used with discretion becomes a source of energy and vitality. It's upto us how we use this divine gift. The second gift is our mind. How we use this Divine Gift is up to us. Our mind may create a bondage or may create freedom, hell or heaven.. We need to make a wise choice. Wrong choice creates mental problems. It also creates emotional problems and relational problems. Like the first gift, the second gift needs to be used wisely. I am very fond of eating sweet food. I have learned the art of living holistically which creates a balance between body and mind. I think both body and mind are Divine Gifts. I am relating to both body and mind with discretion. This is the art of living . It brings harmony and joy in my life. Daily practice of mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness Meditation helps me to walk on the path of living fully.
​Namaste!

Below is my reflection to a very realistic article by David Sudar:
Personally I have gone through such a struggle between inner emotional voice and rational voice. One voice says go for it. The other voice says don't go for it. This is a painful and exhausting experience to go through it.
I was experiencing such a conflict in making a choice between getting a doctoral degree in medicine or in education. It was very difficult to make a decision. It was a painful struggle. I decided to spend an hour everyday for meditating until the clouds of inner conflicts faded away completely. My mind became crystal clear. I listened to my mind and heart and made a decision: Go for getting my doctoral degree in Education. I am very happy for making that choice.
​Namaste!

Here is my reflection to the article written by Ravi Ravindra :
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Pilgrimage is a spiritual journey, a journey of truth, a journey of faith. It is a journey of light that helps us see the truth. All forms and formulations change. Truth is beyond the changing forms and formulations. Truth is without walls. Truth is vast and unbound. It is not bound by walls and divisiveness. Truth is universal. Truth unites us. Truth is One. There is no divisiveness between my truth and your truth. Truth is like light. Truth is universal. I have glimpses of Truth when my mind is free from mine and thine divisiveness. It is an experience of Oneness. What creates this Oneness? When do I realize such Oneness? When I love someone unconditionally I feel such Oneness. I realize it when I go beyond the walls of mine and thine and keep my mind and heart open, clear, and receptive in spite of apparent differences. There are numerous instances of experiencing such vastness and oneness in my life. I am blessed to be born in a relatively poor family but rich in heart accepting and embracing apparent differences. It is not easy to realize the Truth of ONENESS. At times, the noise of what is in for me stifles my inner voice, darkens my inner light. I have seen my parents welcoming people of different castes, classes, colors, and religions in my house. Practicing mindfulness, meditation and prayer has been very helpful to me walking on this path. Experiencing and practicing such truth has helped me to continue walking on this path. May we all walk on such a pilgrimage for inner transformation!
Amen! Namaste!

Based on the wonderful article by Joy Harjo, here is my reflection : 
Love is a spiritual diet. Kindness is also a spiritual food. Both are essential ingredients of living a fulfilling life. How to create, enrich and sustain our kindness for our own happiness and happiness of others whom we love is a great challenge. Genuine love and kindness continue to thrive. We need to continue such light shining in our heart. Self-centeredness diminishes the light of our love and kindness and it may extinguish if we continue living that selfish way. Body and mind grow old. Light of unconditional love and kindness continues glowing. According to my understanding, keeping an eye open on the horizon of kindness means true kindness will never extinguish. It is always shining and will continue shining. We need to remain awake and aware and not go back to sleep. Light of love and kindness does not extinguish. Light of unconditional love and kindness always shines. When I was growing up in India, I deeply fell in love with my dear friend Vanleela. We were different from each other class wise and caste wise. I was born and raised in a relatively poor family while she was born and raised in a very wealthy family. What brought us closer to each other and deepened our relationship? Unconditional love, compassion and kindness. Light of love and kindness was never extinguished. Her father did not approve of our loving relationship. We were separated from each other for four years. During those difficult years, light of unconditional love and kindness continues shining in our heart. It was never extinguished. That light still keeps on shining in my heart though she passed away fifteen years ago. Practicing mindfulness and mindfulness meditation have helped me to keep the light of love and kindness shining in my heart. May we all continue shining such light of love and kindness in our heart!
Amen. Namaste!

Here is my reflection to the article by Aiden Cinnamon Tea
Animate and inanimate look opposite of each other. It depends on our perspective. If I look at the reality with a narrow or close mind I see it differently than if I see it with an open and clear mind. There is wise saying in Sanskrit which says "Yatha drusti tatha srusti". The world appears as I see it. My perception is based on how I see the reality. A distorted perception will create a distorted reality. An important challenge for us is how to see the reality as it is. No perversion, no distortion. Sadly, we live in a world where differences create distances. How do I see the differences: differences in color, race, casts, and creeds. According to my understanding differences, are created by our narrow and prejudicial mind set. Our mind gets conditioned. We are conditioned to think in black or white colors. And we all know how injustice is created by our black or white perspective. If we go beyond these walls we can see oneness in manyness. We realize unitive consciousness.
A question arises in my mind. Is an inanimate the same as animate? Outwardly they appear different; but inwardly they are identical. Who or what has created such differences? According to my understanding, we ascribe positive value to those who are like us and consider them ours, and those who are not like us we consider them different from us, and lower than us. We have created these walls of differences and divisiveness. We may also consider inanimate objects not only different but distant. This is an illusion. The divine spirit doesn't have that divisiveness. People who are noble-hearted have gone beyond these walls and they accept others as the citizens of the same world. I remember an illuminating song written in Sanskrit by an enlightened spiritual teacher, guru Adi Sankaracharya:
Pratha smarami hrudi sampurit atmam,
Sat chit sukham paramahansa gati turiyam.
Yat swpana jagarat sushiptim aveti nityam,
Tad brahmanishkalam na cha bhuta sangaha.
Every morning when I get up I remember in my heart, Brahma , the creator satyam is truth. jagat-world mithya, an illusion.
Every morning when I wake up let me remember in my heart, I am the divine - truth, Brahmaiava satyan, jagat mithya. The Creator the world is an illusion.
Brhamaiava satyam na cha bhutasangaha- I am the Divine soul and not the collection of matter. This is a wake up call. This is the way we connect with nature and and with each other.
Namaste!

After reading the wonderful writing by Lata Mani, here is my reflection:
Isness means that something is. Isness is the understanding that everything that exists is not only infinitely alive but it has its own particular vibrancy that connects our body, mind and heart as a triadic form of intelligence that is available to us all as humans. Sadly, we are taught or conditioned to focus on divisiveness on the basis of caste, color and creed. According to me this is not spirituality. Spiritually we all are children of God regardless of which religion we may follow. Real religiosity unites us as brothers and sisters. It doesn't hurt, It heals. To a real religious person, the whole universe is a family. Such a spiritual orientation does not believe in conversion, in a spiritual superiority. Unfortunately and sadly we have leaders who sadly have this kind of mental complex. I have heard some political and religious leaders proclaiming God is on the outside when we fight deadly wars. Understanding and practicing illness unites us, elevates us on a higher plane of awareness and consciousness. We transcend from Me to We, from personal consciousness to unitive consciousness. Daily Mindfulness practice and practicing Mindfulness Meditation helps me stay on my path.

Namaste!

Based on the excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh's book 'Touching Peace', here is my reflection:
Who am I? Am I my body? Am I my mind? Am I my heart? Am I beyond these three dimensions? Is there something invisible in me which transcends these three dimensions? Am I the fourth dimension which is free from the three dimensions-body, mind and heart? As the Buddha said when he got enlightened: Gate, gate, parasangate Bodhi swaha. Gone, gone beyond, gone beyond the beyond. It is nameless, formless, shapeless. And that's who I am, my true identity. What an awakening! This is enlightenment.
Knowing the reality, suchness, cognitively, emotionally and relationally has limitations. By freeing oneself from oneself is real freedom. It is like an open sky with no clouds. I fly in that open and clear sky in which there are no man-made boundaries. By understanding and implementing such Realty in my daily life, my life blossoms like a flower with one thosand petals. And that flower does not wither away. This is a holistic way of living. It is fulfilling. I need to remain awakened and not go back to sleep. May the light within help us keep walking on the right path.
Amen! Namaste.

This passage on not knowing the future makes me think about how I live my life. There is certainty about uncertainty. This is a paradoxical truth. There are a few certain things I know and I feel sure of such things. However, a large portion of my living is in the uncertainty zone of my life. A great challenge that I face in my life is how to live with uncertainty. Living with uncertainty drains my energy and I get exhausted. Growing up in the twilight zone, the zone of light and darkness has taught me how to walk on the Middle Path without resistance.
Accept what I can and do not employ my energy in combating what I can't and know the difference, and have the courage to change. This serenity prayer helps me walk on the right path, the path of living a balanced life. Nothing in the world we live in remains the same. Seasons change. Life changes. Body changes. Mind changes. Heart changes. Fortune changes. Change is constant. Awareness of such changes and accepting them gracefully has been very helpful to me in the journey of my life.

​Namaste!

The passage "The Softening" authored by Richard Rudd is very illuminating to me. It reminds me of the saying Simple Living And High Thinking. Our simple living can be enriching and fulfilling. Our basic needs to survive and enhance our living are very few. Sadly we are not content with what we have. We ask for more and more material things and possessions. We believe the more we have, the more merry and happy we will be. The thirst for having more possessions is rarely quenched. The more possessions we have the less we become fulfilled. We need to be aware of this hunger and thirst for more material possessions. There is no end to this thirst. Before I came to the US, we were relatively poor. However, we had inward richness, inner wealth of peace, joy, fulfillment and gratification. When I came to the richest country in the world I saw inward poverty. I believe in living a balanced life. Living in a balanced way I feel happy, peaceful and fulfilled. I believe there is light of awareness within all of us. This light helps me walk on the path of natural wisdom. However, there are times when I do not remain awake and create suffering in me and others close to me. I wake up from my sleep, remain awake and walk on the path. As I am getting older, I remain more awake and walk steadily on the right path, the path of natural wisdom. May we all join each other's hands and walk on the path of awareness. This is my prayer. Amen.
​Namaste.