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Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and a poet. Here is my reflection to the excerpts from her book: Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
I deeply resonate with the basic message of this thought provoking passage authored by Robin Wall Kimmerer: " To find something, don't look for it." In Indian philosophy, there is a concept of the Third Eye. That eye reveals the glory and awe of the vastness of the universe. We get a glimpse of it when let go of the limited capacity of our worldly eyes . Worldly eyes sadly create boundaries that separate us from the oneness of life. When we let our inner spiritual eyes open, the truth is revealed. Our inner world expands and welcomes the guests coming from nowhere. Unconditional love, openhearted and open-mindedness open the doors for the unnamed guests to come. I have had glimpses of such experiences more in my childhood than in my adulthood. I am very fond of spending time with nature. When I was a child I used to sit under a tree that I had planted in my back yard. Sitting under the tree doing nothing and expecting nothing to show up, I used to get glimpses of the beauty unfolding enriching my inner life. When I walk mindfully in nature or do sitting Mindfulness Meditation I get such glimpses that create feelings of wonder and awe. Reading about such mystical experiences is one thing. For experiencing the mystery of life I need to keep my mind and heart unoccupied and open to receive blessings coming from the unknown space. This openness helps me to the possibility of receiving such gifts. There is a wise saying in Sanskrit."Tad dure tad antike". What you think is far, is right close to you." Do not look for it outside. It is dwelling inside of you. Namaste!
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Otto Scharmer's article on Four Types of Listening makes me reflect on how do I listen, what's my listening style. "Ya, I know that already." When I read something or listen to something that I already know, my curiosity level is more on the surface level. As the author writes I am listening by downloading. There is nothing new to learn. It confirms what I already know. Breaking News is mostly not really breaking news.
"Ooh, look at that!". This kind of listening has wonderment, something new. It perks my years. It stirs up my curiosity. In the morning when I look out from my window, I marvel when I listen to the birds talking to each other. Though I have heard them talk before but I feel the newness in their chirping. This happens when I read a poem. It may be a new poem or the poem I have read before. I wonder from where does this newness emerge? The author labels it as Object-focused or Factual Listening. It does sound right to me. Maybe, I missed the boat! " Oh, yes, I know how you feel!" This is Empathetic Listening. This level of listening requires cultivation of the intelligence of the heart. When I see an angry or hateful face or a fearful or sad face my I listen from my heart. I empathize with them. Such listening makes me understand the other person on inner and deeper level. " I can't express what I experience in words". The author names this kind of listening Generative Listening. This kind of listening happens to me when I am in soul-to soul relationship or spiritual relationship. I am in a Being Zone. I feel at home. I discover my real self. The outer and the inner walls go away. A deep sense of oneness dawns upon me. I would name it Spiritual Listening. My life journey has gone through different phases of my development. It is an ascending journey with some ups and downs and twist and turns. It is not a straight line. Taking time out to meditate, introspect and reflect keeps me walking on this path. Namaste! David Mckee has written an interesting article and following is my reflection to it:
The ideas of stability and hospitality are very important as we are going through times of uncertainty, fear and anxiety. We all are facing new challenges. How to make our life stable and relate to these challenges without being uprooted is a BIG question for all of us. Ignoring, denying orminimizing is not the answer. Acknowledging and accepting what is happening is my way of relating to these challenges. I relax my body and mind regularly, practice mindfulness meditation, go with the flow of the reality as it is, and use the free time I have by helping other people in my life. Serving other people selflessly and doing good work creates loving and kind flow of energy in me. I am very grateful to the spiritual teachers in my life for teaching me how to be open , stable, grounded, calm, and compassionte. These precious gifts have helped me when I go through darkness in my life. Daily practice of living consciously and mindfully has made my life stable and hospitable. Non-judgmental loving awareness of myself and others has become my way of living. It is very fulfilling and gratfying. Namste! This essay authored by Kate Murphy reminds me of a saying my father used to say in Sanskrit "Ati parichayatavagna" meaning too much closeness in relationship results in indifference. I often hear parents and children saying "I have heard it before and there is nothing new you're going to say." So they turn their deaf years and miss a great opportunity to listen to each other's evolving story. In any close relationship we should not be bound by the assumptions that the other person is going to play the same record and nothing new is going to emerge. The foundation of intimate relationship is LOVE. Love keeps my heart and mind open to listen to the other sharing his or her evolving life story.
We have an extended family age ranging from 22 to 95. My daughter gets tired of taking care of many things in her everyday life. She gets tired and at times exhausted. She and I are early risers which give us time to talk during our half an hour coffee time. Last Friday she talked about her getting exhausted by doing so many tasks. We came up with an idea of having one hour family meeting on every Saturday morning to listen to each other and create a schedule for the week to lessen the burden of my daughter. We did meet last Saturday. It was an open minded and open hearted communication meeting. She felt so much relieved and grateful for being listened to by all in the family. Her burden is lightened and she gets less tired. We are going to have such weekly meetings for listening to one another and enriching our relationships. Loving and caring for one another with an open mind and open heart and taking time to listen to each other deepens our understanding of each other and our relationships. Finding time from our busy life for listening deeply is crucial for our family wellbeing. Namaste! Lynne Twist has written a touching article and below is my reflection on it:
It is my understanding based on my experiences that deep joy comes from facing pain, suffering and hardship rather than running away from it. It is like going through the heat of the fire to experience coolness. It sounds counter intuitive and paradoxical. Deep joy is born in the womb of love. Mother goes through the agony and pain of birthing the baby and feels deep joy when the baby comes out from the womb. Such joy is not temporary. The flow of joy keeps on flowing when she raises her baby who goes through passages of life. Her source of deep joy is pure and unconditional love for her child. Suffering is the first noble truth according to the Buddha. We all suffer physically, mentally, emotionally and relationally. I have experienced such suffering through out my life. Such experiences have been beneficial to me. By facing such experiences and by going through them I have become more empathic, compassionate and kind to myself and to others. I know where, how and why my shoe pinches and that way I have learned where, how and why other's shoe pinches. Such knowing comes from facing our suffering with compassion and kindness for ourselves and for others in our lives. Denying, averting or reacting to suffering causes more suffering. The tree of love grows by nurturing the seeds. Self nurturing and nurturing other folks in my life helps the tree not only to survive but also to flourish. Working on myself mindfully has been very helpful to me. Serving others selflessly has always brought deep joy, contentment, fulfillment, and happiness in my life. In that sense I feel the same way like the author Lynne Twist says: "The harderI work the more I love." Namaste! Doug Powers has written a beutiful and timely article and below is my reflection on it:
As we grow up we need to make clear choices about many aspects of our life. In order to make wise choices we need to have clear intentions. My decision is usually based on the intention on the ground of good will and greater good not only for me but also for others. That is the main criterion I apply in making important decisions in my life. Have I always made wise choices? Of course not. As a human being I have made mistakes and have made decisions that have hurt me and others close to me. I woke up and and started walking on the right path. To me life is a journey with a clear destination and clear intention. Making clear and and right choices in our political, social and economic domains has been difficult for me. Our policies and actions are not always based on good will and well being of others. The big egos of the decision makers have been causing a lot of harm to the majority people in our country. When I was young I participated in the movement against Vietnam War. Even though I saw the rightness of this movement I did not go along with the use of violence caused by both sides. I realized how difficult it is when the movement is not grounded in the good will of the people. Good will and doing greater good for people is the basis on which I make my choices. Remaining awake and mindful of myself has always been very helpful to me in remaining on the path. By nature I am optimist. I believe that the inner light of wisdom will shine and help us to go through the clouds of darkness. May we all walk on the path of serving people and doing good for others! Namaste! Richard Rohr has written a thought provoking article and below is my reflection to it:
Sadly, the world we live in has a little time to slow down and has a little time to be silent. Both our outer world and our inner world has a little time to pause, see, listen and contemplate. Both worlds are largely filled with little space and time for emptiness and silence. This essay reminds me of a wise saying stated by the great Indian spiritual teacher Shankaracharya: Gurostumaunamvyakhyanam, shishyastuchinnaha samshayaha. The teacher observes the silence and the doubts of the students get dissolved. The teacher is within us. In order to make wise and pure choice and take wise and pure actions, deep inner silence is essential. My father taught us to be silent by repeating the Sanskrit word Shantihi-Peace- three times. When we asked him why three times, he mentioned Peace within-intra being, peace between-inter being, and beyond both- Transcendental being. Over the years I have learned the power of practicing pause as stated by Victor E.Frankl:" Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." Only reading and understanding is not enough. The knowledge needs to be translated into action and practiced in our daily life, in our daily action. It is our light house-guiding our way of living truthfully and compassionately. In order to live truthfully and compassionately I practice Mindfulness Meditation. It is my daily spiritual practice. I consider it my Dharma. It keeps me rooted and grounded. This daily spiritual practice helps me to stay grounded in primal presence, primal silence,primal consciousness. This is my way of relating to me and others on a daily basis. Each day is a silent day, a spiritual day, a day of awakening and a day of serving. Namste! The following is my reflection after reading the poem by Climbing PoeTree:
To me Human without Being is like the Sun without Light, Stillness without Movement, Silence without Sound, Up without Down, Beginning without Ending. They are intertwined. There is beautiful Sanskrit word , Sahaja, which means Natural, Effortless. Nature follows her natural rhythm. Body goes through its four natural cycles-birth, growth, decline and death. The challenge for me is to live as a Human Being maintaining connection between Human and Being. Human without Being is incomplete, self-centered, egotistic and narcissistic. When I take a mindful walk in nature I feel naturally connected with external nature- the vastness of the sky, the touch of the wind, the fragrance of flowers, the chirping of birds, the sound of silence. I feel such effortless connection between my inner nature and outer nature when I meditate and when I get absorbed in chanting or listening to chanting. I feel at home. I always take time out to be with me and be fully present with me. I take a mindful walk, meditate, read and reflect on spiritual teachings. I do not feel lonely when I am alone. Such aloneness is a blessing for me to explore my inner self and work on myself. Namaste! Rachel Naomi Remen has posted an article full of insight. The post can be read here and below is my reflection to it:
A tree is born in the womb of a seed. The seed is invisible though it is there in a dormant state. So is the life. Our life is pregnant with unseen and unknown meanings. We need to relate to this dimension of our life with open mind and open heart, open eyes and open ears to see and hear and feel the wonder and awe of life. Our life gets nourished, enriched and expanded by embracing the manifestation of beauty, wonder and awe. I will always remember the experience I had in a Zen retreat. While doing Mindfulness Meditation I saw myself flying in the open sky with my feet firmly planted in the solid ground of the Mother Earth. This experience taught me not to confine myself to the limited and narrow mindset and heart set I was used to. I realized the meaning, value and the power of the "beginner's mind." The mind that is not bound by preconceived notions, opinions and assumptions. It is not attached to and bound by the chains of the past and lost in the worries of the future. The present moment is free from the right and the wrong. It is an open meeting space in which life blossoms and offers gifts of love, joy, compassion, and kindness to others. I am very grateful to the gifts of nature that I receive everyday in my life. I watch the sun rising and setting, smell the fragrance of flowers, birds chirping, rain falling and the earth keeping me grounded. Sadly, how often we take the gifts of nature granted and miss offering our gratitude to nature. Namaste! I would recommend you to read this article by Martin Shaw. Below is my reflection to the article:
The Corona virus presents a great challenge to all of us for safety and survival.Whose safety and whose survival? The little ego says " the safety and survival for me at the cost of others." When we face a huge crisis we need to go beyond our little ego. This is a call to all of us to learn how to tackle personal or collective crisis. How to grow from it? All wisdom traditions emphasize to offer selfless service to those who need. When we go beyond our ego, when we close the " smoke hole", we get connected with the divine world within us. It opens the door of compassion, generosity and unconditional love., the Divine Love. I always find time and a quiet place to do Mindfulness Meditation. I seek solitude to practice Mindfulness Meditation for quieting my inner noise, the busy and chattering mind, to connect with the marvelous, the Divine Light within me. The marvelous Divine Light guides me to walk on the path of serving others. Like others, I miss walking on the spiritual path and lose my connection with the Divine within me. I go to sleep. Unconsciously I dim the light within me. My pure consciousness shrinks. It is covered by darkness. I wake up and open my inner door and invite the Divine Light to guide me. Namaste! |
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