I have always admired reading J. Krishnamurti's talks and writings. He asks us not to close our mind and heart when it comes to reading or listening to something beyond right or wrong by keeping our mind and heart open. Sadly we get caught up in either-or mindset. Like it, then get it, accept it. If we do not like it, throw it away, reject it. We tend to divide the world into right or wrong, either or mindset. However, there is a Middle Path called Madhyama Marga by the Compassionate Gautama Buddha. We have been experiencing divisiveness in the world on the ground of races, genders, religions, beliefs, cultures and ideologies, forgetting that we all are children of God. God treats us equally without any distinctions. Sadly lots of fights and wars have been created by such divisiveness. When we go beyond such harmful divisiveness we experience Oneness in all. If we keep our mind and heart open we experience Divine Oneness in all.
Anger is one of the most difficult emotions to regulate. Anger breaks up relationships. It is compared to poison. It breaks up relationships and destroys our potential to sustain and blossom our human relationships within ourselves intrapersonally, extrapersonally and universally. What sad news! There is a way to cross the bridge of our life amicably, compassionately and lovingly. It is in our hands. I do not believe in creating walls of misunderstandings and relating to oneself and others with these walls. This way we create the Divine Union. May we all sincerely and steadily work on the path of Divinity. How do I relate to this divisiveness and overcome the walls of divisiveness and build the bridge of uni on? I find practicing Mindfulness Meditation regularly very helpful in building and sustaining the bridge of uniting. It is not that easy when the bridge of relationships has become weak or sadly broken. I learned from my parents and other spiritual teachers to work on my mind and heart to build and enrich bridges of relationships. I believe we can do it as I have done it in my life by practicing Mindfulness Meditation daily.
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Namaste. 

Based on the article by Mauro Bergonzi, below is my reflection:

Mystery is to be experienced and not to be solved. Mystery is a holistic experience and it cannot be divided into fragments. It is like love. Authentic and pure love cannot be fragmented and divided. It is like an ocean. It has its wholeness. We may think about love and try to analyze it. When we try to do it, we lose the holistic experience of love. I love to listen to classical Indian music. When I listen to a melodious song my experience is holistic. I listen to a song with my full and undivided attention. I get deeply get absorbed in it. I become music and music becomes me. It becomes a spiritual and mystical experience to me. It becomes a devotional experience, being united with Divinity. My "I-ness" melts away and I become ONE. When I meditate, I also experience wholeness of the soul. All dividing lines go away and I experience oneness. There is a natural state of consciousness. "There is a Sanskrit word for nonviolence Ahimsa. "It means "not'' or " without"; himsa, without violence. This may sound negative, but in Sanskrit a word constructed in this way stands for both perfect and positive. Ahimsa implies that when every trace of violence is removed from the mind, what is left is our natural state of consciousness: pure love. Unfortunately, that love has been buried under layer upon layer of ill will and selfish conditioning. To have love bubble up to the surface of our life, all we have to do is systematically remove all those layers." -Eknath Easwaran Namaste! I bow to the Divinity within you. We become ONE. 

Based on the excerpt of the English translation of The Way of the Pilgrim by RM French, here is my reflection:

Prayers are practiced in all spiritual traditions. Why do we pray? Whom do we pray to? How do we pray? How many times do we pray?. When do we pray? Should we all pray? What happens if we do not pray? These are important questions. Prayers can bring people together for attaining a higher purpose or prayers can divide people and bring them down.. These are important questions for me. Prayers are for inner transformation leading to peace, joy and fulfillment, Prayers are meant to bring people together, to move on higher planes of living. Prayers are done to lead to good actions and good actions reinforce prayers. They are inclusive, not exclusive.
My experience of the power of prayer was based on my experience of doing interfaith prayers with Mahatma Gandhi on the banks of the river Sabarmati. I was only five years old but what I experienced was very powerful. People following different paths felt united in their hearts. This powerful experience of interfaith prayers has laid my spiritual foundation. A month ago, we visited Gandhi's Satyagraha Ashram. I felt the same spiritual vibrations as I had experienced when I was five years old. My beloved wife Vanleela had a different religious background. She used to recite Jain prayers and I used to recite Hindu prayers. Different prayers helped us live together harmoniously. Such is the power of prayers. Open-mindedness and open-heartedness bring people together. Hope and pray people of diversified religions join hands and hearts with each other for personal and world peace. This is my prayer.
​Namaste! 

Below is my reflection to the thought provoking article by Omid Safi:

The ultimate goal of all religions is freedom, liberation, salvation, moksha. Freedom from self-created bondage, freedom from self-created darkness, freedom from temptations. There are many ways of attaining freedom. Knowing oneself (Gnana Yoga). Freeing oneself from self-created temptations without expectations of getting any personal rewards (Karma Yoga). Path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga) and path of meditation Dhyana Yoga. Follow your own path according to your own disposition. Listen to your clear voice and follow it. Follow your self- chosen path and remain committed. Temptations will come that may take us off our path. We need to discipline ourselves. This will help us stay on our path. Our goal is to keep on walking until we attain our goal. If we have deviated from our path it will make it hard to achieve our goal. It will prolong our journey and we may have to come back on our path until we get fully liberated and be united with the Creator.
My path is the path of Meditation. This path has helped me in many ways: physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, intra personally and interpersonally. I don't have to listen to others to continue walking on the path. My inner clear voice keeps me walking on my path. When I follow my path consistently and willingly I feel softness in my thoughts, emotions, in my voice and my relationships. When I am off my path I feel change in my thoughts, emotions, feelings and behaviors. When that happens, I slow down, listen to my inner voice and I am back on my track. When I do not listen to my inner voice I feel like I am in a different and strange world, a world of darkness. When I wake up inwardly, I feel awakened and go back to my path. I feel transformed. This is a long inward journey. I love my journey. I call it Yatra- a pilgrimage. I am a life-long yatri. And I am not in a hurry.
​Namaste.

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!