Based on the article by  - Justin Faerman, I wrote my reflection below:

It is my experience and understanding that unconditional love can solve world's multiple problems on different dimensions of life: physical, mental, emotional, relational, natural and environmental. Love unites people regardless of external or outward differences. Love is sharing. Love is giving. Love is offering. Love is serving and nurturing. Love is connecting. In the world we live in, there is a lot of divisiveness. We need to find a common ground based on empathic understanding and compassion to respect people with different ideologies without fighting and hating. If we do not wake up the future looks very dismal and dark. Love can remove that darkness.

I have friends with different political and religious ideologies. We have been able to maintain our friendship by having an empathic and open-minded and open-hearted stance. Differences do not create distances by empathy and compassion-the core components of love. It is not always easy to maintain equanimity and balance. If we do not maintain that stand life becomes a battlefield, causing a lot of internal emotional damage. I have learned not to give up but to persist with compassion and humbleness. What helps me stay rooted in love? As I have mentioned before, open- mindedness and open- heartedness, empathic understanding and compassion and humbleness help me stay rooted in love.

Namaste!

Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu monk, philosopher and author. Based on the excerpt from his talk in 1900, I am writing my reflection below:

My slavery or freedom depends on the state of my mind. My mind binds me, my mind frees me. Who controls my senses and my thoughts and feelings? My mind. Who is driving my life? My mind or my senses? If and when I let my senses be my master, my senses will pull me down into the ditch of all kinds of pain and suffering, If I let my mind be the master, I will be able to make wise and right choices. And this way I will be free from my compulsive thoughts and actions. Have I fallen into the ditch and emotionally hurt myself and others close to me? You bet!
Being a human being I have fallen down and ethically done wrong things called sins for which I have paid the price for suffering. I have learned from my downfall and have learned how to rise up. I woke up from my dark and gloomy sleep. I am mindful of not repeating the same hurtful cycle of misery. There is always inner light for guiding me on the right path. I need to keep my inner eyes open. I need to remain awakened. What helps me develop an intelligence that goes beyond the senses and thoughts? The light of awareness keeps me awakened. Regular practice of mindfulness meditation helps my mind to be calm and clear. Reading, inquiring, reflecting, and implementing the wise teachings from spiritual resources and the weekly satsanga meetings have been very helpful to me for staying on the path of awakening. There is always hope, hope for finding and staying on the Divine Path!

Namaste! 

This is a great Birthday Kevin! There are many wonderful lessons cited by Kevin and that makes it difficult for me to choose a couple of lessons. The one that applies to me is " Don't wait for the storms to pass; dance in the rain." This statement took me back to my little home town in Gujarat where I was born. On a hot summer day we were eagerly waiting for the dark clouds to show up and rain for hours. It was the right day and time for us to dance. And we keep on dancing until we got tired. Now I am old and I relate to this statement differently. I see the value of living fully in the present moment fully and joyfully. The present is the real time. Not to dwell on the past and be anxious about tomorrow. Now is the real time.

The second lesson "Your growth as a conscious being is measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have." I find it rather difficult to relate to conversation with people who have rigid and fixed different positions in politics and religion and are unwilling to keep their minds and hearts open. I try to remain open with them but it is hard to walk on one way street. I like to be astonished and that's a great way of aging wisely and gracefully. And such "wow" moments happen frequently for me. I see two little children running around in a grocery store near their mother. I look at them and smile. They return their smile to a stranger! Seeing a variety of colorful flowers in my backyard and birds singing song fills my mind with wonder and heart with delight. I have been practicing and teaching Mindfulness Meditation in my Zoom classes. Living mindfully offers many opportunities to us to view and relate to life as dancing in the falling rain. When we are not living in the present moment we miss seeing the rain falling, flowers blooming, children smiling and seasons of life changing. May we be aware of the power of presence, the only dance there is!
Namaste!

Wonder Increases As Speed Decreases makes me think slowly and deeply. I wonder how many times I slow down to see the sun rising and setting, the birds chirping in my backyard, or the flowers changing colors. We live in a fast moving world with a sign 'I Don't Have Time'. I used to slow down and relate to nature and human beings without rushing. I would pay my undivided attention to what was happening in the present moment and embrace it with wonderment. Walking on the fast moving lane I miss seeing the wonderful unfolding of natural beauty. I need to slow down to appreciate what David Haskell says " Wonder Increases As Speed Decreases." I have been learning the art of living, living fully in the present moment. Living this way I enjoy the wonderment of the present moment unbound by the past and the future. Daily practice of sitting quietly and letting revealed the joy and light of the now consciousness helps me to live fully.
​Namaste!

Here is my reflection after reading the poem by Courtney Martin:
There are two ways of learning and knowing. One way is reading, talking, and discussing and reflecting. The other way is knowing by doing, by experimenting and by experiencing. I use both ways. However I know from my own experience that real and deep learning happens by doing, by deeply reflecting with an unclouded and quiet mind.

When I learn with an open, clear and quiet mind I learn from myself and by myself. Such learning has helped me walk in the right direction and that helps me how to "fish", how to get what is really precious and how to enrich my inner life. I have learnt from my experiences the way how to relate to life. Such learning requires an open and unbiassed mind. It requires quiet and clear mind and an earnest desire to let go what binds me and blinds me.
Namaste!

Below is my reflection to a thought provoking excerpt from Shannon Lee's "Be Water, My Friend".

We all need relationships to learn and grow. According to my understanding, there are two kinds of relationship: intrapersonal and interpersonal. How do I cultivate my relationship with me and my relationship with others? I mindfully attend to my inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions and examine them with an open mind which helps me to arise and lift me up and what brings me down. In that way I face myself and learn from myself. The same way I keep my mind and heart open to receive feedback from others. This is the way I learn and grow. When I was participating in an encounter group, I learned about what blocks me from expanding my consciousness. There have been times I when I am blind to my inner world and actions. In the encounter group I saw my own blindness and that helped me to see the light. Open mindedness has been very helpful to me. Awareness what is happening in my mind and heart also helps me. I know this is an ongoing process and that helps me continue growing.
​Namaste!

Below is my reflection after reading an excerpt written by Reb Zelman:

Faith is like roots of a tree. It is firm and steady, unwavering. Belief is like a leaf of a tree. It gets swept away by external forces and change colors according to seasons. Faith is like an anchor that keeps me grounded, steady and balanced in the midst of small and big changes in me life. Beliefs change as they are do not have firm roots. I may believe in some body in certain situation but not in all situations. I may believe in some one for some time and disbelieve and doubt at other times.

I have faith in people in my life who love me unconditionally with no strings attached. I love folks in my life who serve people selflessly. This is divine way of living in this world. I have unwavering faith in them. And when I love them unconditionally they have faith in me. This is the divine way of living. and living this way fills the cup of my life joyfully and spiritually.
May we all cultivate the divine way of living, living truthfully and faithfully.
Namaste!

Reading this passage authored by Natureza Gabriel Kram reminds me of Adi Sankaracharya the enlightened Vedantic teacher born 1500 hundred years ago. He describes four states of consciousness:
normal state of wakefulness-Jagrati,
dream state of consciousness-Swapna,
Sushupti -sound sleep state of consciousness, and 
Turiya-Transcendental or Unitive state of consciousness.

The first three states of consciousness are like liquid, solid, and steamy states of consciousness and water going through the first three states of consciousness without being bound by liquid, solid, and steamy states of consciousness. When our contemplative practices go deeper, we realize the Transcendental or Unitive Consciousness. And that is Self, our True Nature. This is the defining characteristic of a Self-realized being with no divisive boundaries and barriers, beyond time and space.

hen my meditative state goes deeper I experience Turiya, the Transcendental Consciousness. In that state the egoic mind, the little self fades away and this is an experience of Transcendental or Unitive Consciousness. I come "home", a home of harmony, openness and oneness. In this state I experience profound peace, deep contentment and bliss. Arriving at home takes time, patience, persistence and perseverance. This is a spiritual journey, an inward journey, an inner work, sadhana. I have been on this journey for along time and I am not in a rush to reach my destination, moksha, liberation, salvation. I bow to all who are on this spiritual path, my fellow voyagers.
​Namaste!

Reading this conversation of David Godman (the questioner) and Ramana Maharishi's, published in the awakin.org, it reminds me of the chant I do before I do my daily meditation : "OM asato ma sadgamaya,
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya,
mrityor ma amritam gamaya.
OM shantihi, shantihi, shantihi.

Translation:
Om! Lead me from the unreal to the Real,
from darkness to Light,
from death to Immortality
Peace. Peace, Peace.

We are looking for eternal peace. It is my understanding that real peace comes from inside, not from outside. It comes from silence when all the external and internal noises fade away. Peace is already and forever dwells in Silence. I hear the voice of Peace when my mind is silent. In the silence I hear the sound of Peace within me, without me, without then, without there but in the Presence, Here, and Now. It is like the clear sky with no clouds. It is in the present moment.

When I meditate, when my mind is not engaged in the past and the future, but in the now and here consciousness I abide in the flow of full and clear consciousness, and that is I. As long as the flame in my mind is flickering I cannot see the light within me, the light of awareness of pure or transcendental consciousness which is always present, always free. I have been learning the power of "now consciousness" by practicing Mindfulness Meditation regularly. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation regularly helps me see and disperse the clouds of ignorance and delusion and that way I see the luminous light that shines within us for ever. I also live mindfully so that I do not reside in the self-created prison in me. Practicing mindfulness and living mindfully helps me to be liberated from myself-created bondage. May we all get awakened and get connected with the Divine light of awareness.
Namaste! 

I like the title of this passage The Self Is Not A Thing, But A Process. A process is fluid. It is flowing. The body- mind complex creates obstacles in the flow of the unitive consciousness where I and You or you and me get dissolved. What makes the "I" making the decision and "I" receiving the decision different, not the same? According to my understanding it is the ego that creates the split between I and you. When I become free from the grip of my ego I am in the flow of the Unitive Consciousness or Self-realization. In this spiritual realm we become one with us and with others. In this spiritual realm the apparent distinctions of I and you, and mine and yours, fade away and the Light of Oneness shines. There are many occasions in my life when I have gone beyond myself. Serving others without any selfish motive and loving people in my life unconditionally have enriched my life. What is nobody? When I know who I am and let the light of that awareness shine within me, I realize that we all are one. This is True Love, my True Nature. Namaste!