Learning

त्वदीयं वस्तु गोविन्द तुभ्यमेव समर्पये।
गृहाण सम्मुखो भूत्वा प्रसीद परमेश्वर।।

All goodness comes from you; all misfortunes are signs for me. 

Ram

Absolutely stunning - Ram

Nothing new but probably understood a little better? 

Devi

 

Pain

1. Trust the process

2. It is by design - imagine a conveyer belt

3. Sit through the process and pain - moving will disrupt the process and pain will shift elsewhere. It may look that the pain has been relived but it will settle elsewhere and the whole process will start again. It’s painful every way.

4. The pain will becoming soothing after a bit - it’s a sinusoidal wave - it does become better if we have the patience to follow the process by all design principles.

5. Pain is a teacher. 

6. Pain helps to focus and get attention.

7. Pain is more helpful overall.

8. It diminishes ego. 

9. In the absence of ego the true process can start. 

10. The process is designed to move from gross to subtle sensations.

11. We want the subtle sensations since they are at higher frequencies.

12. Higher frequencies tend to zero. 

13. At some point the bliss starts taking over such that the sensations don’t matter as much and hence right action can be performed. 

14. The bliss keeps you preoccupied and is a happy state of its own - only because it’s like a high and the mind can come up with out of the box ideas. 

15. Shifting the focus changes the state of being. 

16. We become all powerful and come closer to the essence 

How can I serve?

You can move from a group to another group - any group you want. Every group has a "persona" just like we have one in product management and all of those personas are equally interesting and boring depending on what you already know. To me it all seems boring and noisy and lip-service after a point. They look interesting from outside, they are all the same from inside. So depending on what one likes or wants, they can become that to join the club. What if I do not like what the clubs offer from inside but find them interesting from outside? What if I do not even want to know anymore clubs because they are all the same for me? What if nothing impresses me any more? I knew this in 2018? Why am I taking such a long route for what I already know? 

Drama

I sway and I struggle between 2 opposites - I know what is right yet I end up as a bundle of nerves. I do see it all as a 3rd person and frankly I am a little tired of my own drama that I create. At least I know it’s my own drama :-) 

Freedom

Create space or rather free up your headspace for creativity. Everything else is just a waste of time! Freedom is above all. 

Where are my people at?

I'd like to reach out and talk to people at a level that I can see they are at - however, my approaching them changes the whole dynamic and spoils the taste. 

Core

Every time I lose track of the core; the force shakes me back to the path. Every time I have forgotten that feeling; there has been a rude awakening. It wants me to focus and prioritize on it - in return it will take care of me. 

 Honor your deepest passion. The answers lie there. 

My Sweet Haven

 One item off the bucket list! Set up my sweet haven the way I wanted. Good vibes and grateful always for everything...

Bundle of Contradictions

I am a bundle of contradictions. I am made up of parallel streams, these emotions and tracks that overlap and create a haze. I am all that and yet I can observe this from a distance. When I am not pulled into these contradicted states, I find all of this funny. I stay in good mood and I ensure everyone around me is in a good mood. This is a state I strive to be in. How can I always be here?

#walkingmeditation

Exercising in gym bores me to death but walking does not. I can walk for hours especially when I am alone. All I need is my phone and headphones. I took to serious walking in 2020 during pandemic days when the best places to visit were open parks and grounds - away from crowd and people. I got better at it as I started doing trails and soon it turned into the only form of exercise that I'd want to do anytime. So much so that when I do not have anything to do, my mind always checks if I'd should go for a walk. When I came across this article that Maria posted on Twitter, I was happy to see that it articulates exactly why I like it! 

See - Walking as Creative Fuel: A Splendid 1913 Celebration of How Solitary Walks Enliven “The Country of the Mind”

Some favorites from this article:

"Of course the best sort of walk is the one on which it doesn’t matter twopence whether you get anywhere at all at any time or not; and the second best is the one on which the hard facts of routes, times, or trains give you nothing to worry about."

-- Wendell Berry

"For company too often means compromise, discretion, the choice of the sweetly reasonable."

"Not a fiftieth part of all your happy imaginings will you ever, later, recapture, note down, reduce to dull inadequate words; but meantime the mind has stretched itself and had its holiday."

"But all these are only the by-products, the casual gains, of walking alone. The high converse, the high adventures, will be in the country of the mind."

-- Kenneth Grahame

“I walk everywhere in the city. Any city. You see everything you need to see for a lifetime. Every emotion. Every condition. Every fashion. Every glory.”

--Maira Kalman

New Year, New Post!

Past two months have been this crazy or what! No updates here since Nov... :)

I recovered from the Holiday mood just this past weekend probably. Was able to get into the normal rhythm of things. First hike of the year was long pending. Hoping to be more regular there. 

I love walking aimless in cities, towns and in nature. It's my personal meditation. All I need is a light backpack with essentials, my phone, extra batteries and good walking shoes. I love it! 

My happy place :D

             

Home

• The expectation of permanence from mortals is naive. That kind of state can only be achieved with self and the extension of self (Atman and Paramatman). 
• This thought brings freedom - to do anything without expecting anything from anyone. The subconscious fear of change cannot drive self anymore. 
• What we seek in the other, already exists in us. Only we can fulfill ourselves completely. Others can only be catalysts and can make us think/realize alone. That's their role. The actual realization needs to come from us. 
• Any change induced in self to be accepted by others is an aberration. It is wrong. It is self harming. 
• Remember, who you are. 
• The presence I was looking for in my own home is already living there. What freedom and what joy! I come back to the home that already has that presence. 
• We are all alone in this journey, truly alone. Everyone and everything else around us just helps us till we need their help to come to this realization. This realization is not an unhappy one. It is very liberating; as if some weight has lifted. It brings satisfaction and joy of finally knowing. 
• It is my job to be present for others but I cannot make them evolve till they themselves are ready to evolve. 
• So now that I know this, let me have a nice time and do everything that I love to do!

 Today is Chaitra Durga Ashtami. 

Path

My journey is mine. Even as I walk with others, I should not forget what is it that I should be doing. I have my own path to walk. So let’s remember that. 

The Fiercest Work

"The fiercest work is to look people in the eye, and deal with poverty, greed, lust, anger, and impurities, and politicians and paranoia and say, “Yes, yes, yes, I see it all, I understand it all, I have to hear my part in it, and do it purely and with love." 

Ram Dass on Instagram

Path you Walk

“The path you are walking originates from discovering who you are and embracing your true nature and value. It originates from your love for yourself. It originates from self respect and willingness to stand up for yourself. It stems from self belief.”

“Doubts that you get, anxiety that feel originates from “how will I be perceived”. It stems from the need to fit in, to be what is considered normal by people around you, to not stick out. We hate being judged because we want to be accepted and included. But true acceptance and inclusion comes only from people who are at our level. Else it starts feeling like a farce. Remember the feeling you have when you look back at how you were trying to fit in. How you wonder that you wasted so much time trying to buy acceptance? That is the path this doubt and anxiety wants you to walk again.”

What you need is not to elevate people or wait for them to accept you, but to find better class of people.

Words from a dear friend in times of self doubt. 

Joy

I stayed up last night because I just wanted to rush and do all the things in the world! Why have I been so cooped up in my life..I need to get out and be. 

Oh the joy! There are no coincidences and the fact that you attract what you need is so true. I am happy to be in this space. I don't want to stop now.