As this moment

I am as insignificant as this moment, this silence
I am as significant as this moment, this silence
In this moment I sleep, I wake
In it I breathe, I sigh
In it I live, I die
In it I am eternal, extinguished
Forever more, and no more
I am, not.

Stukin the insanity of the aftermath

I’m stukin the insanity of the aftermath
The decisions I made lying around like leaves after a storm
Uselessly drying away until they join the dust.
Like everyone else my mind is laid to waste
And so I wait to quench my thirst, my unquenchable thirst.
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I’m stilled by all that surrounds me
Yet words in my mind fly around like insects on a busy summer’s day
Annoying me as they buzz in my ear, reminding me of work to be done.
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What strange new paraphernalia can I add to this planet?
What new inventions to cure new diseases?
With no new words to soothe my soul, I kiss this afternoon too goodbye.

The mangled mind

Lately I've been feeling like there are a thousand noises inside my head, all at the same time. My handwriting is different (I observed, today, that my hand was weaker than usual), which is a strange phenomenon as they say that it is a strong indicator of your personality amongst other things.

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I'm feeling exhausted and out of breath. I feel like doing other things; and I feel like I'm wasting my time here. I feel incredibly impatient, and don't know how I will ever be able to stick to a regular job like most folks. I'm afraid of losing my way, and I'm praying harder than ever to stick to the path.

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I'm grateful for all that I've been given, but I'm still looking for something more. What is it?

A Child of the Universe

I have just begun reading Henry Miller. Fascinating fellow, with a very simplistic view of the world. I have already began to form a literary trail (the phenomenon that occurs when you find yourself picking up books which contain links to one another - a reflection of the fact that you are often interested in the same ideas). From Herman Hesse's `Siddhartha', to echos in Lin Yutang's `The Importance of Living', and Osho...words of Miller merely resonate the same sentiments and philosophy of the authors/spiritualists I have just mentioned.

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Miller urges quite the same thing as Osho - stop attaching yourself to any particular goals, and live free. Be a bird, fly! This universe will provide everything, and there are no limits to what you can do and be. Everything else (pain, suffering, joy) are just makings of your own mind.

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How I wish I could let go, and leap off the cliff that holds me back! How I wish it were as simple as saying it! How I wish I believed in Miller and Osho so much more, that I did not restrain myself! I feel like a horse that has all the power to gallop for miles and miles, but has instead bridled itself to a weak stupid wooden post. Constraints of having to make a living, feeding my stomach, worries of the future - these are what hold me back. These have shaped themselves into my leather saddle, resting heavily on my back.

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If Osho could do it, if Eckhart Tolle could do it, then why not me? What am I so afraid of, and who am I waiting for to give me an assurance? I cannot rely on my father for financial support - it is far too shameful. Is financial support the only kind I look for? What about other kinds of support which I unknowingly seek? Emotional, mental, spiritual...How can we truly liberate ourselves, and live without attachments?

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If we are truly children of this universe, and made in the likeness, the very image of God, why can't we be free? I want to be free.

My veils of ignorance

I discovered that everytime I entered clarity, I would become aware of it, uninnocent, that my ego came into play, and I entered ignorance again.

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I am playful, innocent, then aware of this innocence, and thus I became serious again.

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Laughter begins, awareness of laughter happens, and sadness sets in.

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The secret is to laugh without ego, live without seriousness, and be without being.

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The Upanisads contain the secrets of the eternity, the infinite. You can never be only spiritualist and be whole, never be materialist and be whole. One has to be all, all-encompassing. Everytime you begin to isolate parts of yourself, you break yourself into pieces, thus leaving no room for wholeness to take place. Embrace all the nonsense - be aware of it, and it dissapears into the whole. It becomes engulfed by the vast infinite, there is no room for only it to exist.

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I recently understood just how serious I had become, after I met someone. It was a stark contrast - dark appeared darker against the light. I became envious of the laughter, the joy, the simplicity of just being completely in the moment and not dwelling in the past or concerning oneself too much with the future. I realised how possessive I had become, how much I wanted to hold onto a person. And all this while, I had imagined that I was on my way to spiritual A+!! True love happens when there is complete freedom; where there is fear and jealousy, there is no love.

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Now I have to begin again...back to square one. I have to `neti, neti' - negate, negate - negate all that is not necessary, and dissolve into The Infinite.

The relationship with my country

I am 22 years old, and in the last 6 years, I have lived in 5 countries (including my own), and travelled to 6 others. The continents I'm yet to visit are Africa, Australia and South America. For nearly 5 years, I haven't lived in my country for longer than 6 months. So the question of the relationship with my country must truly be a curious one.

Do I love India?

Do I hate India?

Do I not care either way, whether I live there or not?

Do I love India, but would like to live elsewhere?

Would I rather live in another country?

Will I return?

What do I feel about her? This grand country, older than time itself, seasoned by many saints and wise men and women, peppered by different regimes - kings and princes and princesses, who is this woman? I am miniscule in comparison to the grandeur of her history, her wisdom, and her beauty. I represent a small, tiny part of who she is - yet I am part of her, all the same. I am one of her millions of daughters, and one of thousands who chose to leave her for a while. But I believe I will be one of the few, perhaps amongst hundreds, who choose to return to her - to the womb that gave birth to me.

Yes, I am proud to be who I am; even if I am indeed only a microscopic part of her grandeur. I love my country dearly - the chaos, the noise, the colours, the joy of the people, the sadness of the people, our festivals, our celebration of life and death, our firm belief in truth and divinehood, our memories, our families, our soil and farms and villages, our children and their games, our debates and arguments, our intellectuals, our fools, our wisemen, our divinemen - all this and more, I love about India.

While I am proud, I am not always happy...India is complex, and not to be taken at face value. I am ashamed about the many evils that were committed and continue to be committed on this ancient land, by its people - The Gujarat Massacre (2,500 people were killed), the value of human life is so less - remember the ship breaking yards of Gujarat, our discrimination of muslims, our attitude towards women and relationships, the whole caste problem (and the debate of reservations), and bureaucracy at all levels of administration.

But will this deter me from returning, change my mind? Not in the least, although it reminds me that there are problems in my country - but which country does not have its share of problems? If we were all cowards and decided to stay in a safer environment, then the world will never change. And so my mind has not changed since I first left for Singapore in 2002 - I will return to India. To live and to work there.

And yes, I care dearly. I care too much - I want to make a difference, and I also want to enjoy my life - fortunately, India can afford me both. Year 2009 will see my return, when I will begin my entrepreneurial and non-profit projects - it will be a most memorable time indeed.

Image copyright: 2007 Europa Technologies, 2007 NASA

The Golden Pedestal

I'm making new discoveries in my life, every single day. Emotionally, spiritually, I'm taking baby steps. And it's taking me further along the path...

...Then one day I began to feel proud of myself - perhaps I'm special, better than others, because I understand some things better than they. Here was the trap, the loophole, and if I may say it, The Temptation. You start to walk around like you're Neo from The Matrix, about to save the mother ship from thousands of evil virus robot creatures.

In actuality, I believe, Christ was right in saying - be careful of temptation. Now let me make it clear, I'm hardly a religious person - I believe in eternal wisdom and truth more than I believe in the R word. But temptation is nothing but our own Egos, and everytime we have to make a choice, the wise choice. The choice to not act from our egos, but something much purer. And so it goes for every single human being, every cellular living breathing being and literally every atom in this universe - it is all energy, we're all the same, and we're all unified. It is not possible for us to awaken, and then sit back and relax. Everything must progress for it to be called true progress. Everything must awaken for it to be real awakening.

So the next time you begin to turn your nose up at someone who is ignorant, prejudiced, violent, abusive, remind yourself - they have to progress and they will also walk the path just as you are walking right now - send them love and encouragement and pray that the good angels be by their side always. May we all walk on the Divine path towards Eternal Grace and light. Amen!

Be...come?

So many great religions and bodies of thought have stated enlightenment to be a "becoming", a "re-discovery" of the authentic self. This seems a little ironic to me. Why go through all the trouble of forgetting your true nature, and then dusting off the unwise parts of ourselves, and blooming into nirvana - why? Why should every cell in our bodies "re-awaken"? Why should every atom in the Universe ascend fully into its highest consciousness until it is enlightened...why?

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Why not always be infinitely infinite? Forever "be", instead if "be-come"? Why fall asleep before awakening? Why not forever be awake?

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The Kabbalah states that one reason could be attributed to the doctrine of the "Bread of Shame" which states that human beings at the time of Moses (recall the event on Mount Sinai) wanted to `earn' the benevolence of the Creator before being fully bestowed with his Lightforce. Thus we descended into darkness, and we are in the process of slowly `earning' our way to enlightenment.

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Isn't this simply amazing? I don't know whether to believe in Kabbalah's theory. Whatever said and done, I know what I have to do and have some idea of how to go about it, although I do not know why I am part of this Universal game. Does anybody have any other theories?

The last piece of the puzzle

I think it was at 13, the year before the one in which The Matrix was released, when I began to question my reason for existence - in fact I felt like I was living in a little cloud of questions. What the hell am I doing on this planet, in this family, in this school...etc. etc.

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Now, I am clearer (note, I didn't say "clear"!). I am here to take my time with learning the lessons I have to learn. What lessons? Lessons of understanding, awareness, love, and most importantly - trust.

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The more that we learn to trust in this universe and in ourselves, the more we are aligned with our true higher self. As noted in The Matrix - we have to learn to let go of our fears and trust in our inner power. Like Neo, we are still dormant - "Wake up Neo!".

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Everyday I come across new people, or resources (such as books or interenet sites), or messages in the form of popular media, which are leading me to unsolve this big puzzle which is me and my life - "Who am I, what am I here for?". As my father used to say - a man with a hammer will find nails everywhere. The hammer is my questions on existence, the nails are the answers. So go around with a hammer, and you will find more nails than you expected to find!

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I am happy to take my time with my learning. I'm in no rush, awareness is slowly seeping its way into my system and I'm truly grateful for it :)

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p.s. There is no last piece of the puzzle as learning is a never-ending process - the mountain of knowledge has no peak!

Impressions

It's been a while since I recorded my thoughts. It's a Wednesday, I'm writing from the city of Lyon in France. I arrived here in the beginning of January, and I've collected quite a few impressions of this new country I'm in.
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Living here is the most different it has ever been for me (I've lived in countries other than India). French people are the most different foreign people I've ever encountered. I often find them on the brink of insensitive, but here I only refer to the younger folk. Most older people are quite polite and nice (or at least I think they are).
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Their culture is steeped in constant sexual references. I'm not exactly sure why. Is it the air? The soil? What?!
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I wonder how I will change with years to come. I hope for the better. I've just discovered a new relationship, a new person. I'm finding it rather difficult being with him. I wish relationships were easier. Apparently they're not. Or perhaps I'm still looking for a relationship where I can be truly peaceful and happy.
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Why am I sharing these thoughts to the whole entire world?!

Welcoming the Divine Manifestation upon Earth and into one's Life

This is one of the most important essays, probably the most important, that I will have ever included in my blog.

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It is vital to make oneself clear when writing on such matters, so I will attempt to do that as best as possible. When I say `Divine', I do not necessarily point to any particular `God'-like figure, the kind we are used to, carrying particular names for particular forms. By `Divine' I mean the highest possible nature that is attainable by an individual. The highest possible nature does not come from a mere cultivation of the mind or a strengthening of the body - it comes from this and much more than this. The steps for bringing about the ultimate awakening are elucidated as below. Read them carefully. Step 3 is one of the most important.

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Note: Always remember to proceed in baby steps because one is not conscious of how prepared one truly is for the Ascension. A being that has lain dormant, asleep, for so long cannot ascend suddenly into Divine Consciousness without being subject to some sort of danger unless one invites the Divine Energy with completely sincere intention, free from all Ego, fear and weakness.

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1. The first awakening in man happens when he realises The Possibility that had always lay secretly waiting within him - the possibility to ascend to Godhood. Godhood does not mean having so many spiritual powers, all though this is possible but only as a by-product and does not indicate the realisation of Truth itself. Godhood is when man trascends mind, body and the workings of Nature (with it, the law of Karma) - is in line with the Spirit, and realises his full potential. The Divine Consciousness that he had always carried within him as a seed, will finally flower into a full tree, as it ought to always have.

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2. But this is only the beginning. The second step is to will this Ascent to Godhood.

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3. The third step is to make the effort to carefully prepare the mind, body and spirit - the practise of The Yoga - to welcome the Divine Consciousness into his/her life. There is much writing on the subject of this preparation. Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi, Sri Ramana of Thiruvannamalai, Vallalaar, and of course Sri Aurobindo the great Master himself who wrote among his mangnum opus' - `The Synthesis of Yoga' and `The Life Divine'. It is also said that the reading of his `The Savitri' as a sadhana, may itself bring an awakening. What is important is to endure, calmly, patiently, on the path. Make the effort.

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4. After all preparation has been made, it is important to invoke the Masters who aid those who wish to attain the Divine Consciouness, and consciously avail their help. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are two such ascended masters who I can think of as examples. In today's world, it is difficult to distinguish the real masters from the unreal. So be careful in who you choose for guidance in your work.

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5. Fifthly, when one is calm and prepared, he brings within him the descent of Divine Energy which then helps him to elevate him to Godhood. This perhaps is the real Kundalini Awakening as indicated in the ancient Hindu wisdom of old - after the practise of yoga.

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By manifesting the Divine Consciousness in your own life, you are fulfilling a very important work which is part of the Earth's work. It is not just for your own soul that you must work, but also for all others, as we are all as much (part of) the Universal as we are Individual. Once we realise the Infinite/Universal within us, this radiates as a compassion from the within to the outside. You will begin to see yourself in others, and others in you. This is Divine Love. Your actions and thoughts will also begin to radiate love, and with this (cumulative effect), your life becomes a Life Divine.

Lament (not for people with `sappy' in their daily vocabulary)

The death of sentimentality, softness, vulnerability. People choose to take the `harder' way out. Easier to be cold and rational, and approach a problem with no compassion in heart.

What has the world come to? Observe all your 1950s movies, the older fare. What do you observe? There is respect for softness, it's less in-your-face. Things reveal themselves subtly and surprise you gently. But now, everything has changed. It's easier to cut, rip, and leave all wounds open without waiting for them to heal. There doesn't seem to be anymore a need to be gentle and kind. The last `gentle' (or gentile?!) movie was...let's see...perhaps `The Truman Show'? I don't know. I just feel that we live in the age of crudeness. It's impossible to appreciate sunshine without making a joke about it. Everything has to be immediately immediate, and if it's not, it becomes a laughing matter.

I'm afraid of where the world is headed. Will we forever slip down this tangent we've taken? What has made it this easy to be impolite, this easy to do wrong and not apologise? To numb our conscience, and not listen to the soft whisperings of the heart inside? The world is moving faster and faster, and we've gotten onto a hurricane ride that we can never get off.

I love that in today's world we can interact with people from other cultures and appreciate other ways of being, women today enjoy more equality and a say in everyday affairs than ever before, but I don't know if it would be completely wishful thinking to imagine a more polite and sensitive society without the trappings of having to live a less than authentic life. Watch `Kate & Leopold' (2001) and you'll get a cinematised version of what I mean :-)

School for the Gifted

I read somewhere that if you have a dream, share it with as many people as you can, so that they may check on you and make sure you achieve it! So here goes..

I've always loved to teach, and I love kids...so put the two together and you have `educating children'. I'm not interested in supporting causes for which I have no passion - so that eliminates my ever `giving at the office', i.e. blindly donating money to some random charitable organisation just when I'm in an altruistic mood.

I wish to follow a two-fold approach in achieving my dreams - starting a business which I'm passionate about, and simultaneously starting my charitable work. So a portion of the profits will be channeled directly into the charitable trust.

I want to start a `School for the Gifted' - focusing on children from down-trodden families and encouraging them to attain their highest potential. These children have nothing to lose, and everything to gain - so why not invest in them? Why not see possibility where their parents may see little?

In a country where the approach towards education is incredibly narrow and stifling, this could be an experiment in an alternative method of educating kids. Indian schools of today focus only on book knowledge, and this is where we differ tremendously from schools abroad.
Enriching the library, giving intelligent inputs, encouraging their creative pursuits, building up their self-esteem - these are just some of the ways in which we can do things differently.

Hope and courage is everything. The human spirit is indestructible - put them together and you can have a school where the world leaders of tomorrow may be nurtured. All are welcome into these school doors.

p.s. want to copy my idea? by all means!!! we need more of such schools. Alternatively, if you want to join me in implementing this project, leave your comment and email ID.

Films that mean(t) a lot to me, in no particular order

1. Awakenings (1990)

2. The Miracle Worker (1962)

3. The Matrix (1999)

4. The Black Stallion (1979)

5. Devdas (2002)
- for all that glitz and drama

6. Awaara (1951)
- I love Raj Kapur!

7. The Truman Show (1998)
- Jim Carrey at his best

8. Annie Hall (1977)
- Woody Allen's best

9. Dead Poets Society (1989)

10. Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Malkovich is an angry nut, but what a genius!

11. Adaptation (2002)
- Sorry, but I really love the combination of director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman! And Chris Cooper...Rrr...

12. Cabaret (1972), Chicago (2002), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
- They're all comparable in a way. They capture the swirling essence of the late 60s. End of an era. Chicago and Cabaret are similar in many ways, only Cabaret is more daring, haha. We're all so prim and proper these days. And oh, watch out for Maggie Smith in `The Prime...'

13. Kill Bill - Volumes 1 and 2
- Quentin at his more well-packaged best

14. Clueless (1995), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
- for the romantic spirited

15. Proof (2005)

16. The Sound of Music (1965)
- Maria...makes me...laugh!

17. Frida (2002)
- Easily, my favourite painter

18. Planet of the Apes (1968)
- I love New York, so I hate to see the Statue of Liberty that way

I wish I could add a Katharine Hepburn movie to this list, because I love her so much. I think I will once I catch more of her movies, and I don't think `Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' is her best (because that's all I have seen of her). And believe me, I'll have more movies to add to this little list in the future!

And a word of advice - whenever anybody makes a remake of a movie, go watch the original. It almost always works, how can you possibly replicate an old good wine?!

A different meal ticket

I had a strange dream last night, but I saw some light in it after I woke up. So here it is for you...

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I dreamt that I had gone on an excursion with all my school friends to some place. And for lunch, each one of us were handed a meal ticket to be exchanged for food at a cafetaria. The tour guide handed out new tickets, and the meal that could be availed for each was a `set of 6' meaning 6 different dishes which would make up a whole meal.

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As soon as the tour guide began to hand them out, everybody rushed to the front and in the end almost all the tickets were gone, all except for 2 old, different meal tickets. One was for pizza and another was for a snack. I picked the pizza one, but was disgruntled by what I got, because I hadn't got what the others got. I was afraid that my stomach would not be full after eating it, and felt that it was unfair that I had to get this one while everybody else got to eat a `set of 6'.

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I went to argue with the tour guide and tried to obtain the same ticket as everybody else's. But she argued that the pizza would be nice and wholesome and delicious to eat, and didn't see what I had to complain about. In the end I was stuck with, you guessed it, the pizza one.

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When I woke up, I had sudden clarity...god gives everybody a chance to eat, a chance in life to express themselves, to fulfill themselves and attain wisdom. While most people get a certain meal ticket, some get a different type of one, but they get one all the same. It is a person's intelligence to know how to make the best of this different meal ticket. Perhaps god had a slightly different plan in life for me, and I will learn to accept the meal ticket happily :-)

The Artichoke Project

My father had brought 4 artichokes from his trip to Ooty, a hill station located in the Nilgiri hills bordering Tamilnadu and it's neighbouring state, Kerala. (Nilgiri literally translates to blue mountain).

Now, I don't believe the artichoke is a native vegetable of India - probably brought in by the Brits along with carrots, potatoes, beans, and peas. And we rarely find artichokes in the Chennai vegetable markets. I've only seen artichokes in pictures and once tasted it in school when a girl had brought it for lunch.

My father suggested making artichoke soup. Should be fairly simple right? Just boil it for about 25-45 minutes with some salt, pepper and herbs, and it should be ready!

Well yes, cooking it is fairly simple (water boils on it's own), but preparing the artichokes for cooking is not easy. They are complex vegetables, just like some people. They have many layers, and a really fuzzy and often thorny inner layer. They've got thistles on their outermost petals. Quite the hardy vegetable, the artichoke.

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-- artichoke flower

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So this is what I set about doing. I did some research on the internet, and one website proved particularly useful in providing tips for preparing them: http://www.artichokes.org/basic_prep.html
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And the recipe for the soup came partly from another website (minus the chicken broth though because my mom is vegetarian), and partly from my own head.
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1. I first prepared a bowl of water with squeezed lemon (vinegar is a good alternative) because artichokes oxidise very easily on contact with air. Once you start cutting them, they immediately start to go brown!

2. So I first cut the stalk down to one quarter near the base of the artichoke. And then cut off that too, peeled it's outer layer and dropped it into the water (the stalk is edible too).

3. Then I pulled out some of the hardy outer petals and disposed them.

4. I cut the top 1/3rd of the artichoke with a knife and trimmed the petals with a kitchen scissors (not completely necessary, but it makes for good presentation once it's cooked).

5. Then with the help of the knife, I cleaned out the inside fuzz and thorny petals of the artichoke. Then dropped the whole thing into the water.

6. I prepared 4 artichokes in this manner. Put water to boil along with some herbs (thyme and rosemary is what I used), salt and ground black pepper. Added the artichokes to the boiling water.

7. After they had boiled for nearly 40 minutes (water turns a nice green, clorophyll, very valuable, used this as stock for the soup), I prepared the soup base. Fresh cream (medium fat), with some milk, and a little more salt and ground pepper, and some corn starch (for thickening). Then added the artichokes and stock. Note: I stuck a fork into each artichoke to check if they were properly cooked - you know they are cooked when the fork goes in easily (artichokes turn really soft after boiling).

8. Let it boil for another 5-10 minutes. Artichoke soup is ready!

9. For the presentation - I put each artichoke into the centre of each soup bowl (they stayed whole, thank god, after all that boiling!) and poured the delicious creamy looking soup in.

My parents enjoyed it thoroughly, and so did I. The whole process had taken almost 2 hours, but the end result made up for all the effort. It was so fulfilling to ultimately consume the soup and see the satisfied looks on my parents' faces.

What a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

p.s. Here's another useful website in case you want to sauté them - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/food/links/artichokes/step1.html

Artichoke flower image courtesy:
Duke Gardens July 2004 / artichoke flower Matthew Wallenstein 7/7/2004 mdw7@duke.edu

Lin Yutang, Paulo Coelho, and other `brilliant nuts' I greatly admire

For all my loyal readers...hehe..there will soon be an article on a book I'm reading at the moment, and with which I've fallen dearly in love with - `The Importance of Living' by Lin Yutang (quite the hearty fellow, and one with whom you can imagine having a delightful conversation over evening tea while watching the sun go down!).

There will be few comments, and a lot of `line-lifting', for I found it quite difficult to capture the essence of a book where the real delight lies in the reading (because it's like biting into incredible tiramisu, now how can one possibly replicate that feeling?!).

I also got the same feeling reading `Like a Flowing River by Paulo Coelho. And there will be a book review on that too. I couldn't possibly read his `Valkyries' book, and I luke-warmly enjoyed `The Devil and Miss Prym' and `Eleven'. But this one, his collective memoirs, was far more interesting.

When a book is good for toilet reading, you know it's easy to read, and you know it's something you really enjoy versus something you'd read just to show off at a conversation with elites. ;-)

I love wrinkles

Have you ever noticed old trees? Run your hands on the hard bark? In the little ridges, where insects and beetles, birds of all sorts, have pecked and drilled and scurried their way through? Sweet tree gum oozing from various cracks, some branches withering away, leaves falling here and there, messing up the ground?

So what did you do then? Did you think the tree un-beautiful? Isn't it anything but?

The ridges indicate its age, the holes and bores - the love which other creatures had for this beautifully still being, and those which took shelter in storms and harsh sunlight. Old leaves providing fodder for millions of little creatures who we would dismiss as boring and useless in our busy lives.

So why is it that when we can accept the appearance of a grand old tree, we become frighteningly paranoid when it comes to our own aging process?

That scar you got when you fell down as a kid, those wrinkles near the eyes from laughing or working too much, rough hands that handled heavy things - these are the things I love most in people, because every little spot, every little `blemish' tells a story. Words can only describe a person so much, but when you truly observe their appearance, you can tell so much more.

So look at your father, your mother, your lover once more. Look at their faces, and `see' them once again. Not as a face filled with spots and blemishes, but as one that has faced all of life's battles and yet has the courage to smile for you. Our wrinkles are like tree ridges - learn to love them as they are.

Image courtesy: http://www.thejackol.com/category/photography/

Lin Yutang, Paulo Coelho, and other `brilliant nuts' I greatly admire: the uncensored version

I was thinking of quoting some important lines from `The Importance of Living' by Lin Yutang - brilliant book, particularly from the first chapter - The Awakening. Lin Yutang mentions how the past and the present meet in a book, when the writer echos thoughts of past writers, and they communicate beyond the time-space continuum, and form a connection with the reader who begins to form his own thoughts and ideas about what he reads. I had mentioned in a previous post about how I began to form a book trail - from Yutang to Coelo, to Henry Miller, and so on never-endingly. Coelo has a beloved and highly optimistic attitude towards life, however I am beginning to find his ideas rather lofty, and too clouded in rainbows and butterflies for them to be truly graspable by an existentialist such as myself.
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Osho for me is the wild fanatic, one with whom I can connect to more - he is both the most human of men, and most divine of gods I have ever come across. Now he lived completely, giving himself wholly to every moment. Taking a leaf from Osho's thoughts: Live your own life, read but do not be consumed, think but do not crystallise your ideas, be like the river, forever flowing, but do not think of reaching the ocean so soon. And so here is my lucid declaration to all believers:
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I hereby denounce `the follower'. Like me, do you not wish to blaze your own path, a unique one, for only then I have lived at all?! I hereby denounce the follower, for all he can do is to tom-tom others' ideas, and never ever dare to make them his own, never tear them apart and customise them for his own benefit. Don't be afraid to be blasphemous, sacriligeous, and delight in other such wild phenomena. For you are human, accept your nature, and live!

Water and Women

Women are like water - young and bubbling as a stream in youth, like the flowing river as a woman, and vast as the ocean when she is a wise old grandma.

A woman is not like air - she will not leave anything untouched and untraceable like air. She is not a hard rock either - for she will cry, and feel for things, and be vulnerable. But she is like water - she becomes attached, attaining the shape of the container in which she is poured, to the people who begin to matter in her life. At the same time, she carries within her the spirit of resilience, for she can just as easily adjust to a broken and shattered existence, probably far better than a man can.

Most women are water, too few are air or solid. But many men can be both - like air, they choose to live life on their own terms, and hate for their serene existence to be polluted by any external phenomena. Or like rock, they are impenetrable, and often stubborn, not changing their points of view.

For the man who is like air, I say - don't wait for something to touch you and move you, for you to start being `affected'. Learn to be more sensitive to others' feelings and thoughts. But do impart your realistic attitude and sense of detachment to those who need it at the right time!

For the man who is like rock, I say - continue to be strong, for your strength can give much courage to others. But also learn to be like water, because it is not a sin to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is the basis of human life.

For the women who are water, I say - learn from the above types of men, but embrace your beautiful sensitive qualities.

However, all things said, these are quite general statements, and anyone can be in a different state at different times or moments in their lives. But learn to be water, air, or rock, at the times when the right attitude is called for.