There are two ways we use language. One way is for survival and the other way is for evolving our consciousness. The author of this article, Vyaas Huston, uses two different phrases to differentiate the two modes of communication: survival language and sacred language. According to my understanding, we need survival language to meet basic mundane needs such as food, water, clothing , shelter, and mate. We also need to evolve on a higher level of living, to evolve on a higher level of consciouness, from me to we, from mundane to sacred.
The challenge is how to evolve from survival to sacred. According to my experience we need the helping hands of caretakers, to not fall down and hurt ourselves and others, and to slowly and gradually move up on our own. Parents can provide good modeling to their children. I was blessed to have such elders in my life. They would provide help when needed and let me walk on my path freely.
My parents used to tell me in Gujarati, my mother tongue, 'Vicharine yar uchhar vani'. Think before speak. That was very helpful advice which I still follow. In other words, this means to cultivate mindfulness of your inner world of thoughts and feelings before hurting yourself and others. Empathy and compassion for myself and others is very helpful to allow me to talk and relate to others in a sacred language.
Life is a journey and I have been walking on this sacred path with compassion and kindness, with patience and perseverance.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
A long time ago I had read that childhood is the fatherhood of a human being. How I am raised as a 2 to 3 year old child lays the foudation of my adulthood. Seeds of "true self" or authentic self are planted in early childhood. Our "true self" is naturally developd by the unconditional love and positive regard by our parents or care takers. If as children we were raised by adults who were raised in authoratarian ways our adult self will be shaped by such experiences.
I was raised by parents who were neither authoritarian or "do as you please"- laissez faire ways. They woud let me follow my needs, wishes and passion if that way of behaving did not hurt me and hurt others. This way of being raised by my parents created wholesome balance in my life. There are many examples of narcisstic, self-centered and autocratic leaders in the world we live in. It is very imporant for us as parents to raise our children in loving, caring and authentic ways.
This is a challening task for us as parents or care takers of our children. Family dynamics is very crucial for the wellfare of not only families but for the world at large..
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
We need to cultivate and embrace radical thinking to create radical changes in ourseles and in the world we live in. Everyday many of our political leaders are planting the seeds of hatred, violence, divisiveness, and disunity. We are in the self-centered destructive race without awareness of the possibilty of causing world wide destruction.
Seeds of violence and destruction are planted in our minds. The same way, seeds of peace and construction are alos planted in our minds. We need to pay our attention and be mindful of what kinds of thoughts and feelings are going on in our minds. It reqires radical thinking to transform our vision to see the truth.
Listening to the truth is not easy, especially the truth which may be unpleasant or bitter. We need to keep the window of our mind open to see the light of the truth to dispel the darkness of ignorance, bias or prjudice.
As I was growing up my father used to tell me in Sanskrit: Yatha dristy tatha sristy: As is my vision is so is my world. This wise saying has been very helpful to me to walk on the path of Truth and Love which liberates us from ignorance and prejudice.
Keeping my mind open and free has helped me to live wisely in the world. It is an inner journey of light and liberty. May we all walk on this path of life mindfully and persistently.
Amen!
Jagdish P Dave
The opening line of this passage " A seed eventually blossoms into the most beautiful flower."is a call for awakening the Self which cannot be realized by outside sources like prestge, possesions and power. We need to be awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and illusion. Such an awakening takes time. It requires patience, perseverance and willingness to clear up the innermost mess. The inner door of the temple of the heart is always open. We need to wake up from the darkness of ignorance and illusion and have willingness and faith for freeing ourselves from self-created bondage.
The challenge for me is how to live in the world but not of the world.To live fully I need to empty my shack of possesiveness and attachgments. I need to clear my eyes to let the Divine light in. And to let the coluds in my mind clear in order to see the luminous light shining within me.
I need to create a dynamic balance between holding on and letting go. Sometimes I like to hold on to what pleases me even at the cost of my wellness. It is hard to let it go. The other side of the coin is my wellness. As a human being I like to grab what is pleasant and hold on to it at the cost of my wellness. I need to close that door to let the light shine in me.
When my noisy mind is quiet and clear of the clouds of attachment, I see the light coming from within that helps me see my lifepath clearly. These are the precious momemts in my life that enlightens me and keeps me walking on my path that fills the cup of my life. What a gift! What ajoy! What a bliss!
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
The opening statement of this article helps me understand the notion of enlightenment. "Enlighenment is like the moon reflected in the water. The moon does not get wet, nor the water is broken." According to my undersatding, when one gets enlightened, he does not get attached to that state of consciousness. There are no clouds of attachment. Enlightenment is like the open and clear sky. Enlightenment is not bound by space and time. It is a pure and free state of consciousness. When we get free from the boundaries of mine and thine, me and you, we experience oneness. Enlightenment frees us from the egotisttic and divisive mindset. An enlghtened being is a member of the universal family, He has attained a unitive pure state of consciousness filled with eternal bliss.
I experience glimpses of enlighenment when I am not bound by my self-created bondage. When I let go of my self-created attachments, my possesiveness, my righteousness. When I transcend my self-created boudaries. When I assume and declare that I am a self-realized being and I am not bound by my inflated ego. I am no longer trapping myself by myself. Awareness of my self-created egotistic mind frees from my self-created prision.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Self-realization
How do we perceive reality, the things as they are or the people as they are? Is my perception of things and people changing or remainnig the same? This is a profound existential question. According to me, my perception of things and people changes depending on the condition of my mind. When my mind is quiet, clear and open, my perception of the external world of things and people becomes clear. But when my mind is clouded by my past experiences, biases, and prejudices, my perception and understanding of the external world changes. The past has an impact on the present. As is my vision, so is my vision of reality. If my vision is blurred so is my vision of reality. If my vision is clear like the clear blue sky my perception of realty is clear without any distortion. Letting go of my biases and prejudices is very important for me to see the truth. Clearing up and quieting my mind is very important for me for my mental and emotional health, for my relationships with people in my life.
It took time for me to have clear perception of the external reality. One of the barriers to seeing the external reality as it is had my own insecurity. My relating to my beloved wife was affeced by my jealousy which had an adverse effect on our relationship. It causes deep wounds of hurt and pain in both of us. Learning and practicing meditation helped me immensely to clear and quiet my mind. Our realtionship began blossoming and continued blossomimg until she passed away. I learned many important lessons from working on my self-created emotional wounds and creating emotional wounds in others close to me. I grew from my deep suffering. Understanding and working on my own suffering has taught me to live fully and help others going through emotional suffering.
As mentioned before knowing and accepting the cause of suffering and diligently working on it has opened the door of empathy and self-compassion, self- hopefulness and self-kindness and forgiveness in me. That is my inner w... [View Full Comment]How do we perceive reality, the things as they are or the people as they are? Is my perception of things and people changing or remainnig the same? This is a profound existential question. According to me, my perception of things and people changes depending on the condition of my mind. When my mind is quiet, clear and open, my perception of the external world of things and people becomes clear. But when my mind is clouded by my past experiences, biases, and prejudices, my perception and understanding of the external world changes. The past has an impact on the present. As is my vision, so is my vision of reality. If my vision is blurred so is my vision of reality. If my vision is clear like the clear blue sky my perception of realty is clear without any distortion. Letting go of my biases and prejudices is very important for me to see the truth. Clearing up and quieting my mind is very important for me for my mental and emotional health, for my relationships with people in my life.
It took time for me to have clear perception of the external reality. One of the barriers to seeing the external reality as it is had my own insecurity. My relating to my beloved wife was affeced by my jealousy which had an adverse effect on our relationship. It causes deep wounds of hurt and pain in both of us. Learning and practicing meditation helped me immensely to clear and quiet my mind. Our realtionship began blossoming and continued blossomimg until she passed away. I learned many important lessons from working on my self-created emotional wounds and creating emotional wounds in others close to me. I grew from my deep suffering. Understanding and working on my own suffering has taught me to live fully and help others going through emotional suffering.
As mentioned before knowing and accepting the cause of suffering and diligently working on it has opened the door of empathy and self-compassion, self- hopefulness and self-kindness and forgiveness in me. That is my inner wealth, inner happiness, and inner peace.
May we all learn lessons from our own suffering and fill up the cup of our life with joy and happiness! This my prayer. Amen!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
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The infinite is beyond the limits of the finite. The finite is bound by time and space. The infinite transcends time and space. In that sense there is no room for the finite in the infinite. They cannot coexist. It is like light and darkness. They are diferent phenomina. Light is absence of darkness and darkness is absence of light. I feel the presence of the infinite when my mind is compltely silent and clear. In that state of consciousness I go beyond time and space and feel the presence of the unitive state of consciousness, wholeness and divinity. It is a transformtive experience, an experience of the inifinty. Prayer and meditation are the wings of the bird of the unitive satate of consciousness, the experience of wholeness. When I love someone unconditionally, when I serve someone selflessly and silentlyI, I feel the prsence of Divinty, the presence of Infinity. It is an expeience of Truth, Reality, and Unitive Consciousness-Sat, Chit, Ananda, and experience of wholeness, perfection and peace.
This is my prayer: May we all experience Sat, Chit, Ananda-Wholeness, Perfection and Peace!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
What is a jeweler's eye? A jeweler's eye is willingness and open-mindedness to look at the situation with fresh, sharp and clear eyes. Normally when I suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally I would tend to minimze it or try to ignore it, deny it or wallow in anger or sorrow. Ignoring or denying or sppressing my suffering has not helped me. I have been learning to accept my suffering mindfully, compassionately, openly and with equanimity. Going through suffering with this open and curious mindset has taught me the value of my suffering and relating to other's sufferings with empathy and loving kindness.
We all suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. The question is how do we relate to our suffering and what we learn from it.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I would like to begin my reflctions on suffering by quoting the last sentence of this awakening article written by Richard Flyer: Suffering and supreme peace fit together like hand and glove.
There is no light without darkness and no darkness without light. They are twins, not opposing each other but by joing hands to gether, they create wholness and oneness. I am wrting this from my personal expereinces. Like others, I have had a belief that by denying my suffering I will be blissful and happy. It took time for me to come to relalize that suffering and peace are two wings of the bird of life. By acknowlodging and accepting my suffering without resistance I can create space within me to learn from my suffering, the cause of suffering, and how to be from suffering. I have learned to listen non-judgementally to my inner voice to understand the cause of my self-created suffering, the way of going though it and beyond it. In our weekly Mindfulness Meditation satsanga group we share our joys and sorrows, what causes theses emotions and how to work throgh them mindfully. Sharing our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with others without judging them, we have created a spiritual family where we relate to each other empatheticlly, candidlly and compassionately with an open mind and open heart.
Learning and practicing how to be fully aware and attentive to my self-created distractions and noises has been very helpful to me. This process of self -awareness without judgment has been a strong foundation for a peaceful, joyful and service oriented living. Awakened life is like a lamp that creates light to dispel darkness of ignorance, prejudice, selfserving cravings and attachments and leading to enlightement. May we all have this light shining within us to keep us awake and walk on the right path.
Nmaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love and appreciate the work of building spiritual communities or communes by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. We are social beings and we need to build spiritual communities not only for our surviaval but also for the enhancement of the members of our community. This is everbody's calling. Spiriutal leaders, monks and nuns play a significant role in creating and sustaining spiritual communities. However, lay persons like me and you have a responsibilty to create and suatain spiritual communities. Survival and enhancement of our precious life is up to all of us. We all need to join our hands together to protect and enhace the wellness of each member of our community, not only for a special group of people. It is a call for inclusion, not exclusion. I deeply appreciate the contribution of the Dalai Lama , Thich Nhat Hanh and other spiritual leaders for creating harmony and peace in the world which is dangerously divided. What is my part as a lay person in creating such a community?
I have created two small communities with different spiritual oreintations where we get together once a week to explore different ways of working on diiferences to create and sustain inner peace for living holistically. It is a relatively small community. We hope and wish we all play our part in working for peace. If we do not make our sincere effort to work on this task of building a harmonious community, I see dark clouds of divisiveness, discord, and destruction. I hope and urge that we all do our best to create and sustain harmony and peace.
Reading and discussing such writings and figuring out ways of building and sustaining such spiritual communities is our resposibilty. This is a way of moving from Me to We.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Reading this article authored by A.T. Ariyaratne deeply touched my heart. Peace is the foundation of survival and sustainence of our life. All spiritual traditions sing the song of peace. Inner peace is the foundation of outer peace. We cannot create and sustain outer peace without creating and sustaining inner peace. The challenge for all of us as humanity is to learn, parctice and apply ways and means of creating and sustaining peace. Meditation is one of the most effective ways for creating and sustaining peace and harmony at all levels:intrapersonal, interpersonal and collective. Peace is the sumam bonum of life. Without peace, there is no survival, no security and no safety. Upanishadic mantras end with these inspiring and uplifting words: Aum! Shantihi, shantihi, shantihi! Aum! Peace :intrapersonal, interpersonal, and universal.
My father was an ardent follower of Mahtama Gandhi. When I was a five- year old child, my father used to take us to attend evening meditation and prayer meetings in Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati, a suburb of Ahmedabad, I will never forget these spiritual gatherings. Attending such gatherings laid a spiritual foundation in my life. Daily meditation has been my spiritual practice in my relatively long life. Practicing mindfulness meditation has been very helpful to me for leading a peaceful and fulfilling life.
Every Saturday evening I meet with a group of meditators. We do Mindfulness Medition regularly and share our experiences in the group. We have become a famaily and have created a strong, enriching, peaceful and nurturing foundation.
May we all join our hands to pray and meditate for a peacful and loving world to live in and flourish!
If we want to flourish personally and socially we need to replace old paradigms by innovative ideas and approaches. Adam Smith is considered the Father of Western Capitalism. His philosophy has given rise to capitalism. There is nothing wrong in creating wealth when it creates wellness not at the cost of the wellness of others who do not have adequate wealth for survival and maintenance. Communism and socialism provide an antidote to self-serving capitalism with their own shortcomings. A new movement called Sarvodaya has been launched in India by the enlightened teacher Vinoba Bhave, a close companion of Mahatma Gandhi. His movement is based on the spiritual concept of Dana-gift from the heart. It is a way of serving others with no selfish desires and aspirations. Going beyond oneself and serving others is the spiritual foundation of liberation or salvation. This is a spiritual call not only for survival but also for enhancement. Research shows that capitalist countries are not on a higher scale of happiness. Materialistic prosperity does not lead to contentment, peace and happiness. Wisdom traditions have shown the ways of living happily, peacefully and consequently. We need to be free from the conditioned mind. Wake up from the sleep of ignorance and follow the wise and right path.
It is not easy to be free from the grip of the old conditioned mind. It requires open-mindedness and open-heartedness. I am happy to walk on this spiritual path. Following the path of selfless service, Nishkama Karma Yoga, has been a blessing to me. Reading writings like this article, reflecting on uplifting ideas, sharing them with like-minded people, satsanga, and walking on this path mindfully have been very helpful to me. Walking on this path is Yatra, a spiritual journey for me.
May we wake up, remain awake and walk on this path.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
We all have the potential source of Inner Light to see the Reality, the Truth, the Sacredness. Such inner light shines when our eyes do not get blinded by the power of hungry and self-centered people in our life. We are witnessing such authoritarian, power hungry, and self-centered leaders in many parts of the world creating divisiveness, hatred and destruction. How do create a world where we can relate to each other as highly evolved human beings? How can we create light in darkness? We have been blessed to witness highly evolved leaders like Mahtama Gandhi, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King Jr and others mentioned in the introdution of the passage. This is a call for all of us to wake up, to remain awake, to join hands with our brothers and sisters and take a firm and strong stand for peaceful coexitence.
Cultivating inner qualities of knowing the truth, listening to it with an open mind and open heart, and taking a courageous stand and joing hands with others is my way of going through such diificult times. When I am walking on this path I remain alert, awake and aware of not taking a wrong step. I am blessed to have people in my life who provide a clear mirror to see my blind spot. I am very grateful to them for helping me to walk clearly on my path of serving others. Studying and following the Eightfold Path of the Buddha has been very helpful to me in my journey of life. May we all awaken and walk on the path of authenticity, compassion and selfless service!
The Eightfold Path
Virtues weave the tapestry of our life and make us virtuous, make us human and contrubute to the wellness of life. Virtues connects us and creates harmony in the world. One of the core virtues is forgiveness. I love the famous wise saying: To err is human, to forive is divine. We all have small errors and big errors. I forgive myslfe for making a mistake. Such forgiveness comes from the heart. And such forgiveness elavates my consciousness. Forgiveness has two sides of the coin connected with each other: self-forgiveness and foriveness of others. Both are essential to complete the circle of virtous living. As the author of the article Kent Nerburn writes," It is the glue that holds the human together. It is the way to bridge the loneliness that often surrounds us. Genuine forgiveness is a way to buld that bridge."
As a human being I have made many mistakes. That way I have hurt myself and otherse close to me. I cultivate truthfulness courage and boldness to reconize such mistakes and forgave myself for hurting me and others related to me. With knindness and compassion I have forgiven myself. And there are people who have hurt me. I lit the light of fogiveness for me and for others. This way I am building the brides of loving kindness.
How about people who do not raise thier voice aganst injustice and take a satnd? They are afriad of retaliation. We must not act out of fear but act with courage. And those who have courage to act eventually succeed. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Dalai Lama are living examples of living courageously and bravely for fighting against injustice. Let us enkindle the light of forgiveness and remove the darkness within and without ourselves. Let join our hands and be the torchbearers of forgiveness.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love and value this thought provoking passage written by Francis Su. When I was studying in a college my teacher who was also a poet was teaching us the difference between the sinful action of a person and the person who did that action. He cited a line from his poem in my mother tongue Gujarati: Tu papasathe nava papi marto..Condemn the sin, not the sinner. We all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. How do I relate to my mistake, my shortcoming makes a big difference. Do I put myself down and humiliate myself for the mistake I have done or do I assess my mistake and do not equate my mistake with me as a person? In the same way how do I relate to the mistake made by someone like my family member or my friend or by my student? I would assess what the other person did, his action, and not him as a person. Relationships break down when we condemn the other person. Relationships survive and thrive when we relate to our mistakes and the mistakes of other persons truthfully, empathetically and compassionately.
As a teacher I have accessed my students coming from all kinds of cultural and economic backgrounds. I want to be an imperial teacher.
I want to be fair in assessing my students. When my student gets a low grade or a failing grade from me, I spend my office hours with such a student and offer my help to work on his academic deficiencies. I cannot have two different standards for assessing my students. I relate to such students with an empathic mind and compassionate heart. This way of relating to people in my life has enriched my heart and my relationships with others.
When I relate to people not doing well, with open mindedness and open heartedness, with empathy and compassion I honor their dignity. I would like to conclude my reflections with the wise words of Mother Teresa: Not all of us do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Love is the foundation of all thriving and deepening relationships. When we join our hearts, heads and hands together our life thrives and flourishes intrapersonally and interpersonally, in our families, communities and in oraganizations. As the author says," When we are engaged in acts of love, we humans are our best and most resilient." Love is the core foundation of all realtionships not only to survive but also to thrive. What I am saying is based on my personal experiences at all stages of relationships in my families, freinds, in my intimate relationaship, societal and professional relationships.
I have lived and grown in extended families all my life. I learnt the art of relating to differences by listening to each other with open ears, open mind and open heart. I have learnt to let go of my irrational, inflexible and rigid opinions and ideas and to be fluid and flexible and appreciative of ideas and opnions of other members of the family. I also learnt how to appreciate somebody's opinions and ideas which would be better than mine. Such a stance helped me grow menatally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.
From my experiences I have learned how to grow deeper in my relationships. The core qualities of growing in my realtionships are unconditional love, empathic mind, compassionate heart, nonviolent communication, telling the truth and accepting my mistakes, forgiveness, gratefulness, and patience. It takes time and effort and mindfulness to cultivate deeper and fulfiling realtionships. It is wise to take time and be patient to enjoy the gifts of such deeper relationships.
May we all have such precious gifts to flourish and deepen our relationships!
Namaste.
The first sentence of the passage written by Carrie Newman says a lot about keeping the mind and heart open to the unfolding reality. "Proceed as the way opens" . This Quaker saying is an encouragement to live with a kind of intentionality and willingness to "be" with intention and willingness to "be" with a question or decision rather than jump to a rash action out of panic or pressure."
This is a counter cultural idea of jumping to a rash action or decision out of panic or pressure. It is a wise way of living to listen to the music birthing in our quiet and awakened mind with an open and compassionate heart. As Parker J Palmer says,'' Let your life speak and you listen." An open and closed door are the same. They both send us a direction. It's up to us which way to go. Proceeding as a way opens means that life has a holy rhythm that brings us together to sing a song of humanity.
When I walk in nature connecting myself quietly with the natural wonders of the world, when I pay my attention to the drop of the rain falling on a tender leaf, when a mother holding a crying child in her soothing hands and when two lovers becoming one by uniting their hearts I proceed the way as it opens. These are precious gifts of living in the presence.
Patience, perseverance, loving kindness, living mindfully and meditation, help me live with an open mind and a loving heart.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Who am I? What is my true identity? Why am I here? What is my original face? What is my original voice? What is my authentic self? What is my purpose of being in this world? What if nobody walks with me on the road with me? What is my vision?These are very important existential questions for me. There is one SELF. There is one FACE. There is one VOICE. There is one authentic ME. If I lose my true identity, I become a multiple personality. I lost my real self. I lose my real voice. It is not that easy to be myself but it is essential for me to listen to my voice and sing my own song. As I am reflecting on this question Rabindranth Tagore's song Ekl Cholo Re comes to my mind. Walk alone if no one is standing by. Open your mind and speak all alone to be in harmony with all existence. This kind of authentic identity is not against universal identity. I am a part of the whole, not apart from the whole, oneness in manyness.
There have been times when I have served people going beyond the limits of myself. I follow the spiritual path of living called Karma Yoga.
As a counselor, I provide my free service to people who do not have money to pay for getting counseling from me. Doing such selfless service brings deep joy and fulfillment in me.
As I was growing up, I saw my parents doing selfless service and living a truthful and simple life. We were outwardly poor but inwardly rich. They showed me the path of living without the burden of the world, living lightly and fully. I am deeply grateful to them for teaching me the spiritual path of living, Karma Yoga.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love this passage written by Martin Allyward. My understanding of living a holisic life is enriched by reading and reflecting on this passage. According to me, noncocptual awareness is awareness beyond the knowledge acquired from books, teachers and other sources. Nonconceptual awareness is cultivated by experiencing the unconditional Truth, the unconditional Love, and by living in here-now consciousness. It is beyond words, conceptt and theories. I consider it as living Truth. It goes beyond conceptual learning acqired from books, teachers and other resources. It is an experiential learning gained by reading books or lstening to teachers attentively with an open mind, reflecting on the teachings, practicing the words of wisdom, and icorporating the teachongs in everyday life.
The author describes three helpful supports for nonconceptual awareness. The first support is embodied awareness. Conceptual awarenes by itself is not enough. Learning lessons from books or tteachers is the starting ponit. Reflecting on what is orally or verbally acqiured is very imporatant for conceptual learning. I call it a curious and inqiring mind. The third step is applying the learning in life, integrating it in our life.
The second helpful support for nonconceptual awareness. Mind has a tendency to think. It is mind's job. There is no need to fight the mind or let the mind do whatever the mind wants to do. Using discretion is very important for regulating our thoughts, emotions, expressions and actions. We do not let our mind hijack us. We do not get hooked by the mind. We use our mind wisely. That is the sign of an awakened being. As the author says " Awareness is a more potent, luminous, and immediate than our mental prevrarications. When uou find yourself caught up in a thought, notice, and in the noticing unhook, unhook, unhook." I find this a very wise advice for unburdening ourseles from the heavy load of unholesome thoughts.
The third support for nonconceptual ... [View Full Comment]I love this passage written by Martin Allyward. My understanding of living a holisic life is enriched by reading and reflecting on this passage. According to me, noncocptual awareness is awareness beyond the knowledge acquired from books, teachers and other sources. Nonconceptual awareness is cultivated by experiencing the unconditional Truth, the unconditional Love, and by living in here-now consciousness. It is beyond words, conceptt and theories. I consider it as living Truth. It goes beyond conceptual learning acqired from books, teachers and other resources. It is an experiential learning gained by reading books or lstening to teachers attentively with an open mind, reflecting on the teachings, practicing the words of wisdom, and icorporating the teachongs in everyday life.
The author describes three helpful supports for nonconceptual awareness. The first support is embodied awareness. Conceptual awarenes by itself is not enough. Learning lessons from books or tteachers is the starting ponit. Reflecting on what is orally or verbally acqiured is very imporatant for conceptual learning. I call it a curious and inqiring mind. The third step is applying the learning in life, integrating it in our life.
The second helpful support for nonconceptual awareness. Mind has a tendency to think. It is mind's job. There is no need to fight the mind or let the mind do whatever the mind wants to do. Using discretion is very important for regulating our thoughts, emotions, expressions and actions. We do not let our mind hijack us. We do not get hooked by the mind. We use our mind wisely. That is the sign of an awakened being. As the author says " Awareness is a more potent, luminous, and immediate than our mental prevrarications. When uou find yourself caught up in a thought, notice, and in the noticing unhook, unhook, unhook." I find this a very wise advice for unburdening ourseles from the heavy load of unholesome thoughts.
The third support for nonconceptual presence, the willingness to not know- the willingness to put aside familiar and the willingness to meet each experience new. As the author says, "to live aside inner or outer, pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad-all of them can be left aside." I take this as remaing unattached- nonattachment to good or bad keeps the mind free.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
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We have a spectrum of emotions. There are times when we are glad, joyful and happy and there are times when we get mad, sad, and unhappy. When I experience positive and negative emotions I let them come and let them go. I do not waste my energy in suppressing, repressing, denying, fighting , complaining or getting stuck. This way I do not waste my energy. When I become a victim of external circumstances, I get upset and angry and process my feelings and work on myself rather than complaing or bitching about it. I do not let myself be a victim of adverse external circumstnces but find a way for working on them.
The author of this passage Karla Mclaren uses an interesting phrase
"Conscious complaining". To me it means recognizing and understanding what causes negative feelings in me. Becoming aware of my feelings, understanding the cause of my feelings, and doing whatever I can to be centered and strong to face the external circumstances. This way I won't waste my enrgy by complaining or dwelling on the causes of my suffering.
I have learned the way of reducing my distress and anguish by practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness helps me understand the causes of my suffering and to be free from the impact of suffering. This practice helps me to be centered and grounded.
I see the value of "conscious complaining" as described by the author. I also see the value of doing positive affirmations. It is like looking at the bright side of the issue or situation rather than dwelling on the negative side of the situation. When I have stomach ache, I do not dwell on it or complain about it. I try to find out what caused my stomach ache and learn a lesson from it so that I may not cause my stomach ache again. This way I do not find fault in somebody or complain against someone else in my life. What good , constructive, and positive things I can do is in my hands. And that is freedom.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Life presents challenges. There are times when I feel the glow of attainment and success. And there are times when I feel the gloom of loss and failure. I have experienced ups and downs in my life. How do I relate to such ups and downs cycles makes a siginificant difference in the quality of my life. Realizing that life is not a straight line and it goes through small and big curves and accepting this fact without grudging and complaining is the right and wise way of living. I turn my face towards such happenings and face them with equanimity. This is the equanimity of a warrior.
I believe in the wise saying, "A wandering mind is not a happy mind." I know the power of pranayama, maintaing a dynamic balance between inbreath and ourbreath for keeping the mind steady and focused. Regular practice of pranayama makes my mind clear and calm. I feel peaceful and happy. How to sustain this flow is a big challenge for me. What helps me maintain that flow is mindfulness-a nonjudgemental awareness with an intention of staying in the here and now consciousness not bound by ruminating on the past and worrying about the future. I consider this an illustration of concentration equanimity.
All wisdom traditions empasize the value of non-attachment. We all know attachment to anything, good or bad, creates obstructions on the path of our spiritual journey called yatra. In the spiritual journey, there are neither likes nor dislikes. Likes and dislikes come and go. Both likes and dislikes are two sides of the same coin of attachment. We get bound by them. Self-awareness tanscends this duality and creates oneness. I would consider this state as transcendental equaniminty.
May we be free from attachments and aversions and attain the bliss of eqainimity in our life!
Namaste!
jagdish P Dave
Life is complex. Life has many threads. Life has many beads. Life has many leveles. Life has many colors like a rainbow. The musical instrument of life has seven sound notes. When we see these differences without eyes covered by seperatededness, we see the underlying oneness or indivisible unity or harmony. And that is pure love. Thus there is oneness in manyness. Pure unselfish love stems from complexity. Likewise complexity stems from love. It's like branches steming from a deep rooted tree. When we look at differences with coloered eyes the differences divide us and cause violence and destruction. It all depends upon how clear our vision is. How we view others different from us. When we realte to others with clear mind and clear heart life becomes hrmonious.
It has taken time for me to move in the direction of harmony and unconditional love and acceptance. Walking on the path brings deep joy, fulfillmemnt, oneness and bliss in me.
There are two ways of looking at the knife in our side. One way is looking at the knife as a means of violence. The othere way of loking at the knife is looking with compassionate eyes at the hitchhiker as a despertate poor and hungry man. Nora Bateson's father looked at the man with knid and compassionate eyes. His focus was not on the knife. His focus was on the poor man desperately struggling for survuval. He felt warmth and care for the traveller. I am ending my comments by asking me a question: how would I have reacted to the traveller?
Nmaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Knowledged is acquired from past experiences. Knowledge is subjective and objective. It has duality. Me and you, this and that. Past and present. Knowledge has divisiveness. Understanding has non-dual
consciousness. Beyond me and you there is we, there is us. Understanding is nonverbal. Understanding is existential awareness. Undersranding is non-argumentative. Understanding has wholeness. Understanding is not bound by the past and is not captivated by the future. It is here and now consciousness. Understanding has emptiness, free from likes and dislikes, free from the grip of attachment and aversion.
I have mutiple unconditional relationships. When I relate to myself , to my family members, friends, and strangers , and nature with an open mind and an open heart, I feel oneness.
Being fully present helps me create understanding of myself and others. Being aware of what is happening in my body, mind and heart without judging helps me unserstand myself. Beiing mindfully present with others and nature helps me cultivate understanding. Spiritually speaking it creates unitive consciousness, oneness.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Nature offers so many noble gifts of wonderment, joy, and beauty. In order to enjoy and appreciate these noble and wonderful gifts we need to be silent as Mary Oliver says " In order to be light and froilsome" we need "only the silent confirmation." Reading these words "the silent cofirmation" reminds me of theTaoist path of silence. Once Laotzu, the author of Taoism, was walking with his friend silently deeply enjoying the gifts of nature, birds welcoming the rising sun and the sky displaying wonderful colors, his companion uttered " Vow! Waht a beautiful sight!". Lao Tzu asked him to witness the beauty of nature without uttering a word.
When my wife passed away, I felt deep grief and sadness. Remaining silent helped me to go through the grieving process, the "dark night of the soul." I have also enjoyed the bright rays of the sun and the thick darkness of the night. I have learnt to go with the flow of life without resistance. When I have resisted the flow of life I have suffered more.
Mindfulness of what's happening inside and letting it come and go helps me realate to the phenominal world freely without any bondage.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Spirituality or holiness or selfless love cannot be obtained by making efforts. They are states of Being, not becoming. Becoming is like a behavor that can be acquired, channged, or modified. Spirituality is isness, presence, realty, truth, tathata as the Buddha says. It is formless, shapeless, sizeless, nameless and timeless. It is eternal. It is transcendental. We cannot purchase it or sell it. It is not a commodity. It is beyond a transactional mindset.
Spirituality is always present. It is like light that always shines. It is like love that never dies. I need to be awake to see it and experience it. When I get binded by my self-centered and selfish eyes, I lose it. When I crave for it and try to hold it, I lose it. It is always present in my inner home, inner being.
What helps me remain aware of this reality? When things do not go the way I want I become aware of how I am affected by not acquring what I wanted. I create a space between the triggering stimulus and my response. I take a few deep, slow and gentle breaths that helps me not to react impusively. It quiets and clears my mind and it helps me to respond wisely. As the Buddha says, when an arrow of hurt is thrown by somebody, do not throw a counter arrow of hurting the one who throws the first arrow of hurting you. Sadly, many arrows of reactions are thrown at each other in relashionships that hurts and bleeds the heart of each other. Non-judgemental awareness, loving kindness and insight of wisdom has has helped me to be free from my reactive behaviors. Practicing mindfulness is like a mirror that allows me to see my face and to open my eyes to see the truth and act accordingly.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
A moment of surprise with an open and curious mind creates awe to me. Seeing a child smiling, a flower blooming, watching the cloud sailing in the vast blue sky, seeing a lotus smiling in the muddy water, children giggling with no reason, and a friend showing up unannounced brings surprising and joyful feelings of awe in my heart. I welcome them as guests gratefully. When I keep the door of my mind and heart open, a new arrival comes with a gift of awe and wonderment.
I sit near a window in my study room and I see clouds coming and going, birds chirping, leaves changing colors. When my mind is free and is unoccupied by past thoughts and feelings and not worrying about the future, I am in the here and now consciousness. I see the panaroma of natural sights and sounds and it offers me gifts of awe, joy and wonderment.
There is a beautiful saying in Sanskrit: kshne khshe yat nanvatam upeti tadeva roopam ramanniyataha: Beauty is that brings newness every moment.
It is not easy to live in the here and now consciousness. Mind gets occupied by past pleasant and unpleasant memories and imaginations or worries about the future. Mindfulness of what is going in the mind and heart without being bound by these thoughts and judgements creates witnessing consciousness and it helps me to see wonders of the present moment. In such moments, the dividing line between you and me fades away and it creates moments of here and now wonderment.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The cup of my happiness 0verfows when I hold someone's trired hand to lighen their load. The cup of my happiness doesn't get empty. It overflows and continues overflowing with joyful gratitude. It's by giving we receive. As the poet says, "I am reaping better than I've sowed." The cup of happiness ovrflows when I give a gift of pure love to someone uncoditionally. My cup of happiness never gets empty when I hold someone's tired hand as if it's my hand.
When my hands were tired by the heavy burden I was carrying, one of my friends noticed it and lightened my burden by holding my hands compssionately. Selfless service lightens heavy emotional load we carry in our life. Lightening such heavy loads is a spiritual way of living. Living life this way the world becomes a family, a nest, and life becomes a blessing.
May we all hold each other's hands like brothers and sisters and make this world an abode of peace and harmony. This is my New Year's Prayer. Let us fill the cup of our life overflowing.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
This passage authored by Eckhart Tolle reminds me the wise teachings of the Buddha. We all suffer. This is the noble truth. Suffering arises in our mind and heart by remining attached to and bound by the past. Awareness of sufferring becomes the doorway into transcnding sufferring. Awareness of what binds us and follwing the light of awareness makes us free. This is the noble way of living. It's a journey from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom.
We as human beings go through self-created darkness. We create our own suffering by clinging on to the past. I was in deep loving relationship with a person whom I loved very deeply and dearly. When she passed away I felt emptiness in my life. I deeply suffered emotionally. I felt like doing nothing and stay in the cave of darkness. My staying in the dark nights of the soul lasted for along time. Practicing midfulness meditation woke me up and helped me to see the light. My suffering became a doorway to inner feedom. Facing it mindfully with loving kindness and compssionately helped me to be free from my self-created bondage. Waking up and remaing awake requires innerwork, diligence , patience, and perseverance. Such awakening has brought deep joy, happiness and fulfilment in my life. May we all keep the inner light shine and be blessed by awakening!
Nmaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The full breath has two complementary processes: inhalation and exhalation. No inhalation is possible without exhalation and no exhalation is possible without inhalation. Inhalation is like holding and exhalation is like releasing. If I want to understand another person's perspective, I need to really listen to the other person's voice and letting go of my voice. Othewise two voices collide creating discord in our relationships. Sadly this way of communication results in relationship breakups. Relationship is not a oneway street. Conflicts arise and result in deadly wars and many innocent people get killed.
In counseling sessions I often see such patterns of communication in couples resulting "I am right and you are wrong". When they learn how to listen to each other in a reciprocal way, relationships get better.
They acqire the skill of creating a wholesome balance between holding and releasing.
What helps me create such a balance is by being fully presesnt and quietly listen empathically to what the other person is saying. Such communications clears up clouds of misunderstanding and creating a bridge of wholesome realationships.
Namste.
Jagdish P Dave
Choosing simple living is a master key to contentment, fulfillment, peace, and happiness. This sounds simple and easy to attain, However it is not that easy to attain it. Our mind is attracted to get acquire more things than we really need. I am bombarded everyday with the message "buy one and get one free". Accumulating more and more results in garage sales. And there is no end to acquiring more and more. "More is merrier" becomes a mantra . By implementing this mantra in our life we lose our freedom, our precious time to enjoy simple things in life such as walking in a park, watching sunrise and sunset, spending quality time with our beloveds or offering a helping hand to someone who needs support for remaining steady. Such simple acts mindfully bring lots of joy, serenity and fulfillment in my life.The notion of voluntary simplicity keeps me mindful of what is important in my life and makes wise choices and to life an element of freedom. It offers many opportunities to discover that "less may actually be more" as Jon Kabat-Zinn says.It took time for me to realize that less may actually be more. It's a paradoxical statement of truth and realizing such truth has liberated me from myself-created prison. Gradually I came to realize that Voluntary Simplicity fills the cup of my life.Mindfulness is the mirror for me. It helps me to see my mistakes and helps me to be aware of my mistakes , take a U turn and walk back on the right path.
It is a journey. I walk on the path slowly and steadily without rushing. Patience and perseverance and mindfulness help me to realize my vision.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I deeply appreciate reading Three Mystical Powers written by Fred LaMotte. Reading this article, I got three precious gifts of living a full life. First gift: Abondon noise making mind, noise of anger, fear, frustaration, and resentment. By letting go of the noise in my mind I hear the sound of silence. In that silence I listen to my heart beats of love, compassion, and kindness.
Second gift: The joy of giving, of seeing the light of my Real Self.
Third gift: Liberating myself from the bondage of craving and lightening my self-created load.
When I let go of my growth-binding breath, the door of my heart opens up to see the light and be free from deep darkness.
Walking on the path of awakening is not an easy journey for me. Sometimes I run into self-created walls, the walls that obstruct seeing the ligth of truth. I stumble and fall down and hurt myself and others in my life. Such stumbling wakes me up and I see the light of awakening and resume my pilgrimage of living fully and selflessly. This is a jouney of Self-awakening, of Self-realization. From my falling I learn to get up and resume my path of Self-awakening.
There have been times when my mind is filled with lots of noises of fear, fustrations and agonies. Daily practice of meditation and mindfuness helps me to listen to the space beyond the faintest sound. Self-discipline helps me to stay firm and steady in my journey of life.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Reading this passage reminds me of David Thoureau who wrote about gratefulness, " I am grateful for what I am and what I have. My thanksgiving is perpetual." When I help someone in distress I do not expect anything in return. My heart is filled with deep joy. When someone offers a helping hand to me my heart is filled with deep gratitude. As the author Tiruvalluvar says," A good turn done is a heaven-born gift you cherish... Ask 'Will (they) repay it?' and it will perish." I always gratefully remember the person who has helped me and has been kind to me. I forget right away who has wronged me. Kindness is not measured by size and shape. Small acts of kindness are as valuable as big acts of kindness. Kindness wishers quietly in my ears," I am here for you."
I have been blessed by having people who have extended their helping hands joyfully whenever I need their help. And the same way I am vey happy to hold sombody's hand when he is in distress. It is a very fulfilling and enriching experience for me. I will never forget knidness of someone who finacially helped me when I was studying in a collage. Such expereinces have enriched my life and have inspired me to be helpful and knid to others who are in distress.
I have learned from my experiences of kindness and compassion not to hold on to hold to my gurudge against the " wrong-doers." As human beings we are not perfect. We all have our own limitations. From my pesonal experiences of "wrong-doing" I have learnt the value of forgiving myself for my wrong-doings and the wrong-doings of others. I practice the age-old wise saying, "To err is human, to fogive is divine".
This light of wisdom keeps me awake, and aware to walk wisely on the path of my life.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
According to my understanding of empathy, sympathy, and compassion, they all are threads of the texture of spirituality. I do not think of these spiritual qualities in my mind but feel them in my heart and manifest them in my daily life.
There are two aspects of these qualities:self and other. Two sides of the same coin. Self-care, self -empathy, self -sympathy and self-compassion and empathizing, sympathizing and feeling compassion for others. I cannot give others what I don't have within myself. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, " Loving oneself is the foundation of loving others." Others regardless of caste, color, race, gender and religion.
These spiritual qualities are like seeds in the soil of consciousness. They need to be cultivated and nurtured. When I am that state of consciousness I feel uplifted, enriched, and fulfilled.
Being alert and aware of my thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions helps me to walk on this spiritual path. It is a blessing. May we all cultivate and nourish such spiritual qualities in our life.
Namaste!
"Yatha drushti tatha srushti" is an old wise saying in Sanskrit. As is my vision so is my world. What is my vision made of? Is it made up of my self interst, self- seving purpose then my world view will be narow. If my vision of the world is shaped by going beyond my self-seving purpose, then a transfomation takes place in my outlook, actions and ways of living my life. I transcend my ego-what is in for me, and I go beyond my self-serving narow world. I feel othes are me. My consciousness becomes larger and higher. I go thriving beyond surving. I feel a part of the lager world, a citizen of the univese. A universe in which we relate to each other as brothers and sisters.
Going beyond onself is a spiritual journey. It has not been easy for me to go beyond myself. My parents were good role models for me. I learned from them how to live spiritually, how to serve others unselfishly, how to go beyond my self -serving thinking and behaving. How not get atteched to my egoistic desires, thinking and behaving. It took time for me to internalize this teaching. I slowly and gradually acquire these spiritual qualities and I am vey grateful to them for helping me to walk on this less traveled road.
Spirtual pacticies like Mindfulness Meditation and Mindfulness living have been very helpful to me for staying on the course. My inner life is getting filled with kindness, compassion, conentment and joy.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
"Emptiness is Fullness" sounds paradoxical. This is the Tao - the way of living with no burdens of possesions, power, prestige, pride and pejudice. As I was growing I used to get messages from elderly people to work hard to outshine others, to earn name and fame. My boat of life was loaded with aspirations and ambitions without realizing that I was becoming my own enemy. Self-awareness, open-mindedness and and cultivating courage to be my real and authentic self opened the doors to be my self. I felt light as the boat of my self was slowly getting empty of self-created burdens and feeling the fullness of living a simple but fulfilling life. It is indeed paradoxical: By renouncing we rejoice; by emptying we become full.
I know knowing is one side of the door and living is another side of the door. We need to open both sides of the door to walk freely, to live fully.
What helps me walk and stay on this path? Non-judgemental Self-awareness, openness, humility, loving kindness and remaining awake have been very helpful to me. It is a slow journey. No need to hurry. Follow the Tao gratefully!
Namaste!
Jagdish
The dialogue between Pooh and Piglet offers many lessons to me. When someone is anxious, worried and fearful like Pooh, it does not need advice but the authenic and solid nonjudgemental presence and whole hearted support. The wise words of Piglet are worth paying attention to. "I will be always be here to listen and support you and for you to know that you are heard. I can't make these anxious feelings go away, not really, but I can promise you that all the time I have breath left in my body, you won't never need to feel those anxious feelings alone."
There have been times when I felt worried, fearful, and anxious like Pooh. Advice that I should not be anxious, worried and fearful did not help me. But when someone heard me empathetically, patiently, and lovingly I felt deeply supported and relieved from anxiety, helplessness and hopelesness. I learned the value and power of authentic presence and support. Experiential leraning is a great tool for deep change and tansfomation.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The last stanza of En-Lightening written by Tash Shadman is engihetning to me. This is what the author writes:
As I return to the now, to the silence, to the knowing that all experience
can be amusing and knowing that all experince can be amazing and adored, I return to myself, and I suffer no more. This the final step as I am walking on the path of knowing who I am, my Real Self. This is the last step in my self-discovering and self-realizing pilgrimage. What a joy! It's an awe experince, an experince of wonderment, and an experience for adorement, and an experience of fullness. The boundary that I create by my self-serving behaviors, the bounday created by focusing on me alone at the cost of others well-being. When I become aware of my self-ceated boundary , the wall I have created between me and otherrs , I feel liberated and the words come out of my mouth: Freedom at last!
When I love people in my life unconditioally, when I welcome them with my open hearts, when I display my unconditional positve reagrd I get deeply connected with them. And it becomes naturally, effortlessly with practice. Such experiences happen frequently and I bow to the teachers of my life for showing me the path of liberation, the path of my spiritual journey.
The concept of being a witness has been profoundly helpful to me. Witnessing is being fully present, fully attentive, fully mindful of what is going in me physcically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. It is a wholisttic way of living midfully.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Seeing things as they are is not easy. Some timesI have a tendency to perceive and interprete what I see by my judgemental eyes that block o come the way to see the reality as it is. My judging thoughts are the blocks that prevent me seeing things are. My perception gets distracted fom seeing the reality as it is. Projections of my ideas, my views cete delusons in me. Whem I keep my mind free from my distorted perceptions I am able to see what is as it is. Awareness of my own self-created distortions allows me to see things as they are, in their true colors This awareness helps me to recognize my own limitations and be free from them. I realize that it is to say what I need to do but it is not easy to change what binds me. I know it requires patience and perceiverance and it helps me.
To let go of arrogance is also not that easy when we think as better than others or superior to others. This egotistic stance creates and continues our arrogance. As I have mentioned before practicing non judgemental mindfulness has helped me from being caught up from the arrogance syndrome. Beginner's mind idea that comes from Zen Buddhisome is also very valuable to me. Not to be bound by the past and fear and anxiety about the future is a great way to be free from our self-created bondage. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has yet to come, Now and here is the reality. Let us have the "beginner's mind" to see things as they are and break our self-ceated bondage.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Life is in flux. It is moving in the direction of uncertainty. I love the paradoxical truth: the only certianty is uncertainty. By embracing the unkown purposely we come to know what is true, what is real, what is the purpose of life. I love the definition of 'coddiwompling'. Coddiwompling means travel purposely towards as an yet-to-unkown
destination. As the author says: "Making it" and "getting there" are constantly evolving, everchanging, and that is the essence of life." To me, life is a pilgrimage with twists and turns. Faith in the unkown is the guiding light. I do not know the way but I have deep and unchanging faith in the light within. It illuminates my path, guides me in the right direction.
When I was in my teen age I had a friend. We lived by a river. One morning he came to see me and invited me to walk by the riverside to see unkown scenery. It was an adventure for us. We descided to watch the unkown scenery. We saw colors and configuarions of clowds changing. For the first time in my life I witness such a display of changing colors. And that juorney still continues. The inner journey takes me to wonderful places and it brings joyful awe and enriches my life.
In the journey of life we need faith, courage, and curiosity. We receive many surpising gifts and we are grateful fo receiving such wondreful gifts.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
This reading is very important not only for the young generation but also for the old generation. The traditional conventional othodox and dogmatic religions are not relevant to the young generation. The great ship of the fundmentalist religion seems to be sinking and as Laurence Freeman says," the resurgnce of on an unprecened scale on the contemplative scale of the contemplative dimension -indeed heart-of religion." Though I am of the old gerartion, I am on the same wave length.
We all have hunger to walk on the spiritual path, a path of awakening and actualizing of human potential - self-actualization, self-realization.
The tradional dogmatic religions cannot quench our fulfill ou hunger and quench our thirst.
Spiituality lits up our inner light. It is beyond praise and blam, and has no space and time boudaries. It dwels in all of us. Contemplative practices open the inne door to see it. It brings all people together and creates brothehood and sisterhood- harmony.
Contemplation by itself is not enough. It has to join hands with action. I know it and try to live my life by implementing contemplative practices. It is an eveyday practice. I experience heartfelt joy and contentment. I love how Dalai Lama reponded to a question asked by a reporter, "What is your religion?" Dalai Lama answered, "Compassion and loving kindness is my religion and I lve by it." This remeinds me of Mahtama Gandhi's respose to a question,"What is you message?" And he said," Life is my message."
As the author says, "We all seek wholeness". We all feel longing for wholeness. I relate to these wise satatements by doing selfless service, by holding a hand of a someone feeling pain, by relating to someone compassionately and kindly who is suffeing, and by unconditional postive regard. By practice it gets easy, effortless, and natural. And I feel fulfillment and gratitude. Life is a blissful journey, a pilgrimage.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
As I under from my heartfelt experience of gratefulness, it arises from my heart, not from my head. When a moment of gatefuness arrives, it surprises me and it makes my heart filled with awe and joy. And the beauty of this wonderful arrival of the gratefulness is that it comes without formal invitation and without looking for it. It is sponateous.
I love one of Rabindranth Tagore's short poem. He was looking for beauty in the colorful clouds on the Himalayas, and in the flowing water of Mother Ganga, the Ganges. A blooming flower in his front yard looks at the poet and says. " O Great poet, you're lookig for beauty far away though it is so close to you smilingly looking at you!" These are moments of gratefuness.
I experience gratefuness in small things such as dust of snow falling on my head, sparrows looking for seeds and feefdng thier little baby birds, a child in a grocerystore smiling and waving his hand, and someone taking care of me as I am getting old and weak. They are Divine blessings and my herat is filled with joyful gatitude.
Keeping my heart open to receive gifts of gatitude and wothout seekig gatitude helps me grow in gratefulness. I am blessed to having handful of gracious people in my life and I am vey grateful to them.
Nmaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The title of Mark Nepo's book The Endless Practice: Becoming Who You Were Born To Be is like a mirror for me to see the reflection of the spiritual journey of my life. We are pilgrims of light to discover the purpose of life. It's a long journey. It requires the practice of knowing where I'm going and the practice of remaining awake, alert and steadfast as I'm walking on the path. As the author says "I need to meet
life head-on and heart-on" and "reveal the gift."
It took time for me to figure out the purpose of my life. Why am I here? I had read about it by reading spiritual books and talking with advanced spiritual seekers and teachers. I sincerely walked on the path head-on and heart-on. I took two steps forward on the the path of spirituality and one step backword. As I had seen the glimmers of light I continued my journey. The light of my faith never got extingusihed.
Patience and perseverance, practicing meditation, and seeing the light coming from within have been very helpful to me in the pilgrimage of mylife.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Each one of us has our uinque vessel or container, mind which gets filled with our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and dreams and aspirations. The conent in the container-in the mind- changes as we grow. Sometimes we hold on to the contents in the container and restrict our freedom to grow. We may be bound by the past contents and hold on to the worn out impressions. The challeng for us is to let go of the past impressions and keep our mind free, flexible, and open. It is up to us to be teethered for survival and utility or let go of our self-created bondage and expand our consciousness.
As far as my self is concerened, I have gone through understanding my self, my world, and undesrtanding and relating to other's view points by learning from myself and learning from others whom I trust and admire. They were my role models. As I grew up I expanded the window of my world view and the viewes of other people with an open mind and open heart and learned how to discriminate between right, wronng and in-between. I get rid of either- or- mindset like either you are with me or not with me. Living this way has expanded and enriched my life.
As I mentioned before role models like my father and mother, reading books authored by writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Thich Naht Hanh, Leo Tolstoy and the Bhagavad Gita and many spiritual books have helped me to deepen and expand my world view. Living what I learn is very crucial for my menatl, emotional, social and spiritual developpment. I deeply value the gift of Meditation whichI received from my father and some great teachers of Mindfulness Meditation. I am very grateful to them.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
We all imagine. I do not know about animals. Imagination is the source of creativity. New ideas are created by imagination. When we allow new ideas arise with an open, free and imaginative mind life changes for better. We do not become possesive. We share our ideas with others for the benefits of others. Sahring our ideas with others uncondionally benefits all. I consder such creating and sharing a spiritual gift to me as a giver and to others as receivers. I do not posses such ideas and copy right them. They are to share with anybody willing
to receive them and pass them to otthers as gifts. As Saint Francis of Assisi says giving is receiving. As the ancient Hindu Rishis say in Ishavasya Upanishida in Sanskrit-tena tyaktena bunjithah my phalesu kadachana-Renounce and rejoice with no exceptation of rewards.
Every morning when I wake up I see in my back yard mother or father sparrows feeding seeds first to their little ones and then they pick up and eat the left over seeds. This may be an instinctive behavior. To me it is a spiritual act. And we all can do it when we do not have a colonial mind , a possesive mind, a controling mind.
Namste!
Jagdsih P Dave
Reading this passage A Flame In A Dark Cave authored by Colin Walsh reminds me of a song my mother used to sing in my native language Gujarati "Dilman divo karo, divo karo." Let the light of the lamp shine within your heart. There were times when I used to find fault in what others were saying or doing. And my mother lovingly would sing this song reminding me of looking within to see the light coming from unclutterd, calm and clear inner space. I learned that there is light of wisdom radiates from within when I keep my heart and mind open to receive it. It is an unconditinal gift and I bow gratefully for receiving it.
I am a human being some times doing wrong things. The Being component of human being helps me keep my eyes open to see the light of the truth and follow it. This is the path of Liberation and I am happy to follow it. It is a journey of shifting the inner gear from human
doing to human being.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
It's my opinion based on my understanding that we all strive for Light, Light of unconditional love, Light of truth, and Light of deep fulfillment. First I need to see with clear eyes that my eyes are filled with darkness, with imperfections. Seeing the darkness and accepting it is a an essential step to see the light. I need to be comfortable in accepting it but not complacent with it. When I sincerely accept this truth I am moving in the direction of Love, Light , Joy and Fulfillmemt.
Genuinely asking questions like what is my Dharma, the True way of living, the selfless ways of serving others and loving others uncondiotionally is essential for living a full life. Remaing awake and aware of my inner world, recognizing and accepting the darkness of ignorance and working on seeing the Light within is the way of liberating myself from me. It is the way of my inner Trnasformation. I realize this truth. I know it. However, there are times when I go back to sleep. Gratefully, the time of sleeping is getting shorter and the time of remaining awake is getting longer. And I am not in hurry to reach the end of this pilgrimage. I am happy to invite you to travel with me, contemplate and meditate with me. As the Rig Veda rishi invites us to walk together, talk to gether, and live in harmony with each other. Sam gacchadvam, sam vadadvam, samono mantraha, samini vaha akutihi.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
This passage authored by Joan Tollison reminds me a simple song I used to listen and sing. It is written in my native lnguage Gujarati. "Na mage dodatun away." Do nut run aftrer you crave for. It will come on its own." There is deep truth and wisdom in this simple saying. How much energy and time we spend to see what is in our hand and looking for it somewhere else. What I am searching for is right here and now. Truth, Joy, Loving Kindness, Fulfillment and Peace abide right within me.
It is my coviction based on my personal experience that we do not need to look for getting blessings of life outside of us. They are born in unconditional love and selfless service and they thrive for ever. We do not need to look for it outside of ourselves. They dwell within us.
Awareness of what is helping me to remain awake and practicing mindfulness meditaion regularly help me to walk on the path.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
This passage reminds me of a poem composed and sung by Saint Kabir. " Dhundhe kahan mere bande, main to teri pashun"It is a dialogue between God and the devotee. God asks his devotee: Where are yo lookig for Me? I am already within you. Awake. Open your eyes and see that I 'm within you."
All wisdom traditions teach us that by emptying the cup of selfisness it is filled with fullness. It is a paradoxical truth.
I have been reading, and reflecting, and chanting such spiritual mantras. It keeps me awake and helps me to losen and eventually let go of the grip of selfishness. It is a slow and steady journey. And I am not in a hurry.
Light of awreness helps me awake to see the light of the truth.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
What is real me? Real me is "inner greatenss" which nobody can destroy or diminish it. When I accept myself fully and not my egoistic self, When I take care of me and otherse selflessly, I feel deep peace in me, deep joy in me, and deep fulfillmemt in me.
Everybody is unique. There is no need to compare oneslef with others. When I do that I lose my real self. What a loss!
Selfless love, self-acceptance, loving others unconditionally. and accepting others as they are opens the portal of peace, and joy, and happiness.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Offering forgiveness, compassion, connection and love to the people who hate us is the antidote to hatred, scorn and disdain. Acknowlodging the waves of anger and revenge and letting them go helps me maintain my equilibrium. It takes time to cultivate such mindet. Patience and preseverance help me to navigate my life course.
Sadly, some times people have thrown arrows of hatred towards me. They are judgmental and cynical. I have learnt no take their behaviors personally. Becoming awre of what's going on inside me , process it and let it go.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Is there soundless sound? Yes. When the noises are created in the noisy mind and by the noisy mind I do not hear my genuine voice. When I and the person are talking with noisy mind we do not hear the genuine voice. According to my understanding, when I listen to my genuine voice as well as the genuine voice of the other person there is genuine understanding of myself and the genuine understanding of the other person. Genuine listening with a quiet mind creates the sound of the genuine. The sound of the genuine has depth in it, the realness in it, the authenticity in it. There is a word in my native language that describes the noisy and meangless sound as bakavas. Such communication causes headaches and frustrations.
I have expereinced and I expereince genuine sound when my mind is calm and clear. These are the precious moments when I am able to think and act clearly and wisely. Mindful listening helps me hear my self-created noises and it creates genuine, enriching, and wholesome relationship with me and with others.
Keeping my mind and heart open, clear and free and realting to others mindfully helps me create and sustain genuine relationship with me and others in my life.
I love this short, sweet and thought provoking passage authored by Howard Thurman.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The notion of brokenness is not something to be hidden but unveiled reminds me of Buddha's four Noble Truths. The first noble truth is that suffering is inescapble. As humanbeings we all go through suffereings. Accept that truth. The second noble truth is to know the cause of suffering. The third noble truth is accept it and work on it diligently. The fourth noble truth is that there is a way to be free from suffereing and that leads to liberation from suffering.. When we accept the brokenness and we do not hide it, fight or deny it, than that brokeness becomes a doorway to be free from it, to heal it, and grow from it.
Like other humanbeings, I have gone through brokeness of my heart. It hurt me deeply and caused deep emotional wounds in me. I have learned not to deny my brokenness, my hurt and pain, not to blame others for it but to accept it. When I relate to my suffereing this way my emotional energy doesn't get stuck or drained and it opens up my capacity to enjoy life.
First of knowing and realizing what love is very imporatant. Unconditioal love and love withou expectstions of what I am going to getout of my relationships with especially people close to me is the first step. When I go beyond my expecations of getting somethimg for loving people in my life, I experience abundant unselfish love and joy.. It takes time and efforts to move from selfish love to selfless love. Stuyding spiritual bookos, reflecting on the spiritual teachings, and putting these teachings in practice helps me immensely to walk on my spiritual path. Awareness of my cravings and mindfully working on them also helps me stay on the course. And the joy I expereince following this path reiforces my enedevours. It is a joyful journey and I am not in a rush. I walk on my path slowly, gently, and mindfully.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love the analogy of the raft used by the Buddha. The raft is needed to cross the river of life. We carry the raft while crossing the river. We drop the raft after crossing the river. We walk carrying the burden in our minds and we get exhausted by dwelling on the past which, is already gone. We need to relate to the past wisely. We are asked to make wise choices in our life. We need to learn to cultivate wisdom by letting go of the past and not worrying about the future. Wisdom would be to leave the raft behind and to walk on unencumbered, untethered.
A few years ago I read the book Be Here Now authored by Ram Dass. The theme of this inspiring book, is like the theme of the raft
analogy: to learn to live in the present, in the Beginner's Mind. The past is gone and we do not need to hang on or be fixated on it. The future has yet to come and we do not need to fill our minds with anticipation, worry and anxiety.
I know it is difficult to break the chain of the past and the chain of the future. What has been helping me to live in the present and welcome the moments of wonderment, is the practice of Mindfulness, the practice of non judgemental awareness and daily practice of meditation. These practices have been very helpful to me freeing myself from the grips of the past which is already gone and worries about the future which has yet to come.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The philosophy of Radical Opitimism deeply resonates in me. The concept of radical optimism looks identical with the concept of Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita. Karma Yoga is a spiritual path of doing actions withiout any expections of outcomes. The input and the output, the action without expectation of a reward is radical optimism-selfless action, a path of selfless service. To me Bearing Witness means serving others with no expectation of a reward for my action, free from attachment to the outcome of my action. It becomes a mantra for radical optimism, a light house that enlightens my path of daily living.
Spiritual materialism is very seductive, very tasetive, and possesive. Having deep trust in the spiirual way of living and follwoing the spiritual path faithfully is very helpful to me for avoiding the trap of spiritual materialsm. Practing mindfulness meditation keeps me on the path of Radical Optimism. And it is angoing pilgrimage for me.
Namaste.
Jagish P Dave
As a child and as an adult I have heard many times the wise statement "To err is human, to gorgive is divine." I see the value of forgiving others in all dimensions of my perosnal well-being:physical, mental, the emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual. To me, forgiveness is letting of judgemental attitude that comes in the way of being a healthy and happy person. It menas letting go of hard and judgemental thoughts, feelings and actions. I call it puification of my internal demerits and making my consciousness free from the past hangovers. Lack of forgiveness hurts both persons in relationships. Blame game and self-pity game drians my energy and comes in the attainment of the well-being of myself and of others in my life.
I know an important person in our extended family who has been holding her grudges from a couple of past events. I woild like to clear up heavy clouds of misunderstandings and ask her forgiveness for causing grief in her life. She has been holding on to the wall of the past grudges and wounds and and notletting them go for her own well-being as well as the well-being of others related to her. I have let go of the past sad and painful expereinces and that way I live in peace.
I deeply value empathy and compassion in my relationships with people in my life, recognize and accept my own shortcomings and mindfulluy work on them, let them go and that way be free from the hangovers of the past. I find this way of working on myself liberating.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Reading this passage reminds me of a song written by Rabindranath Tagore: A lover tells his beloved:Jaisi ho veshioho ajao shringarko rhenodo. Come as you are without any ourward special decorations. He is waiting for her with no expectations. His mind is open, unclouded, relaxed and unconditioned. I love you only if-such conditionaled mind
creates expectations causing disappointments, hurt, grief, distress, and misery. Such a mindset works both ways. It causes disappointment and grief intrapersonally and interpersonally. I have learned from my personal experiences to relate to people and situations with an open and empatheic way without buildin up a huge tower of expectations and that way causing my own disappointment and depression, and frustration and anger. Waiting with an open mind has been very helpful to me. A mind that's closed has no chance to be happy and peaceful. A mind that is open and relaxed opens the portal to joy, happiness, love, and peace.
Cultivating such a clear, compassionate, and authentic mindest takes time, patience, and peseverance. I am grateful to my parents and teachers who became role models to me for cultivating empathic, compassionate and midful ways of relating and loving people in my life unconditionally and joyfully. What a blessing!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Marriage which takes away freedom to be oneself, to be an aithentic loving self creates imprisonsnment for both the man and the woman. Such marraiges make each other's life miserable and breaks up intimate relationships. Addording to my experience undondiotional love enriches and deepens relationships. Sadly many marriages have caused heart aches and head aches and theyresult in separation and divorce. According to me marraige helps each other blossom and makes life fragrant.
I also believe that freedom without responsibility is conducive to failure and unhappiness. I remember Carl Ung's prononcement when he came to America,. He said,," America needs two statues: Statutue of Liberty on the East coast and statue of Rsponsibility on the West coast. Freedom without responsibilty is license to do whatever one wants to do. It is a sign of self-will and immaturity.
Namaste.
I married Vanleela who showed true love and courage to marry me born in a poor family. She married me though her father was against her choice. Both of us loved deeply and our love florished our life. Such loving relationship fuels the engine of our experience. She passed away a few years ago but she lives in our heart for ever.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
If and when I relate to somone without preconceived notions and prejudices I get connected with that person easily. I need to keep my mind open to relate to the other person openly. There is freshness and openess in being with that person. My mind needs to be free from my preconceived ideas and notions about that person. This way of relating to the other person keeps our relationship flowing. Empathic listening with non-judgemental attitude is the key to creating and sustaining rich and nurturing relatioship.
We all need to be connected with others empatically and compassionately. Sadly we feel lonely in a crowd with people relating to others as strangres or sometimes as adversial. It is a lonely crowd syndrome. When I came to America in 1959 to study at the University of Chicage. I felt like an alien on the campus. The weather was very cold. I was away from my family. I felt lonely and depressed. There was a Polish student who lived on the second floor. I was on the first floor. As I was was walking out to attend my class, I heard a voice of that student. He put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me empathically and told me that I looked very sad. I told him that I was sad and somewhat depressed for leving my family and having no friends. He held out his handand and told me, "Consider me your brother". He as 6 and a half feet tall. He was white. He was Catholic. I am a brown colored Hindu, 5 and a half feet tall. He held my hand and told me: "Consider me your brother." When my family came to Chicago from India, he drove me to the airport to welcome my family. He beacme uncle Paul in my family. We will never forget him. He dwells in our heart.
As human beings, we all can relate to each other as brothes and sisters, uncles and aunts regardless of color, caste, and creed. In the world we live in which is torned by divisivenss, alienation and hatred, we need to wake up and relate to each other with empathy, compassion and open-mindedness and open-heartedness.... [View Full Comment]If and when I relate to somone without preconceived notions and prejudices I get connected with that person easily. I need to keep my mind open to relate to the other person openly. There is freshness and openess in being with that person. My mind needs to be free from my preconceived ideas and notions about that person. This way of relating to the other person keeps our relationship flowing. Empathic listening with non-judgemental attitude is the key to creating and sustaining rich and nurturing relatioship.
We all need to be connected with others empatically and compassionately. Sadly we feel lonely in a crowd with people relating to others as strangres or sometimes as adversial. It is a lonely crowd syndrome. When I came to America in 1959 to study at the University of Chicage. I felt like an alien on the campus. The weather was very cold. I was away from my family. I felt lonely and depressed. There was a Polish student who lived on the second floor. I was on the first floor. As I was was walking out to attend my class, I heard a voice of that student. He put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me empathically and told me that I looked very sad. I told him that I was sad and somewhat depressed for leving my family and having no friends. He held out his handand and told me, "Consider me your brother". He as 6 and a half feet tall. He was white. He was Catholic. I am a brown colored Hindu, 5 and a half feet tall. He held my hand and told me: "Consider me your brother." When my family came to Chicago from India, he drove me to the airport to welcome my family. He beacme uncle Paul in my family. We will never forget him. He dwells in our heart.
As human beings, we all can relate to each other as brothes and sisters, uncles and aunts regardless of color, caste, and creed. In the world we live in which is torned by divisivenss, alienation and hatred, we need to wake up and relate to each other with empathy, compassion and open-mindedness and open-heartedness.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave[Hide Full Comment]
There are many shapes of silence. Silence in the mind. Silence in deep sleep. Silence when I am fully present without distracted by the past or hijacked by the future. Therer is meditative silence when the mind is here and now. There is relational silence, silence of attention. Silence of oneness. Silence in nature when the human voices are quiet.
Silence in deep dreamless sleep.
Reading this passage reminds me of a story I had read some time ago. It is an old story. Lao Tzu, the chinese philosopher and author of The Tao, was passing by a village. It was night time. He was invited by the village chief to spend the night at his place. Early in the morning Lao Tzu was ready to go for a meditative walk. The chief requested that he walk with Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu welcomed him to walk with him. After a while the sun started rising filling the clouds with beautiful colors. The chief expressed his wonderment by saying," Look how beautiful the sky is looking!" Lao Tzu rebuked the chief by saying these words, " You talk too much." He taught him a good lesson of silence and a lesson of mindfulness.
I have learned to listen to silence by practicing minsdfulness meditation. The clouds of agitated thoughts and disruptive emotions fade way and I see the sky of clarity. The noises in the mind go away and I feel the presence of silence. Such experiences are very profound and they help me to realize my true identity.
May we all cultivate openess, clarity and silence! This is the way of being.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
The end of the world is the beginning of the world. The death of the world is the rebirthing of the world. As Dougald Hine says, "It is a work of midwifery" facilitating the birth of a new life with an open heart and with the support of the head. Whenever an innovative and creative idea arises in me, I welcome it with open hands, an open mind and an open heart. For the new idea to be born, I need to let go of the attachment of the old and worn out ideas. There have been times in my life when I have embraced the uncertainty of the outcome of a new idea by letting go of the old, safe, and familiar ideas. It is an adventure worth taking.
A few years ago I had spent a month in a community where we were encouraged to listen to our unconditioned voice and follow it without societal inhibitions and prohibitions. This experience helped me realize how I had built walls within me. Reconizing such walls and taking bold steps to overcome them made me free from the self-created bondage.
It is up to me to be aware of such walls and obstructions and have courage to transcend them. It is a journey. What helps me to walk on the path is open mindedness, open heartedness, mindfulness, and courage. This is an ongoing journey and I am happy to travel on this path with fellow brothers and fellow sisters.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Being has no -time and no- space boundaries. Being is ONE and WHOLE. Being is UNIVERSAL. I have read this truth and heard about it many many times. And I also know that TRUTH needs to realized, to be lived. And when I live this way, the dividing walls of me against you break down and we spiritualy become one. There is oneness in manyness. In fact there is only ONENESS and that is who I am and that is who you are, and that is we are. There is no subject-object daulity. Enlightement is seeing this nondual existence and living it.
I feel the light of enlighenment when I love someone unconditionally, when I serve someone selflessly, when I feel unitive consciousness in meditation. Wakefulness, awareness, looking within and practing mindfulness meditation have been very helpful to me to see through the mirage of the subject being separate from the object, closing the gap between the suject and the object.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
This passage reminds of me of one line of a song I used to sing. It is in Gujarati, my mother tongue. Namage' dodatu ave'. Tranlation: It comes fast if you don't ask. It stands for spiritual blessings- Divine Gifts. Spiritual gifts do not come to us when we have selfish desires, self-intersest and selfseving mindset. " In giving we receive" as St Francis of Assisi says. Or as The Rishi of Ishavasya Upanishada says in Sanskrit, " Ten tyaktena bhunjitaha". Renounce and rejoice. Sadly, the world we live in values more the merrier, and there is no end to possesing and grabbing more and more.
We were born in a relatively poor family but we didn't feel poverty in our heart. My mother was very hospitable and generous. My friends who were brought up in rich families would come to see me at lunch time. My motherr offered them very simple food to eat. They enjoyed eating simple food with great joy. They loved to cherish the simple food as it was made with the sweetness of her heart. I still feel the sweet presence of my mother in my heart. I was blessed to have such a loving mother in my life. I am very grateful to her for planting the seeds of spirituality in my heart. The more I fertlize them with selfless service and unconditional love, the more my life blossoms with frgrance of deep joy and conentment.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Nature has no hierarchical external power. There is an intrinsic order in nature like the rising and setting of the sun or ebb and flow of the water of the ocean. Nature has her own rhythms. Seasons of nature change naturally. Our bodies and minds change as we grow though life cycles. There is an implicit order. If we shake our welcoming hands with
natural changes life moves gracefully.
When I hold the tired hand of someone with empathy and compassion I feel deeply connected with that person and feel empowered to help. My helping hand is filled with joyful energy for helping someone who needed help. There is an alignment of head, heart and hand. We are no more strangers. We are brothers and sisters. We are soul mates. And that is the synergy of grace.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Life is not always a bed of roses. It has also painful thorns. The Buddha mkes a wise reflection on suffering. He calls it a noble truth. Why do we suffer? What or who causes suffering? Once we know the cause of suffering, we can learn about suffering and when we apply this knowing, we can be free from our self-created suffering. Then thers is no blamimg, no fighting, no denying. We free ourselves from the grip of suffering. This is the way of being enlightened.
Knowing the cause of suffering is the way of reducing or becoming free from the self-caused suffering. Knowin is onething. Practicing and implementing is another thing. I know the path of ending the suffering. However, there are times when I have missed the mark and caused suffering to me and to others who have loved me unconditionally. I have related to my suffering compassionately and this knowing has helped me not to create my own suffering and that way I do not cause suffering in others who love me.
Being honest and authentic with my own self, being loyal to my own self, and relating to my self and others who might have caused suffering to me compassionately has been liberating me from my pain and suffering.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
A child's mind is open and curious to know and explore. A child's mind is not stuffed and stuck with the past which is gone and the future which is yet to come. Living fully in the present moment is the way of living freely. Each one of us has the potential to live life with contentment. This is an eternal message given and lived by ancient wise and enlightened people. The door of living this way has been always open. We need to have an open and unbound mind to walk through it and embrace life fully.
I feel fulfillment and deep contentment when my mind is free frrom self-created noises; when my mind is not hijacked by what happened in the past or thinking about future. I pay single-pointed attention to the present moment when I am reading, writing, walking, listening, and observing. It is called The Beginer's Mind, the mind which is open, free, fresh and awakened. I realize that this is the way of living. However, there are times when my mind dwells in the past or worries about the future. Minndfulness helps me to walk on the path. Wakefulness helps me not to go back to "sleep". Awakening, awareness and acceptance are my everhelping friends and I am grateful for keepimg me on the spiritual path.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
To be is always to "inter-be. This is good awakening call for me. It is a guiding star for me. We are all connected with each other. We do not have a seperate existence. We are intrinsically coneected not only with other human beings but also with animals and with nature. We are an intrinsic part of the whole. We do not have an independet and isolated existence. We are connected with each other and we all are one.
I was born by the union of two different human beings having two different identiies. For creating a new person in their life, they got united with each other and created a unified identity. I was raised in a family in which we felt deeply connected with each other. I never felt lonely. That was my experience and it built the foundation of my identity. Though we were relatively poor but we had inner abundance. I am grateful for receiving such precious gift coming from their hearts.
There have been times when I have missed the steps of living as an interbeing person. Living that way caused suffereing in me and I others related to me. Suffering helped me walk on the path of inter being. I have learned to look within to be aware of my limitations, to go through them with mindfulness and loving kindness. Living this way is a blessing.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Everything changes. Seasons change. Weather changes. Climate changes. Our body changes. Our mind changes. Our relaships change. Our energy changes. There is rhythum of change. The challenege is how do we relate to the wheel of changes.
Acceptance of changes without resistance is a healthy and growth promoting way of coping with the changes. Taking a stand firmly, not rigidly, is another way of relating to and working on it without resisting and fighting against change. Denying, resisting, fighting, suppresing or
giving up is not the wholesome way of realitng to change. And that way we become agents of change.
Life is a journey. In my life journey, I have encountered many small and big challenges. Some challenges were very difficult to go through. Changes like deaths of people whom I loved and admired. I distinctly remeber the evening when I heard on the radio the announcement of Mahtma Gandhi's assasination. I was 21 yeras old. I was shocked, porfoundly saddened and very worried. Since then I have witnessed deaths of many people whom I loved dearly. The serenity prayer has helped me go through ups and downs of life. Practicing mindfulness meditation has been very helpful to me for workong on my pain and suffering. Implementing the three steps recommened by by Dr. Rick Hanson in his book Making Great Relationships are also very helpful to me. The three steps are: Let In. Let Be. Let Go. Allow distressing emotions come. Process them mindfully and be free from them by leeting them go. Another way that helps me go through twtsts and turns of my life is not to be bound by my expectations. It is like freeing myself from myself and by myself.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
We are looking for the Reality or the Truth using our outer eyes and feel disappinted or lost. We keep on seraching and seeking for somehing which inside ourselves. It's a futile and and never ending search. When we consciously let go of such seeking and striving and when we look within with inner eyes we instantly and effortlessly find what was already residing in our heart. It is a paradox: by letting go we get it.
There have been times in my life when by surrendering my ego I have experienced profound love, nourishment and fulfillment. I remember what my father used to say, "Look within and you will find what you're for. Look without and you will lose it." As I grew up I could see the wisdom in what he was saying.
I regularly practice meditation to listen to my inner voice. Introspecting, looking within, is also very helpful to me to saty rooted in the inner view.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Who am I? Am I my authntic self?Am I my real self? Do I know myself and reveal myself as I am ? Or I am projecting my image to be liked, appreciated or admired by others? I value myself as I am. Integraty is core of my being. Integrity is the corre quality of my being. It is the important fiberr of my being.
I do not have difficulty in accepting myself as I am. There have been times when I keep quiet about speaking the truth because I do not want to hurt feelings of people close to me. I am learning how to tell the truth without sugarcoating it. It's a challenge to tell the truth as it is without hurting the other person. I have learned to tell the truth in an empathic and compassionate way. I speak the truth gently and softly.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
It is indeed an irony that we lose ourseleves by our ownseleves. We lose our own freedom by letting our hands be tied by our own addictions to certain objects and experiences that can never bring deep and lasting satisfactios in our life. We are chasing the shadows to find our original self. I love what Rumi says, " How long we fill our pockets like children with dirt and stones? Let the world go. Holding it, we never know ourselves, never are airborne." It is difficult to wake up and see the light. It is difficult to break the chain of addictions or unwholsome attachments to things and experiences that bring superficail and short lived pleasures. I have been working on my self to get rid of those temptations and to be from those self-limiting attachments. Recognizing and accepting my own limitations and working on them to overcome has been very helpful to me. Seeing the rays of light diminishes the self-created darkness. Such awakening and awareness removes the dust covering my vision to see the purity and treasure of my original nature. Daily practice of minfulness meditation has been one of the most effective and helpful ways for me to break the self-created chain of attachments to objects and experiences. Daily practice of meditation helps me dscover the treasure of original nature and be airborne and free.
Nmaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Usually we are in the world filled with agenda of what to do. We hardly find a space of aloneness, a place of noiselessness and a place of quietness. We live in the world of having more, doing more, talking more, hearing more and going after more. There is hardly any place where the mind is not buzzing and where the mind is empty and is in the present moment. I love to be in a place where the wordly noises
fade away and there is the presence of the present moment.
Head is for intellectual knowing and heart is for emotional being. We need both, head and heart. We need to have a dynamic balance between head and heart. When I want to know something new, something unknown I use my head. When it comes to genuine caring either for myself or for others I get connected with my heart. Intellect is the languge of the head. Loving and caring is the language of the heart. When I read something new I use my nind to get it. When I listen to poems or music or walk in nature or see the smile of a child I feel joyful feelings and a sense of deep connctedness. When I meditate I feel the flow of blissful energy or blossoming of a flower. or hear the sound of silence.
Namaste!
Jagdish P. Dave
I like what Dr. Dale Turner used to hand out little green cards with two simple words printed on them: "Extend yourself." Going beyond oneslf and helping someone who needs help without any expectation in return is kindness. Kindness comes from the caring heart. Being nice is superficial and not deep like kindness. It is easy to be nice. It does not require genuine efforts to be nice. In kindness, we offer our hand to somone to lighten his heavy emotional buden and soften his heavy heart.
We all go through suffering. When I see agony of pain and suffering in someone's eyes I compassionately listen to him and reach out to do whatever I can do to reduce his suffering. Such actions enrich my heart with deep gratification.
I would like to conclude my reflection with the words of the author Donna Cameron:" That's when the need is greatest and transformation dances on the edge of possibility. That is the time to take a deep breath and invite kindness to dance"
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love the way James O'Dea expresses the spiritual way of filling the empty well of original or Divine bliss. As Gautam Buddha announces his awakening and attaining the original bliss: Gate, gate, paragate, parasangate, Bodhi swaha: Gone beyond, gone beyond, gone beyonnd the beyond. What an awakening? What a bliss?
When we go beyond what binds us to the material things and what we get attached to , we taste the freedom, unconditional love, and bliss.
I have learned the for Noble Truths of Buddha's teachings. The first noble truth is suffering. The second noble truth is there is a cause of suffering. The third noble truth is that suffering is transitory. It comes and goes. The fourth noble truth is there ia way to end suffering and be liberated. Whenever I have gone through deep emotional suffering I have accepted it with self-compassion and self-work. This way I have gone through darkness and go beyond it to be blessed by the Divine Light. In that light I see the oneness where nothing and everything are one. It is where the self becomes the Self. Where individual consciousness becomes Unitive Consciousness.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
Who is running your life chiken or you? Are you like a chiken running around with your head cut off or you are a head running around with your chicken cut off? Who runs your life? Does your desire run your life or your thinking clear mind runs your life? From my own experience whan I let my desire run my life I get into trouble. This is the way I relate to the metaphor of chicken and head.
My nervous system gets disturbed when my desire, intention and action are not in harmony or in sink with my thinking. I do not like this tug of war within myself. Life teaches us lesson if we are aware and open to see when I get off the track.
I know I am not perfect. I have learned not to get imprisoned by my unrealisic desire and that way suffer. Since I am not fighting with my own self I feel more free and do the best I can. I do not want to be my own enemy. I want to be my friend and live in harmony, in accord with my desire, intellect and actions. Self-examination and following the inner voice of wisdom have helped me live a harmonious life.
Namste.
Jagdish P. Dave
May I live in harmony
I like the way the mother of the three yeras old daughter relates to her dauhter welcoming the strangers. She is supporting her open-mindedness and open heartedness. She is also concerened about strangers taking advantage of her daughter's welcoming the strangers. Her concern is valid as we know there are people who may take advantage of her innocence. She came up with a comprromise. She found a way to teach her to "read" the room inside her heart, to tap into her natural intuition to sense real safety versus real danger. I trust my intuition for making the right choices in relating to strangers in my life. I do not either knively trust strangers or shun them and stay away from them. I become aware of what kinds of vibrations I feel in my body and mind and act accordigly.
Have I been always successful in relating to strangers? Of course not. My philosophy of relating to strangers with an open mind and an open heart has caused suffering in me. I have learned valuable lessons from my suffering: Not to trust strangers blindly. I trust my intuition in relating to strangers and it has helped me to enrich my life.
Authenticity, intuition, open mindedness and open heatedness have helped me to truly welcome the stranger at the door of my heart with no strings or judgements attached. There is a joy in welcoming strangers.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I expect success or good results from what I do. The same way I expect success or good results from what others do. There are times when my expectations from me amd from others were not realized. When my expectations from me and from others were realized I felt happy and gratified. And when they were not realized I felt disappointed and unhappy.
What have I learned from my reflections on my satisfaction and dissatisfaction is to have realsitic expectations from me and from others. This is better than being bound by my expectations from me and from others. However, the best way is to do the best I can without expectations of any kind. To do what I can do without being attached to the expectations of my own actions or the expectations of other's actions. This way of living brings fulfillmemt, peace and happiness. It helps me to live in actuality and in freedom.
Namaste!
Where there is no fear, no doubt, no hesitation, no conditions there is love. Such love unites us and creates unbroken and undivided oneness. As I understand from my own experience such love creates unity and oneness within and without, personal and interpersonal. My mother used to tell me, "You cannot love others if you not love yourself." She was a living example of such deep, pure, truthful and blissful love.
My mother planted the seeds of such pure love and the seeds and they grew into a fragrant and flowering plant. I have been blessed to be with people who has opened their arms to welome me with deep affection and love.
Mind can be our friend and mind can be our foe. When I use my mind to understand what causes disunity and what causes unity, my mind is my friend. I also have come to understand the power of heart, the power of kindness, compassion and love. We need three H's to live fully: Head, Heart and Hands. We need to cultivate intellect, love, and skillful hands to live a life of selfless service, uncondional love and purity of heart. These are the foundations of intraperonal, interpersonal and communal wellbeing. And we all can do this.
Namaste!
Jagdush P Davee
I love to read and re-read this beautiful poem Look Around In Wonder by Davis Griswold. It's a song of Wonderment, a song of Wow. The Wow experiences are happening in the Outside Natural World as well as in the Inside World, the world of the Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual dimensions. Both worlds offer gifts of surprise, wonderment and inspiration. It's a dynamic world with its own rhyme and rythm. The follwing four lines of the peom touch my heart and inspire me to live a life of wonderment:
Look above and look below
And look at last within.
You'll see a river there,
And when you do, jump in.
The inner river is the river of delightful surprises, amazement, and fulfillmemt. I have been blessed to have such wow moments when I am in the midst of nature deeply enjoying the wonderful Divine creation and in the company of loving and caring people. It happens when I am walking on the spiritual path, receiving and offering gifts of unconditional love.
Wonderment happens when I do not live in the past or worry about the future. Past is gone and future has yet to arrrive. Living in the prsesnt moment minfully with an open heart and practicing meditation regulatly keeps the flame of curiosity amd wonderment alive and unflickering.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
To me vigilance is to remain awake and aware of the reality unfolding ritght in front of my outword and inword eyes. When I keep my outword and inward eyes clear I make wise choices. Light of vigilance helps me see things as they are and not to be deluded.
It is very important to me to remain awakened and aware of the physical, mental, emotional, behavioral and relational dimensions of my life. When I am vigilant abou how I relate to these dimensions of my life everyday lifivin becomes joyful and blissful.
As I have mentioned before awakening and awareness helps me live blissfully. Light of vigilance helps me to live mindfully and fully.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Gamble On Humanity written by Ayisha Suddika presents a bold, brave, and courageous perspective on dealing with serious problems we have been facing in the world: problems like social injustice, racial and other forms of discrimination , and world wide pollution. There are different ways of dealing with such problems. Such as ignoring them, having an 'ostrich mentality', or taking revengeful actions. Great contemporary leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Dalai Lama and a few others have taken a different route: a route of non-violence, demonstrations, compassion, service, and uncondional love. Such leaders have taken road less traveled even at the risk the of being assasisnated.
Under the leadersip of Mahatma Gandhi India followed the path of civil disobedince and non-violence. He took a gamble, a bold innovative step. We followed his path of non-cooperation and no-viloence and got liberated from the grip of the British rule. I have been following this path in dealing with social and political injustice.
Building my "house" on this fondation and living in it with firm determination helps me commit to "Life unto life." Let me conclude with the words of wisdom spoken by Mahatma Gandhi : "Eye for an eye will make the whole world bind."
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I always value a balance between talking and remaing silent; a balance between open mouth and closed mouth. I apply this principle in my communication with people in my dail life. When I do not have such balance, my communication with people becomes shallow, superficial, and inauthentic. In order to have a deep and authentic communication, we need to learn to listen attentively, to be silent to process our ideas, thoughts and feelings. Between stimulus and resonse, there is a gap and in that gap of silence, deep and genuine communication is born. Silence, reflecion and empathic unnderstanding are the core ingrediants of deep and genuine communication.
I have learned to create dynamic balance between talking and maintainig alive silence. In my couple counseling sessions, I teach this balance and I see how this practice helps the couple to be engaged with each other in deep and meaninful ways.
When and why seeking sloitude is very important. The purpose of seeking solitude is not avoid engagement with each other. The purpose is to take time out to have a quiet space to reflect deeply on what works and what diesn't work in remaining engaged with each other. This way seeking solitude is not a trap but to enrich relaionnships. It is a blessinng.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
There are two sides of the Self: selfish and selfless; greedy and genreous; sinful and sinless. When we are born There is pure self. As we grow we are conditioned by outside sources which create an imbalace between me and the other. The innate oneness and wholeness is fractured or divided. So we wresle with ourselves, between the wrong side of ourselves and the right side of ourselves. We live in a divided inner house which drains our energy. When we wake up and see the light we see our Real Self-beyond dualism, beyond boundaries. And that's who we are. We become ' mewe'.
Life is a journey with ups and downs. There have been times in my life when I lost the dynamic balance and harmony in my interpersonal relationships and cause suffering in me and in others who loved me. I learnt the right, the whlesome way of relating to me and to others close to me. There is HOPE for evolution and transformation. It is an intrapersonal and an inetrpresonal dynamics in relationships. Look within with open, clear, and unbiased eyes to discover our True Self, our pure consciousness and live life in accord with our True Self.
Daily uninterruped practice called nirantara abhaysa and non-attachment called anasakti, and of remaing awake and aware of my thoughts, emotions and actions helps me walk on the path of liberation and peace.
Namsate!
Jagdish P Dave
is
Relationships give birth. Relationships nourish life. Relationships connect us. How do we relate to each other makes a big difference. Relationships unite us. Relationships divide us. Re become a freind. Reltionships can be an enemy. Healthy relationships create oneness. In wholesome relationships me becomes you, you becomes me. There is no dualism in healthy relationships. There is Divine union. Our True Identity, our True Nature has no divisiveness. Body and mind have forms. Soul is formless. When we perceive the Realty this way it becomes a gift. Life becomes a blessing.
I felt oneness between me and my parents, me and my spouse, between me and my friends, between me and a stranger, between me and nature. In such realtionships, I felt oneness.
Daily meditations have opened the door of Oneness for me. When we do weekly satsanga we feel such oneness. In such experiences the individual self becomes the universal Infinite Self. It is an experience of Unitive Consciousness.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
As the author Carrie Newcomer says, either "overwork ( the most revered attention in our culture) or a selfless form of not taking care of myself (a revered spiritual misconception in our culture). " Living this way creates perpetual imbalance in our life. It creates and perpetuates
an energy draining cycle. According to me, a wise way of living is creating a dynamic balance in my life. Another lesson I learned from this story is how to connect with the deeper inner part of my being. As Thomas Merton calls the "True Self" or as the Quaker calls "The Inner Light" or as the Vedic sages call "The Light Within."
All of us have the inner trusted "spirutual good bones". We are born with this inner gift. And all of us have some trusted outer resources. A wise way of living a happy, creative, and peacful life is creating a dynamic between these two trusted resources. We need to wake up from our sleep to see the inner light and remain awakened.
Like any other being, there have been times in my life when I have made harmful choices, creating suffering in me and in people close to me. I learned valuable lessons from my sufferring. I woke up and saw "The Inner Light", my "True Self".
We create our own internal messiness and we create our own burden. What helps me to end my suffering and be free from it is introspection, compassionate mindfulness, and remaining awake. Living my life this way reqires selfwork: patience, endurance, open-mindedness, and open-heartedness. When I live this way my life becomes a blessing to me.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Reading this passage by Danusha Lameris reminds me of two of my favorite authors: F.F.Schumacher who wrote 'Small Is Beautiful' and Mother Teresa who wrote 'Be Kind Anyway'. Kindness done from our loving heart opens the door to Divinty, "the true dwelling of the holy." We get many opprtunities to receive and express gifts of small acts of kindness everyday of our life.
Such gifts bring joy and happiness to the giver and the receiver. It creates holy or spiritual connections regardless of outward differences-financial, political, racial, or religious.
I was born and raised in a relatively poor family. Financially we were poor, but inwardly we were affulent. I saw my parents giving small amounts of food to hungry people. Seeing them happy by these small acts of kindness was a blessing to us. This gift of giving has opened my heart and has made me very happy and enriched.
I am blessed to have such parents for teaching me the value of acts of kindness. They provided good modeling and I am very grateful to them for giving me the gift of kindness.
May we all do small acts of kindness in whatever way we can.
Namaste!
I love the story of the two stonemasons. When it comes to choosing and doing a job, my fundamental question is teleological: How the work
I choose to do fulfills the purpose of my life? Do I love to do this work? Does this work fill the cup of my life with joy and happiness? Does this work serve a higher pupose besides paying my bills? Is this work a part of something bigger than the job I am doing? Is my work a labor of love and selfless service?
After I graduated from a college I chose to teach not only for bread butter but my teaching brings a lot of joy and fulfillment in my life. My father's advice was very simple but very profound: Follow your heart. Love what you do. With this attitude work becomes worship. I have been following his adivce and it has brought deep satisfaction and joy.
Listening to my inner voice and following it has created golden light of deep fulfillment, happiness and joy in my life.
May we all find the purpose of living and live our life fully!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Addiction to hope or any other thing causes suffering. When I am addiced to hope for creating changes internally as well as externally, I am paving the path of disappoinement. Addiction is like clinging to hope for changing what I hope to change. Sadly, such clinging or being attached to even a worthy cause results in suffering. I want to change, I hope to change but I am afraid to change. What if things don't go right? What if I lose in my efforts to create change? As the author Margaret Whitney says hope is bipolar. Hope and fear are two sides of the same dynamic.
When I have unrealistic hope and when I get addicted to it I cause my own suffereing. I have realized that my addiction to hope creates misery. Freeing myself from the addiction to hope is a wise way of living. I create my own suffering and I can be free from my own suffering.
We cultivate skills of being rooted in the ground so that the winds of change and hope may not uproot us. Practicing the skill of awareness has helped me to be free from Hopium.
May we all be free from Hopium!
Namste.
Jagdish P Dave
Cultivation of emapthy for me, for others and the world depends on the way I perceive. If the lenses of my perception are narrrow, clouded and selfcentered, my realization of the reality will refect my perception. As I know the Reality is One but it is perceived differently by different people according to their ways of looking at it. About 5000 years ago IndianSages have proclaimed "Ekam sat vipraha bahudha vadanti"-The Reality is One and is seen differently by diiferent seers. It is my realization that there is Oneness in Manyness. I need to go beyond my personal narrowbrand to broadbrand. If I don't expand my vision my empathic realtionship with me, with others and the world will be limited.
When I was young my mental model was narrow and rigid brand. Over the time my mental model has become more brand. By pratcing Mindulness Meditation and cultivating and sustaing an attitude of nonjudgemal awareness and loving kindness I have been able to see the word as ' a complex yet beautiful spectrrum of colors.'
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
I love this passage authored by Srikumar Rao. All wisdom traditions teach us that happiness lies within us. All of us regardless of outward differences have the potential to blossom like a rose that blossoms in the world is not a whit less than the flower that blooms in a show garden. Our job as a flower is to let it bloom. Our fulfillment lies in letting the flower bloom. We all are children of God and we let ourseves grow as we are. When we live this way, we do not let our joy and happiness controlled by the spigot of other people's attention, appreciation, acclaim, and admiration. Living this way, as the author says, "We construct a prision around us and hand that person the key." Living this way, we let our worth defined extrinsically and that way we create unhappiness in our life. When we value our worth intrinsically then nobody can diminish it.
So, it is all upto us to be happy and fulfilled by being ourseles.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
Am I paying my full attention to what I am thinking, feelig and doing? Is my attention fully focused, whole -mindedly and whole- heartedly? Am I mindful and aware of what is happening externally and interanlly? If and when I am not aware of it then my attention will be hijacked. Without paying full attenation to what is happening outside of me and inside of me I am getting my own mind imprisioned by myself. I find William Jame's recommendation of bringing the wandering mind over and over again very helpful. Doing it enriches my mind, my learning, my physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual well-being. If I don't do that my life becomes fragmented and it has a strong impact on a variety of functions of my life. It boils down to wise choice making. Right Knowing is Right Being.
It is difficult for the mind to be one-poined, non-flickering like the unflickering flame in a windless place as our mind wanders and gets scattered 30 to 50 percent of our waking moments. There are times when my mind flickers and gets kidnepped by external pleasant sounds, by pleasnt sensory objects and by going back to the past events or thinking about future outcomes. Instead of deyning what's happening in my mand I rgecognize it, accept it, and bring my mind back to what I am thinking, feeling and doing. This way my mind remains focused on the stream of here and now consciousness. This way I free myself from the grip of wandering attention. It becomes easy to relate to the present moment fully. This is the art of living.
May we cutivate this skill of paying attention to fill the cup of life with wonderment, joy and fulfillment.
Jagdish P Dave
Namaste!
There is a wise saying: Prevention is better than cure. This wise saying can be applicable to physical pain as well as to mental and emotional pain. When we have physical pain we take pills to reduce the physical pain. A better way to deal with the physical pain is to find out what cuases physical pain and to take actions to prevent it coming by taking preventive measures to create physical immunity. Likewise, we can prevent or avoid our mental and emotional pain by knowing what cuases difficult and destructive thoughts and emotions. And that way we cultivate our mental immunity.
I have been suffering from physical pain for quite some time. In order to reduce my physical pain I take pain reducing pills. I also have consulted experts to discover the cause of physical pain and do whatever is prescibed to reduce the physical pain. I also apply other ways for managing my physical pain such as relaxing breathing and Yogic stretchings. I have learned not to dwell on painful thoughts and not to get obsessed with these thoughts. The same way I deal with menatal and emotional suffering. I follow three steps: Recognize and accept suffering. Inquire the cause of suffering with a kind , loving and compassionate attitude, and repond, not to react.. How do I relate to my suffering makes a vital difference I have learnt no to react but to reapond and do wahtever I can to create a calm and nourishing environment in my body-mind complex.
Awareness, acceptance, creating a kind and compassionate attitude, patience and practicing non-judgmental mindfulness and meditation help me create a healthy mentaldisposition.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
On the outer surface we all are different in shape, size, strength and in many other ways. On that level some may join hands with us in friendsip and some may punch us, beat us or even kill us. But when we go deeper we can see the Reality, the oneness, Christ consciousness, the unitive consciousness, the cosmic consciousness. In that state the egoic mind which creates division within us and between us gets disolved and we become children of God. That is essentially who we are. In that state there is no trace of fear or intention to harm. Sadly, most of us live on the surface and create walls of divisiveness and fight like cats and dogs.
Once I was driving with my family to do a workshop for counselors. It was a rainy day. I had to stop at a gas station for filling up gas. As I was about to get out of my car, there were two guys who seemed to be very angry and hateful. One guy came out of the car, cursed me and poinetd his gun towars me. Something happened in my heart and felt for the guy pointing gun towards me. He must have picked up that feeling in me. He waved at me and left me unharmed. Awareness of the situation and remaining centerd calmed him down. How I relate to the situation makes the difference. I responded to him with empathic awareness and did noy react to him.
With practice of mindfulness I have been able to relate to difficult and sometimes dangerous situations successfully. From a spiritual perspective the outward differences fade away and a deeper sense of Reality of oneness shines within me. I have realized that treating others with loving awareness and kindness transforms us. I pray that we relate to others with the deeper understanding of our true nature.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
What is consciousness? Do we reside in individual consciousness or universal consciousness? What happens when we break the intrinsic connection of oneness between our individual consciousness and universal consciousness? What blocks or breaks our perception and connection between our indivudual consciousness and universal consciousness? These are profound philosophical, spiritual, and scientific questions. According to my understanding and experience, both individaul and universal consciousness are the same. We do not see and experience this union when we see ourselves and others including the environnent with physical, mental, emotional and social lenses or filters.
I experience such Reality, such Truth or my True Nature when i get deeply conneced with the Upanisadic Hindu prayer mentioned by Judith Blackstance. This prayer is an invocation to the Divinity or luminous light within to lead us from Illusion to Reality, from Darkness to Light. The paryer is in words. Experincing the truth of the prayer removes the darkness of ignorance and separation and unites me with light of Divinity.
As mentioned before, invoking the light of Divinity by daily morning prayers helps me stay on the path. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation and remaining mindful with loving awareness have been very helpful to me to know my real and true nature and stay on the spiritual path.
Namaste!
Jagdish O
It is my experience and understanding that unconditional love can solve world's mutiple 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 divsivenes. We need to find a common ground based on emapathic underrstanding 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 emapthic 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 equnimity and balance. If we do not maintain that stand life becomes a battlefield, causing a lot of interanl 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!
Jagdish P Dave
My slavery or freedom depennds on the state of my mind. My mind binds me, my mind frees me. Who controls my sesnses 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 sesnses 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 humanbeing I have fallem 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 guidung 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 mediation 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 mefor staying on the path of awakening.
There is always hope, hope for finding and staying on the Divine Path!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Wonder Increases As Growth Deceases makes me think slowly and deeply. I wonder how many times I slow down to see the sun rising and setting, the birds churping 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. Wonder decreases as speed increases. 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!
Jagdish P Dave
This is a great Birthday Kevine! There are many wonderful lessons cited by Kevin and that makes it difficult for me to choose a couple of leassons. 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 my little home town in Gujarat where I was born. On a hot summer day we were eagerly waitning 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 satement 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 to morrow. Now is the real time.
The second lesson "Your growth as a conscious being is measured by the number of uncomfotrable conversations you are willing to have. " I find it rather difficult to relate to conersation with people who have rigid and fixed different posiotins 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 thier smile to a stranger! Seeing a variety of colorful flowers in my backyatd and birds singing song fills my mind with wonder and heart with delight.
I have been practicing and teaching Mindfulnessness Meditaion in my Zoom classes. Living mindfully offers many opportunites to us to view and relate to life as dancing in the falling rain. When we are not living in the present momemt we miss seeing the rain falling, flowers blooming, children smyling and seasons of life cahanging.
May we be aware of the power of presence, the only dance there is!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
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 expereince 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 expereinces the way how to relate to life.
Such learning requires an open and unbiassed mind. It reqires quiet and clear mind and an earnest desire to let go what binds me and blinds me.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
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 realationship with me and my reationship 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!
On Jun 28, 2024 Jagdish P Dave wrote on Sacred Vs. Survival Language, by Vyaas Houston: