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Yes. This is THIS Simplicity that is said to be the highest form of sophistication. And it IS possible to unleash one's highest potential and remove the limitation of capacity in humans.

This article is very timely- not intended to play on the word time. Yet, absence of anticipation and being is one of the most precious gifts for anyone to be in tune with nature. It feels like creation has a message for us, from the falling leaves to the gentle breeze and the songs of the birds....if there is expansion of consciousness in a human mind, it is at this moment. Unfortunately, we make complex objects of meditation as a practice and forget to just be with an open heart. Nature reveals, consciousness expands!

This reading is loaded!!! Like all journeys inner and outer, there comes a time when one does all to prepare, set off and be part of a journey and yet, along the way becomes the observer and starts relishing the moments - the expected and the unexpected encounters with other "soul" or "lives" we have and realize that as much as the purpose of the journey was getting to the destination, all the lessons and retained wisdom of letting go descended along the way, during the journey. The place where it all got tucked away was not the mind but the heart. It is the guidance from there that we get to realize the very notion of ending a journey is all but a miniscule part of the REAL JOURNEY our souls are on......to reach HOME and be part of the cosmos - all inclusive in their own manifestations.

Life takes us thru phases I think. Youth creates a sense of urgency to get to a place, achieve something, reach a pedestal and in the process just not enjoy the process. Stamina over speed, observation over look, wonder over delight, pause to create poise. At this stage, when we learn to enjoy every step of the walk, take in the nature we enjoy it more for soul and body nourishment rather than just an exercise to stay fit. Similar is a road trip, Take stops to enjoy and observe changes in landscapes, weather, vegetation rather than drive to the destination in record time only to miss the tree in pursuit of the forests, miss being the drop that has the potential to become the ocean

The clincher for me was the last line. ..and the witness we forgot was listening. " This one is loaded. When you approach something as sn observer rather than a participant, the notion of not knowing seems to back away with your observation. Then. The activity also appears like having been undertaken before. QBQ here is, is that why when one becomes conscious of an observer or of your own observation, the activity no longer is natural and stops being as effective.

Another lovely choice. The knowledge of Science and the wisdom of Spirituality behooves us to appreciate everyone's perspective. Context always adds its own dimension. When the whole play of the world is in the heart-mind region and not just mind or just the heart region, when in doubt almost always, the heart never lets you down, Now, that might not be the most popular or obvious outcome one expects, but when in doubt - trust your heart - the very seat of wisdom. Is it not quite ingtersting that centuries ago, Science and scientists were trying to get endorsement from the Churches for their findings and in the current era, religious and spiritual spirants are asking for scientific evidence - prove meditation can help calm your mind, avert stress, feel the presence of THE FORCE within etc., When the world accepts their complementary role, we will have a wiser world - pure, simple and in tune with nature.

"Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha" is the sutra of sage Pathanjali - Essentially introducing the concept of becoming a witness, arriving at a state of choicelessness and overcoming the fluctuations in the mind. Just be a witness and do not judge anything you come across when you meditate. Pema has nicely highlighted the three simple guidelines. Often times, a practitioner or a seeker tends to forget that meditation leads to concentration. Effortless focus is another way to explain the process. Observer approach lets us overcome attachments too and gradually develop a practice of observing the thoughts that emerge as passing clouds.When we meditate on something as subtle as our breathe or source of light and love -all are bestowed with, the process easy and natural. Very useful template for an aspirant.

This one has Rumi touch to it. I felt it all thru the read. “In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” The word I picked for this week was "convivial". Secret of being in the moment, spontaneity, synchronicity with nature are yet to be fully understood by humans..but we have all taken the first steps...reaching passages such as these and reflecting is also part of that journey. Many thanks for sending this our way to reflect and share.

Ah! like nectar is this passage. A very wisely interpreted and articulated one from the Ashtavakra Gita. Initially it is about the Drishta, Drishya and Darshana and gradually, you take the position of a Saakshi and all that happens is witnessed with a "saakshi bhaava" without attachment whatsoever. That exalted position as said, is truly worth the pursuit and within everyone's reach.

Self awareness, Conscience and Independent Will are some of the most significant endowments Humans have. When it is exercised by always adding "pause" and "poise" before we act, decide, commit or respond. Pause helps us shift from our mind to our heart, poise lets us say "NO" unless there is a bigger "YES" burning inside us - both helping us with the "memnoon moment' since riding on the wheels of pause and poise is the vehicle of compassion and love!

At the outset when I read these lines, my mind started working on it. Just as the word gives power to the one showing it and taking power away from the person receiving it - the very word MERCY like any other word that gives power and takes it away seemed very odd and uncomfortable. I am yet to meet a kind person who has said to me, I was merciful or I showed mercy on the poor thing..etc., Yet, it is a powerful word to reflect for sure. In our day to day activities, unbeknownst to us, we get presented with several situations that will call for us to show it - when no body is watching! What is natural to all human hearts is compassion and love. Mercy is a manifestation of those qualities. A personal story that comes to mind is when we were having lunch in the backyard and a kite dropped a lizard it had in its claws I suppose. It fell inches from my daughter. Shining blue scales and amazing creation was helpless and probably as hurt badly. No CPR if possible could probably have saved it. I took the position of an observer to see my compassionate offspring spring into action. In no time, she picked a large leaf, put the ailing lizard on it and moved it to a place where she could rest, not be found and maybe find something to nourish it. We saw it change positions for the next few hours and into the night. Options were many for my daughter, she could have taken the "yuck" route as she was eating her lunch, or just disposed it in the garbage assuming it was dead. however, to give it priority over her lunch and pay full attention with love and care to something that was at a point of no return - I felt was much more than mercy. It did stir something mellow in my heart and gave me a feeling of "All is well for the future, life will be good, kindness has a future." Meditation and self compassion practices help me practice mercy. My practices are all heart based and moves me from thinking to feeling and from feeling to being - being to becoming - becoming love, bec... [View Full Comment] At the outset when I read these lines, my mind started working on it. Just as the word gives power to the one showing it and taking power away from the person receiving it - the very word MERCY like any other word that gives power and takes it away seemed very odd and uncomfortable. I am yet to meet a kind person who has said to me, I was merciful or I showed mercy on the poor thing..etc., Yet, it is a powerful word to reflect for sure. In our day to day activities, unbeknownst to us, we get presented with several situations that will call for us to show it - when no body is watching! What is natural to all human hearts is compassion and love. Mercy is a manifestation of those qualities. A personal story that comes to mind is when we were having lunch in the backyard and a kite dropped a lizard it had in its claws I suppose. It fell inches from my daughter. Shining blue scales and amazing creation was helpless and probably as hurt badly. No CPR if possible could probably have saved it. I took the position of an observer to see my compassionate offspring spring into action. In no time, she picked a large leaf, put the ailing lizard on it and moved it to a place where she could rest, not be found and maybe find something to nourish it. We saw it change positions for the next few hours and into the night. Options were many for my daughter, she could have taken the "yuck" route as she was eating her lunch, or just disposed it in the garbage assuming it was dead. however, to give it priority over her lunch and pay full attention with love and care to something that was at a point of no return - I felt was much more than mercy. It did stir something mellow in my heart and gave me a feeling of "All is well for the future, life will be good, kindness has a future." Meditation and self compassion practices help me practice mercy. My practices are all heart based and moves me from thinking to feeling and from feeling to being - being to becoming - becoming love, becoming compassion and kind.[Hide Full Comment]

As the saying goes, the process of dying starts the moment your are born. How, when and where are probably the only aspects left for others to discover. That said, it is my hope that the answer to these questions lie in the realms where science and spirituality can collaborate. Science with deep rooted spiritual values can address the first question to a large extent and some to the second one. Spirituality and its understanding through compassion, kindness, sharing, giving and enabling will certainly address a part of the second and make the third group enablers. Just as the spider uses what is within it to weave a web, we humans should go deep within and will find values of sharing, giving, loving and kindness. It is this essence alone that will be possible. United initiatives of any kind should not be mistaken as a way to bring different faiths together, but connecting human hearts under a common canopy or shelter of compassion and sharing so as to bring some aspect of equanimity in this world of ours. May this vision get closer to realization as we are at the threshold of 2022.

Lovely passage. There has been a revelation in me that only when we transcent inquiry will we enter the realms of feeling and experience. Unconditional love is akin to space. We unfortunatley have been drawn to object that have filled the space and the space never gets discussed. Thus making it conditional. Unfortunate or outcome of such an approach of ignroing space or unconditional love is that we start accepting the object that filled the space OR conditions that helped us identify or experience love as the very definition of love. I loved the object, the company, the dress, the car, the house etc., becomes a norm. Quite like the MOMENT Ram Dass had, where, in complete stillness but in THE PRESENCE of his Guru or the very epitome of Unconditional love he felt that UNCONDITIONAL LOVE all of us have the opportunity to feel the same, every moment. All we need to do is expand our awareness, move from thinking to feeling and let our consciousness expand. Just one moment is enough and that whole feeling gets captured in our subconscious - from then on, we only need to invoke it and let it emanate from our hearts to all that exists - UNCONDITIONALLY. Yes, Unconditional love does exist.

Like most arts of the ancient and their tradition, I have always felt their real essence is deeper than the visuals or the aesthetics. Deeper sometimes are the scars and impressions in one's consciousness that over time percolates to the sub consciousness level and becomes the basis of all decisions and actions. Saint Kabir gave the example of a weaver and the potential flaws in the weave that leave a touch of being human. So have many in their creation of art as well. The best and the most effective tool that a human carries is also shown by nature - empathy and compassion. In the healing of a broken branch of a tree, in the recovery of a shock felt by a plant or an animal, it has always been nature's subtle but steady care and compassion. Sometimes it is the wind, sometimes the tender drops of rain and other times a human hand and music of nature that has helped heal.

When we as human make discussion of unseen scars and impressions as taboo and send them down a spiral, what emerges are multiple pieces of the soul. Sometimes they cannot be put together. Hence, my take away is do not break to make an art. There are many that are broken we can be the glue/bond that will help put them together - even if the outcome is not a display piece, it will become a functional, compassion filled heart that will cure and curate many more.

I am glad in pursuit of the proverbial perfection, we are willing to accept imperfect best selves of ourselves and the heal from the negative experiences - advancing in the way of love.

Very interesting piece for sure. I feel at the core of this passage is a need to accept that everything in this world has consciousness. Just at a varied level, but everything that exists are at different levels in the spectrum of consciousness.

False and Truth, Right and wrong debates have existed for ever. Everyone's perspective depends on the data point and situation rather than an absolute truth. We attach value to the source of truth based on our own experience with the source.

Coming to the discussion on suffering, that too has its opposite. If there is suffering, there is also joy. Now again comes the debate on true joy and false joy like truth and news have received similar versions.

One can also ask, " Is suffering natural?" So, the QBQ that begs to be asked is "Is all suffering real?" Hence is suffering alone an indication of reality? It is said Purity is the essence of Reality.....

A wise one once said, "Live every moment as if it were your last". Many have a hard time accepting it. It is a pessimistic perspective to life they argue. The passage lets us peel layers of this saying and actually realize that it helps you relish every moment for you almost always save your best for the last. What if each moment deserves your best, would that not be an invertendo principle of saving the bset for the last? Even when does deep into meditation, many think they gain something while actually most of them lose the need to hurry, plan, become impulsive, judge etc., In essence just the process of a deep meditation helps an individual get into a meditative state for the rest of the day. Which raises their awareness level, expands their consciousness and hence helps relish each moment in life - giving your very best as if it were your last.

Acceptance is key to true transformation. Inside-out transformation. Acceptance opens one's heart and brings it to a state of humility and sometimes even surrender. Not the surrender in battles, but the surrender of the hyperactive mind that is preparing to react and resist. Surrender of the ego to pervade and dominate. Surrender enhances one's awareness and enables expansion of the consciousness.

By accepting, being open and allowing transformation, we only evolve to becoming better versions of ourselves. Now, it ALWAYS begins in the heart and plays in the heart-mind region. If we fail to move inward and settle in the heart and instead move to the mind, alas, acceptance gets arrested, terminated and growth stops.

Leading to improve is enabling our heart to accept what needs to change and allow our better version to manifest - inside out.

Lessons from a begging bowl
Tribute to my Teachers. As I am continually learning the lesson of Sharanagati(surrender), I give everything over to my Master's/Teacher's/God's hand. Sharanagati literally means to stop fighting. Control is resistance. With acceptance we stop fighting with what is happening and instead completely accept what is present/presented.

Sharanagati helps open our heart and mind to what is happening and learn from it. It is a deep faith that everything is as it should be - with or without my begging or helping hand. From humility to hold the begging bowl, to limiting expectations and yet approach with faith and confidence that the bowl shall be filled with what is meant to be is an act of Sharanagati or surrender.

I have learned that control comes from a place of fear, and acceptance comes from a place of gratitude. When we can open ourselves to trust that everything is going to be okay no matter what comes into our bowl, then we release the feeling of needing to micromanage every experience. This was exactly our attitude as children when we went to learn from our teachers.

Sharanagati to - what is.
Clean/Let go - what was.
Have faith in - what will be.
May the learner in me always be as empty as the begging bowl for new learnings and in acceptance of what comes into it from my teachers. May the teacher in me always be learning.

Kabir's famous lines come to mind, reading this.
Baagon na ja re,
teri kaaya mein gulzaar
Asht kamal pe baithh ke,
tu dekhe roop apaar

Do not go to the garden of flowers!
O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.
Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus,
and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.