My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all...
The energy brought by the people of Wednesdays after reading the passage was very similar to that brought by those of us who heard the Letter to a Friend in a Hurry last August. Many of us shared the way we relate with time and the wonderful surprises that serendipity has for us when we are tuned to the slow down mode of Mother Nature... never hurries, yet everything gets done (like brother Somik's experience during the last 3 weeks of the PhD program!). Last week, I shared the following three points and I enhanced them a bit by including the powerful story of a sage from the Touareg people, people who live in the Sahara desert:
1. The Active Agenda of a Bodhisattva
2. Slowing Down as a Sage of the Desert
3. Mad Rush. What Kind of Mind?
1. The Active Agenda of a Bodhisattva
During a Wednesday, last year, I heard hermano Nipun sharing what has become a very useful mind-trick, from my point of view. As I remember it, Nipun described how during a talk with a monk, both of them were exchanging their excitement about the packed commitments and how full were their agendas. At some point Nipun said something like: "you are pretty busy today" to which the monk replied: "I'm not busy, I'm active." :-)
Since I heard the story of this Bodhisattva(s), "busyness" is not an option to describe the space/time of my life. I've noticed the positive (r)evolution from "busy" to "active" in the way I engage with life. It's all about intention. After all, a new paradigm requires new expressions/languages. Every bit counts for moving towards our Beloved Community.
2. Slowing Down as a Sage of the Desert
The detailed description of hermano Somik reminded me of how, when we slow down, we attend meticulously to details, giving the very best we are capable of even to the smallest undertaking. This is slowliness and not sloth, which breeds procrastination and inefficiency.
We come to Wednesdays to collectively be in receptive silence. To pay attention to every detail: the smell, the incense, the books, the smiles, the shinning eyes, the individual stories. As hermano Viral and hermanas Guri and Pavi have put it in recent emails/blogs: Mindfulness. Awareness. Strong effort. Insight. Gratitude. Using the body as a tool to reach the Self.
This is part of the immense magic and beauty of Wednesdays. As I was writing this comment, the powerful image of a sage from the desert came to mind/heart:
- Sage of the Desert: We shepherd camels, goats, sheep, cows and donkeys in an infinite kingdom of silence.
- Interviewer: Is the desert really so silent?
- Sage of the Desert: If you are on your own, in that silence you hear your heart beat. There is no better place to meet yourself.
"Here [cities] you have watches; there [desert], we have time."
3. Mad Rush. What Kind of Mind?
"The people who are in the mad rush today, increasing their wants senselessly suppose that they are enhancing their importance and real knowledge. A day will come when they will exclaim, “What have we been doing?”
One after another, many civilizations have risen, flourished, declined and disappeared and in spite of their big boast of human progress, I am inclined to ask; To what end all this? What’s the purpose? Darwin’s contemporary Wallace has said that despite the various discoveries and inventions during the past fifty years, the moral height of man hasn’t increased even an inch. Tolstoy has said the same thing. Jesus, Buddha, Prophet Mohammed all have said the same things." --M.K. Gandhi
Well, on Wednesdays, as tens of thousands of brothers and sisters can corroborate, we slow down and we have time too. We have come together to feed the body and, more importantly, the soul. In the middle of the city we Slow Down, Slow Food, Slow Science.
Every Wednesday, we enjoy a delicious-full-of-love _slow_ dinner. But if you look further (Meher Baba's quote), I better say something like: "We enjoy delicious-full-of-love _still_ dinners." ;-)
Meher Baba spent many years in unrushed silence and yet he could communicate great gems of wisdom for generations to come. Regarding the pace (peace?) of mind he said:
A quick mind is sick.
A slow mind is sound.
A still mind in divine.
Let stillness direct our words and actions.
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
On Apr 12, 2010 Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all...
The energy brought by the people of Wednesdays after reading the passage was very similar to that brought by those of us who heard the Letter to a Friend in a Hurry last August. Many of us shared the way we relate with time and the wonderful surprises that serendipity has for us when we are tuned to the slow down mode of Mother Nature... never hurries, yet everything gets done (like brother Somik's experience during the last 3 weeks of the PhD program!). Last week, I shared the following three points and I enhanced them a bit by including the powerful story of a sage from the Touareg people, people who live in the Sahara desert:
1. The Active Agenda of a Bodhisattva
2. Slowing Down as a Sage of the Desert
3. Mad Rush. What Kind of Mind?
1. The Active Agenda of a Bodhisattva
During a Wednesday, last year, I heard hermano Nipun sharing what has become a very useful mind-trick, from my point of view. As I remember it, Nipun described how during a talk with a monk, both of them were exchanging their excitement about the packed commitments and how full were their agendas. At some point Nipun said something like: "you are pretty busy today" to which the monk replied: "I'm not busy, I'm active." :-)
Since I heard the story of this Bodhisattva(s), "busyness" is not an option to describe the space/time of my life. I've noticed the positive (r)evolution from "busy" to "active" in the way I engage with life. It's all about intention. After all, a new paradigm requires new expressions/languages. Every bit counts for moving towards our Beloved Community.
2. Slowing Down as a Sage of the Desert
The detailed description of hermano Somik reminded me of how, when we slow down, we attend meticulously to details, giving the very best we are capable of even to the smallest undertaking. This is slowliness and not sloth, which breeds procrastination and inefficiency.
We come to Wednesdays to collectively be in receptive silence. To pay attention to every detail: the smell, the incense, the books, the smiles, the shinning eyes, the individual stories. As hermano Viral and hermanas Guri and Pavi have put it in recent emails/blogs: Mindfulness. Awareness. Strong effort. Insight. Gratitude. Using the body as a tool to reach the Self.
This is part of the immense magic and beauty of Wednesdays. As I was writing this comment, the powerful image of a sage from the desert came to mind/heart:
- Interviewer: Is the desert really so silent?
- Sage of the Desert: If you are on your own, in that silence you hear your heart beat. There is no better place to meet yourself.
Here is the full interview. It ends with this spaceless/timeless quote:
3. Mad Rush. What Kind of Mind?
One after another, many civilizations have risen, flourished, declined and disappeared and in spite of their big boast of human progress, I am inclined to ask; To what end all this? What’s the purpose? Darwin’s contemporary Wallace has said that despite the various discoveries and inventions during the past fifty years, the moral height of man hasn’t increased even an inch. Tolstoy has said the same thing. Jesus, Buddha, Prophet Mohammed all have said the same things." --M.K. Gandhi
Well, on Wednesdays, as tens of thousands of brothers and sisters can corroborate, we slow down and we have time too. We have come together to feed the body and, more importantly, the soul. In the middle of the city we Slow Down, Slow Food, Slow Science.
Every Wednesday, we enjoy a delicious-full-of-love _slow_ dinner. But if you look further (Meher Baba's quote), I better say something like: "We enjoy delicious-full-of-love _still_ dinners." ;-)
Meher Baba spent many years in unrushed silence and yet he could communicate great gems of wisdom for generations to come. Regarding the pace (peace?) of mind he said:
A slow mind is sound.
A still mind in divine.
Let stillness direct our words and actions.
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
Pancho