Military commandments

These are the 3 rules soldiers are forced to follow in the military:

1. They are never allowed to blame someone else.
2. They are required to be physically fit.
3. They are given daily goals which have to be accomplished within the set time-frame.

And I used to wonder how soldiers can be so mentally tough. No wonder, anymore...

When in the muck keep walking

The weather was great this morning. Nature beckoned to be with her longer. Was it possible to resist such a sweet plea? No, for me, it wasn't. So, stepped outside for a nice long walk. Little did I anticipate the surprise lesson awaiting, at some point on this walk. But don't let me jump ahead...allow me to lead on. 

Noticed the trees in all their splendor and glory. What a sight! There was this one tree which was especially fun to look at; its color varied from being light green on its bottom leaves to having a light orangish tinge on its top leaves. Almost looked like the burning bush, except it wasn't a bush, it was a tree. Anyway, the breeze, what can I say...it blew gently, at the right intervals, in the right proportion. Just love when that happens. Its like a privilege granted by the gods. At one point, I looked down at my shoes and smiled. Couldn't help feel happy about them. They were shiny white, literally, and squeaky clean. Oh, it felt so nice...

Then it happened! Not the not nice thing, but the different thing. Was walking on the grassland when I noticed this small stretch of slightly wet-looking, smoothly surfaced terrain, which I would need to cross. It surprises me how I wasn't able to harness my reasoning mental faculties and choose another route; just kept going. Stepped into the unfamiliar. One step, "Oh my God! I'm sinking in this thing." Next step,"Jennifer, if you don't keep walking really fast, you are history." Well, I don't know how deep that mucky terrain was, but my feet were sinking in quickly, and off-course, I was in no mood to find out the depth. Thankfully it just lasted four long, quick steps, and then found myself on the grassland again. Once on more firm territory, I just kept marching on, didn't even look back for a second. Couldn't help laughing at the experience and my unrecognizable shoe condition (did I say they were shiny white shoes, before the incident...). The walk after could be described as an awkward sight for an onlooker to see, cause I kept stopping at regular intervals and rubbing my shoes on the grass (front, back, sideways, underneath...) to get the muck off, or at least all the extra stuff which was stuck on it. But you know, I later realized that this humorous incident affirmed some valuable life lessons. "What were they?", you might ask. Allow me to share...

1. When in the muck keep walking really fast. Stopping causes sinking. Keeping on going is the only way out.

2. Once crossed the mucky terrain, walk on. There is no need to look back (well, unless someone calls out to you...hahaha...). Adopting this strategy helps the mind switch states, from surprise and discomfort, to ease and calmness.

3. Last but definitely not the least, there is no point avoiding the fact that the situation is so darn funny. Really! Its hilarious if you think about it. Laugh your heart out.

(The sentences above are metaphorical to life experiences.)

Anyway, after that deep philosophical journey, I came back and changed into another pair of shoes (luckily had my Vibrams with me...good chance to show off the lizard-feet look). Washed my dirty shoes and you know what, "They are shiny white again!" : - D

All's well that ends well.

The story of King Solomon's request from God

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

 ³ Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.  ⁴ The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
 ⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
 ⁷ “Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
 ¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
   He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

-Source: Bible NIV - 1Kings, Chapter 1, Verses 3-15

When the soul speaks...

“Pippa's Song

The year's at the spring
The day's at the morn
Morning's at seven,
The Hill side's dew-pearled
The lark's on the wing
The snail's on the thorn
God's in his heaven-
All's right with the world”

- Robert Browning

The light within

A mother kisses her young child goodnight, and blows out the candles as she walks towards the door. Then standing near the open door, she turns around and sees her child in the moonlight...so beautiful and precious. As she sighs allowing the love to sink in, she speaks these words to her little person,"My child, when your light goes out, it goes out in the whole world. The world is as we see it. If we are happy, the world appears a happy place. If we are unhappy, the world appears an unhappy place. Let your light shine." And with having spoken these words, the mother gently leaves the room as she closes the door behind her.

Image courtesy: Source

...

One of the insights, which the teacher Thich Nhat Hanh shared, in the second video, makes a meaningful point as far as our responsibility to each other, and the next generation is concerned. This is referring to the part where he speaks about people uniting to live life together, and how before the decision is made, it is important that the two people, on their own, practice mindful living for a sufficiently long period. He explains, how the practice of mindful living, allows for people to fan the flame of compassion within themselves. This, by facing their own inner sufferings or demons, through gentle, loving and simple methods. Thus when the two people then unite, and become responsible for the development of another life, if they so choose, the sufferings which they had do not perpetuate into the next generation...

...

Have you heard of the "Statue of Responsibility" project?

Yes, there is such a thing and there are a group of people actively involved in working towards bringing the project idea into reality. The "Statue of Responsibility" is to serve as the counterpart to the "Statue of Liberty." It is to be constructed on the West Coast of the United States; the "Statue of Liberty" stands on the East Coast. The design is that of two clasping hands. More information can be found at the official site here.

However, different people have their own ideas of what they would like the Statue of Responsibility to look like. In this talk, given by Dr. Denis Waitley, he shared his personal idea for the design of the Statue and how it would be symbolic to represent certain things. Here's what he said...

"The Statue of Responsibility could be the same human figure as the Statue of Liberty, except that it would hold different objects. It would hold an eagle in one hand, symbolizing the desire to be free of all restrictions - to do what we want, say what we want, dress how we want, and be how we want. But on the other hand is a baby, which signifies our responsibility to the next generation. It is to understand that for every choice we make, we have to live with that choice for generations to come."

Quite an insight there!

Anyway, here's an image of the actual proposed project:

The story of Avalokita

Andrew Harvey, the person written about in the previous blog-post, narrated another story to the community. It was the story of how Avalokita, the Buddha of compassion, became Avalokiteshwara. This is how the story goes...

Avalokita had spent years of his life in meditation and mindful living. And then on that one fine day, when Avalokita was sitting in his meditation practice, he was graced with the experience of almost entering into Nirvana. Nirvana: the state of ultimate bliss and detachment. While he was immersed in this transcendental experience of entering, he heard the painful cry of a rabbit. On hearing the sound of the rabbit he stopped his mind and brought it back to the earth experience. His heart oozed with compassion for the little rabbit which was in pain. It was then that he vowed to never enter into Nirvana until he had freed every living being from their suffering. And ironically, it was then that he entered, not by his own accord, into Nirvana, and became Avalokiteshwara. Avalokiteshwara is the boddhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. There are some images of Avalokita where he is shown to have a thousand hands. This symbolizes his great desire to reach out and touch every living being and share his love with them.

Listening to this story is left as a heart-warming memory, for which I am grateful.

What is your 3am?

Listening to Andrew Harvey speak last night at the Meditation Center was quite an experience. 

Andrew had the chance to interview the Dalai Lama right before his Holiness was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He spoke of how he felt overwhelmed by the deep, deep compassionate energy exuded by the Dalai Lama. He shared about when he had the chance to embrace the Dalai Lama, it was a certain sense of deep motherly compassion which comforted him and left him helplessly hanging on in a deep daze. He said that the Dalai Lama understanding his loss of composure at the time, very gently held his hand, and walked him to the door. He compared the experience to being like that of a mother holding the hand of her scared child, and walking the child to the school classroom on it's first day. Wow! It blew my mind to hear Andrew speak. There are certain people who carry this charisma about themselves.

Apart from listening to and being part of his sharing about his meeting with the Dalai Lama, another thing which resonated strongly with me was his question "What is your 3am?" Andrew asked us to try this practical exercise out. He suggested that we wake up at 3am, and after we've said whichever prayers we do, to think about a hurting cause in this world towards which we feel really passionate about. "It brings life into perspective", he said. "It is to realize that you have lived but not in vain."

What remained with me, along with his words, was his gentle, compassionate gaze. When the man looks into your eyes it's as if you feel him peering into your soul. Quite an impactful experience last night!

That's the link to his webpage - Andrew Harvey.

To understand that which is real.

The 600 odd page book, "A Course in Miracles", couldn't have been more aptly summarized, by it's authors, than by these lines:

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.

Thought the image below carries the continuity of the idea expressed in the lines above.