####################
⚾️ Life's Curveballs
We can build perfect plans with precise details and the exact steps we need to take.
But life can always introduce a variable when we didn't expect that tosses our perfect blueprints out the window.
These are life's curveballs.
They can come in the shape of a loss or a gain.
We can never know when these things will happen but they always do.
No one is immune from broken expectations and interrupted plans.
And yes, it's a noble act to author your own story instead of solely acting from what you've inherited.
But as we seize our agency and make empowered choices it would be wise to remember that we are not simply the authors of our lives.
We are co-authors with life.
Events can arise that change the entire direction of our narratives.
The curveballs are coming.
But don't let that stop you from aiming high and advancing in the direction of your dreams.
Sometimes these curveballs turn out to be exactly what was needed.
By pushing us in directions we could have never envisioned, we become more than we could have ever imagined.
#####################
This is a sort of beautiful question, because most people would immediately assume that in silence, there’s no sound at all.
And yet, if you sit still for a long time,
Until all your thoughts, worries, plans, desires and judgments subside.
Until all outer sounds in the city or in nature fade away.
Until all inner sounds like the thumping of your heartbeat or the voice in your head disappear.
Until even the sound of you trying to go deeper into silence is let go of.
You may fall into the Silence so empty and dark, so completely devoid of anything, and then instantly be amazed at the realization that it’s the most full and light and ‘sound-filled’ void that could ever exist.
Silence is the primordial origin, the foundation of everything. So many enlightened ones - Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, Jean Klein - have repeatedly urged falling into, swimming in, this Silence, as the most direct path to realization.
I have taken this journey and can attest to this.
The true Silence is the richest sound you’ll ever ‘hear.’
The true Emptiness is the fullest ‘void’ you’ll ever experience.
It is the Sound and Fullness of You.
################################
########################
was born in Thiruvananthapuram, ‘the city of Lord Vishnu
who sleeps on the serpent Anantha .’ Anantha also means, in
Sanskrit, ‘without end, infinite.’ Trivandrum, as it was renamed by
the British when they ruled India, is a coastal city and the capital
of Kerala. Back then, Kerala was like an overgrown village, with
its hills and rivers and abundant greenery
################
The law of Karma does not require pacifism or quietist resignation or martyrdom.
The Gita urges us to do everything we can, to the best of our ability and intention, to deal with every negative situation we encounter. This is why the Gita was taught to the “Terminator” Arjuna on the field of battle.
We are all living on our personal “battlefields” and are dealing with our personal issues, familial conflicts, domestic agitation, professional struggles and friendship disagreements etc.
Karma Yoga DEMANDS that we “man-up” identify as vīra (heroes) and tackle problems head on.
BUT don’t expect that the outcome of your struggles and battles will invariably be in your favour or have an outcome that is desired by you.
The outcome of every endeavour and happiness project depends on four factors:
- the effort you put into it.
- the effort of other stakeholders
- circumstances
- Karma
Seeing that you can only control one of those factors - your own effort - do your damned best in every situation and surrender to the outcome.
So no need to suffer needlessly, certainly go for the organ transplant - get your name on the list. If a compatible heart becomes available accept it joyfully and praise the donor - if it works - it’s Karma, if it doesn’t its Karma.
If you meet the best cardiac surgeon in the world after doing your due diligence - its Karma. If he fails to heal you - it’s Karma.
Do your best and accept the outcome with equanimity - whatever it may be.
#########################
I was intrigued by this strange man who had slightly brown
and thickly matted long hair gathered over his head in a big knot
that looked like a tall hat. He wore large, brown, probably copper
earrings and carried a black, polished water pot in his right hand.
By far, the most striking of his features were his eyes: large,
brownish black, glittering and overflowing with love and affection.
He put his right hand on my head without any hesitation and his
kind voice said in Hindi, ‘ Kuch yaad aaya ,’ which means, ‘Do you
remember anything?’
I understood the stranger’s words perfectly, for although our
family had settled in Kerala for generations, we spoke a peculiar
dialect of Urdu known as Dakkhini, very similar to Hindi. ‘ Nai, ’
no, I said.
#######################
Well, let’s start with…
- How many truly enlightened people do you know?
- How many of those truly don’t talk?
Most people are fortunate if they personally know even 1 or 2 fully enlightened people in their lifetime. The rest we only know through books and other media written by, or telling us about, supposedly enlightened masters.
And virtually all of these talk. There are some who talk less, or talk very little, and a few who have taken a “vow” of mouna - silence.
Ram Dass’ main Master was Neem Karoli Baba, who talked without hesitation. Ram Dass says one of his sub-teachers (or Upa Gurus,) Hari Das Baba, had taken a lifelong vow of silence, and communicated all his teachings using an alphabet board (which means he still “talked,” he just used his pointing finger to do it instead of his open mouth.)
One of the most revered truly enlightened sages of the last 100 years is Ramana Maharshi, and he spoke very little. Thousands of seekers came to him from all over the world, to ask him questions - usually the most common question which was, “How do I attain enlightenment like you?” About half the time, he answered with sparing words, but one had to wait a while for him to come out of deep communion with the Divine and start speaking. The other half the time, he received the question, but just sat silent and motionless with the questioner for an extended time. The report from his disciples was that he was not “not answering,” but rather, answering through direct transmission of Truth through silence and his ability to impart that Truth just by being with a person, without words.
All the great enlightened masters agree that the nature of Enlightenment is not in mental or verbal understanding, but in Pure Silent Being, and that everything emanates from that Silence. Therefore, just diving deep into that Silence is always going to be the most direct path to “enlightenment,” whereas talking about it is always going to be a step away from Truth. This would certainly account for why many truly enlightened masters don’t feel called to give long verbal explanations and discourses.
That said, in my experience, “enlightened people” often talk plenty. I talk even more about this, and on helping to clear some of the confusion on whether there really is an “individual” who “gets enlightened,” in my blog here on Quora, “Already Enlightened,” to help clarify the basic truths of spiritual awakening & enlightenment. Hope you find it useful,
######################
In one temple
where the deity was missing, he installed a mirror instead, to
demonstrate the Vedantic and Socratic maxim ‘Man, know
thyself’.
###################
If you can resist the impulse to claim each and every thought as your own, you will come to a startling conclusion: you will discover that you are the consciousness in which the thoughts appear and disappear.
—Annamalai Swami
########################
6 TYPES OF SCREAMS
the six types of screams are those of:
- Pain
- Anger
- Fear
- Pleasure
- Sadness
- Joy
No comments:
Post a Comment