The Live movie we are here to watch: Free Will Astrology ;-)
30 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Astrology, Freedom, Numerology, Purpose
I got interested in the whole domain of numbers and birthdates many years back. Possibly in 1997 I think. To some, the interest seems a bit excessive (did not want to use the word ‘obsessive’ because it is not- at least I don’t think so 
) but if only you could get a glimpse of the beauty, the revelation and the insights for evolution that this world brings, you may find it interesting to dive into.
Actually I have found there are a few reasons why people resist or deny this wonder-filled world. Let me start with getting that out of the way:
• It goes against the notion of free-will. But let me quote a person who inspires me a lot (picked this up yday from his fb page!)
“Only if you assume things are actually ‘happening’ in some sort of solid, isolated manner does the question of free will versus pre-determinism arise. Without anything being clung to as ‘happening’ – in other words, if one is living without paying attention to the mind’s descriptions – then nothing is ever happening and philosophical questions regarding free will, fate, and doer-ship are rendered irrelevant by the prevailing peace of your natural and non-needy non-state of being.” – Bentinho Massaro
I love the paradigm ‘Free Will Astrology’ which comes from Rob Brezsny (www.freewillastrology.com) for more reasons than one! For one, it embraces a profound paradox. Free Will and Destiny! And also because Rob is awesomely crazy and wildly optimistic! Would highly recommend you subscribe to his weekly emails. You may want to connect with him on fb
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rob-Brezsnys-Free-Will-Astrology/133041234078
• Then some say, “How can all people be put into 12 categories alone- are we not all unique?” The way I respond to this question is that with 12 colors we can create 9 billion paintings. And each of us is a unique painting but the colors are the same!
• Some quip: “I am not interested in knowing the future”. Neither am I, by and large. In fact, I discovered that there are two schools of astrology- the one that could be called the ‘Predictive’ school which uses Astrology to predict future events. I am not opposed to this but normally I don’t like to go down this lane.
The other is what could be called, ‘Self awareness’ School. I have found these descriptions of tremendous value to make me aware of how I am designed! So that I am not ‘bound’ by the design. And yet honor the designer! It helps me see the beauty inside people. And like a dear friend and teacher once said, it helps us to know the movie we are here to watch.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have been enjoying becoming aware and enabling others to discover the joy of this awareness of the live movie that we are here to watch. So long as one is open and doesn’t make a religion out of anything there are depths to be revealed in this world, like any!
Some of the systems (books) that I have found very useful, learnt from and shared with a lot of people are mentioned below. But first a word of consciousness. No number completely defines anyone. We are far too complex to be defined by one or many numbers or charts. Having said that, like anything is a lens, I have found these worthwhile lenses to look from.
• Astrology for the Soul- Jan Spiller (check out in Amazon.com) Even though it is published in 1997, it ranks # 9843 in the Amazon Bestseller’s list as of 30 May 2012. Has 77 reviews with an average 4.5 star rating out of 5. (for those who are convinced by statistics!).
Linda Goodman popularized ‘Sun Signs’ which are a more superficial view of our journey, changing every month. Jan Spiller reveals what I would call our ‘Soul Signs’ – a deep look at our journeys – our purpose, gifts, challenges, past lives and more. For example, for people born in 1965 like me, the Soul Sign (she calls it North Node is Gemini) and Gemini Soul Sign folk have the gift of bringing the energy of truth in the world. They need to be watchful of being self-righteous. They are gifted in writing, inspiring learning and communication. They need to develop logic and learn to connect with society rather than just go by intuition.
Maybe I will do a blog post which gives a gist of the 12 ‘Soul Signs’ but as some of you would know, I have shared the photo-copies of your write-ups and many have been deeply touched and benefited out of that profound awareness. At least a few hundred people.
• The Life you were born to Live- Dan Millman. Published in 1993. 106 Customer reviews. Avg Rating 4.5 on 5. And # 4208 in the Best seller Rank on 30 May 2012.
Inspired by the title some related perspectives came to me to describe the above two books, ‘Visions we were born to manifest’, ‘The song we were born to sing’, ‘The journey that we were born to travel’ etc.
Dan Millman has written many wonderful books, a very gifted writer and human being. Peaceful Warrior is one of his great books which has also been converted to a movie. When I met him, he told us that he had met a wise sage who told him of this system. Some call it the ‘Destiny no.’ It reveals an aspect, a view of your Life Purpose. You need to add up each digit of your birthdate. E.g. 14/5/1963 would be 1+4+5+1+9+6+3 = 29 and 2+9 =11
So he writes it like 29/11 and each no has a meaning. No 1 is for ‘Creativity and Confidence’ of which this person has a double doze! Here it is easier to share so I will briefly and maybe do a more detailed post on this later.
1: Creativity and Confidence
2: Team work and Cooperation
3: Expression and Sensitivity
4: Stability and Process
5: Freedom and Discipline
6: Vision and Acceptance
7: Trust and Openness
8: Power & Abundance
9: Integrity & Wisdom
0: Intuition & Inner gifts
A few vital things he says capture the essence of this system:
We teach what we most need to learn. So these numbers are about both, what we are learning and in the process we are also teaching that consciously or unconsciously.
Also he says that this is the adventure we are here to experience, like a mountain that we are here to climb. And so in the process of that climbing we will discover some treasures and also will be challenged in many ways. So that we learn, teach, enjoy and love all that is.
Each of the numbers is a double-edged sword. And life’s journey is about finding that balance. For example, No 6 which is about ‘Vision and Acceptance’, we arrive at acceptance only after we judge a lot and life teaches us to accept. The gift hidden inside judgment is ‘discernment’.
Lastly, the energy of the relationship is the sum of the destiny nos. So, if one person’s no. adds up to 5 and other person is 4, the total 9 is the energy of the relationship!
People with no 9 are considered universal teachers since, whatever number you add to that, the result is that number. Eg 9+1 is 10 which is 1. 9+2 is 11 which is 2 and so on!
• Numera - Bernard Spencer La Gette. This book is out of print but a friend gave me a photocopy many years back and I find the description of numbers over there a treasure. Now, here the description is different from the above. In fact there are many numerological systems. And also a few Astrological systems. And they each have a place. The logical mind will compare and may reject but the intuitive, receptive mind will value the diversity and take what it needs. The gist of this is:
1: The beginning, the initiation, the energy of the Lion or the Sun- Leo. The one from what all else is born. This is the archetypal father. Fire energy.
2: When the one became 2 all creation was born- so this in a sense complements 1. This is the archetypal energy of the Mother. Water energy.
3: The trinity. The energy of Sagittarius. Wisdom. And also lightness. Fire.
4: The energy of Aquarius. The prophet. Sparkling Vision but removed from Action. Hence sadness. But able to see the flip side of everything. The energy of air and the mind.
5: The mercurial energy of Gemini. Gift of communication. The middle number so can mingle with all. Also Air element and mind.
6: The energy of Venus. Love. Also vision but very focused, even rigid.
7: The energy of Pisces. The old man of the zodiac. Great intuition. Action. This is the earth energy. Water energy.
8: A very intense energy of Saturn, which rules Capricon. To experience intensity, this soul experiences often the brightest of light and the deepest of darkness. Also the earth element.
9 : The last number and has some aggression. And a presence and intensity. This is the energy of Aries, the baby of the zodiac.
The numbers 3, 6, 9 are the numbers of worldly success. 4 and 8 are karmic numbers and have a depth which is of the other world. 2 & 7 are intuitive, flowing like water. The no 8 is shaped by and shapes destiny. It is the sign of standing infinity. Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin all add up to 8. How uncanny is that!
My Journey with Numerology and Changing spellings to bring a certain energy. Some time back I went through the crazy journey of changing the spelling of my name since I was advised that it would bring in a certain healthy energy. So I became Kirron which is 19 instead of Kiran which is 11.
However, I realized that there is no free lunch. I was giving up something to get something! So I reverted and came back home as it were to Kiran!
The energy of the name can be found according to the ancient Hebrew Kabala System which assigns a value to each alphabet. I have found a tremendous co-relation between the name no. and the energy that that person is expressing and experiencing in the world.
A-1 B2 C3 D4 E5
F8 G3 H5 I1
J1 K2 L3 M4 N5
O7 P8
Q1 R2 S3 T4
U6 V6 W6 X5 Y1 Z7
The last word is this:
Enjoy playing with this awareness if it interests you- Is it possible to look at something without accepting or rejecting it? With childlike curiosity and wonder – I am also moving to seeing that who we are is beyond all definition at the deepest level. So to hold this lightly helps. Then its fun to play with it all.
I have been wanting to share this for a long time as a blog post. Finally its happened. Phew!
Robby’s Paino Lesson
22 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
I read this story today morning. My dearest friend Dola had sent it.
It touched me in a very deep place.
Just sharing. I think it will speak to many of you.
Robby’s Piano Lesson
At the prodding of my friends I am writing this
story. My name is Mildred Honor and I am a former elementary school
music teacher from Des Moines , Iowa .
I have always supplemented my income by teaching
piano lessons – something I have done for over 30 years.
During those years I found that children have many
levels of musical ability, and even though I have never had the
pleasure of having a prodigy, I have taught some very talented
students.
However, I have also had my share of what I call
‘musically challenged’ pupils – one such pupil being Robby..
Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom)
dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students
(especially boys) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to
Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother’s dream to
hear him play the piano, so I took him as a student.
Well, Robby began his piano lessons and from the
beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby
tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel.
But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary piano pieces
that I require all my students to learn. Over the months he tried
and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him.
At the end of each weekly lesson he would always say
‘My mom’s going to hear me play someday’. But to me, it seemed
hopeless, he just did not have any inborn ability.
I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped
Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved
and smiled, but never dropped in.
Then one day Robby stopped coming for his lessons. I
thought about calling him, but assumed that because of his lack of
ability he had decided to pursue something else. I was also glad that
he had stopped coming – he was a bad advertisement for my teaching!
Several weeks later I mailed a flyer recital to the
students’ homes. To my surprise, Robby (who had received a flyer)
asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital
was for current pupils and that because he had dropped out, he really
did not qualify.
He told me that his mother had been sick and unable
to take him to his piano lessons, but that he had been practicing.
‘Please Miss Honor, I’ve just got to play’ he insisted. I don’t know
what led me to allow him to play in the recital – perhaps it was his
insistence or maybe something inside of me saying that it would be
all right.
The night of the recital came and the high school
gymnasium was packed with parents, relatives and friends. I put Robby
last in the program, just before I was to come up and thank all the
students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he
might do would come at the end of the program and I could always
salvage his poor performance through my ‘curtain closer’.
Well, the recital went off without a hitch, the
students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on the
stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked as though he had
run an egg beater through it. ‘Why wasn’t he dressed up like the
other students?’ I thought. ‘Why didn’t his mother at least make him
comb his hair for this special night?’
Robby pulled out the piano bench, and I was surprised
when he announced that he had chosen to play Mozart’s Concerto No..21
in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers
were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He
went from pianissimo to fortissimo, from allegro to virtuoso; his
suspendedchords that Mozart demands were magnificent!
Never had I heard Mozart played so well by anyone his
age.
After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand
crescendo, and everyone was on their feet in wild applause! Overcome
and in tears, I ran up onstage and put my arms
around Robby in joy. ‘I have never heard you play
like that Robby, how did you do it?
Through the microphone Robby explained: ‘Well,
Miss Honor ….. remember I told you that my mom was sick? Well, she
actually had cancer and passed away this morning. And well …… she
was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she had ever heard me
play, and I wanted to make it special.’
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that evening. As
the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed
in to foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy.
I thought to myself then how much richer my life had been for taking
Robby as my pupil.
No, I have never had a prodigy, but that night I
became a prodigy …….. of Robby. He was the teacher and I was the
pupil, for he had taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and
believing in yourself, and may be even taking a chance on someone and
you didn’t know why.
Robby was killed years later in the senseless bombing
of the Alfred P. Murray FederalBuilding in Oklahoma City in April,
1995.
——-
What can one say after this?
I wept freely.
At the incredible grandeur of life.
As I connected with the Robby inside me. And Miss Honor and Robby’s mom.
All parts of me.
The sweetness of pain. Love’s confusing joy.
And the grace in it all.
7 Mirrors in Relationships
25 Mar 2012 6 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Chakras, Love, Mirrors, Relationships
‘Relationships are the mirrors in which you discover yourself’ – J. Krishnamurti
I was conducting the ‘Tao of Facilitation’ with Anuradha Ramesh of Pink Mist Retreat, (a wonderful friend and a great facilitator and healer) last month (Feb 2012) and towards the end she shared the 7 mirrors in relationships which spoke so deeply to me- I had seen all of these and continue to see some.
1. Reflection of the Moment: Here-Now (Root chakra, Muladahara- Creativity, Sexuality, the Child)
This mirror presents itself when we are with children who demand total and complete attention. When you answer mechanically, they will not accept. They are very sensitive to your distraction.
2. Reflection of Judgment : (Swadishtana Chakra, Sacral plexus)
This mirror surfaces in most intimate relationships and invites us to be non-judgmental
3. Reflection of Loss : Unprocessed fear (Solar Plexus)
This results in us moving from one thing to another, not wanting to stay with one thing. We distract ourselves from the pain. Creates a cycle of consecutive losses which are not processed. We move too quickly and don’t stay with our feelings. This is the result of a fear of losing connection. And hence closures don’t happen.
4. Reflection of Lost Love: (Anahata, Heart chakra)
This is an invitation to reclaim the original pure form of self-love. It is like nursing a broken heart.
5. Reflection of the Creator: (Vishuddhi, Throat Chakra)
This happens when one is forced to make a choice between a very dear one and the creator! Life invites us to make a choice between our relationship with a parent (mother/ father), spouse, child and our Creator. Metaphorically, its like – are you willing to ‘kill’ your earthly mother and father to meet your real mother and father? So that the spirit in me is kept alive! This makes us look at the conviction we have in our relationship with ourself.
6. The dark night of the soul (Agnya, 3rd eye)
Most of our experiences are partially processed and put into a bag. You can’t name this grief, this extreme pain surfaces when you are ‘ready’. Some intimate relationship comes into our life which will drive us into depression, deep psychological disturbance. You won’t even be able to identify or label what specifically is not okay in yourself. There is utter isolation.
7. Reflection of Compassion (Crown Chakra, Sahasrara)
This is a profound kind of compassion that is being asked of us in which we need to invoke a strength in us which allows a dear one to suffer. Not interfering, helping, rescuing. We see that the loved one needs suffering for his/her awakening. Can you see the rightness of the pain. Consoling and pacifying belittles the intensity and makes the suffering cheap.
My experiences with the mirrors:
It seems the dark night of the soul is over and has left in its wake a deep appreciation of life. The reflection of the moment is so true whenever I am with my darling angel, Sufii who will be 9 this June (2012).
The reflection of loss is the mirror I am acutely in touch with now. And slowly and surely allowing the pain. I don’t think there is any ‘doing’ here. It is happening and I am grateful. From many directions, life is blessing me with pain.. so that I can wake up! The reflection of compassion is what I had written another blog about- ‘A love that doesn’t invade or avoid suffering’.
The Creator mirror also I feel has come a few times. And continues to surface now and then.
Would be nice to hear from any of you who read this if it speaks to you and what mirrors you have encountered/ are encountering!
What Is Love?
25 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Krishnamurti, Love, Reality, Truth
I do my best to be a learner, a facilitator, a friend, a father, and until some time back, a husband, a son and more.
I have experienced the high and low of emotions- lots of sadness, fear, sometimes anger, sexual feelings, happiness and more. And continue to, maybe in subtler ways and sometimes quite gross also.
I meet many young people who are contemplating marriage. As the whole institution is getting shaken up, life is inviting us to examine this vital question:
What is love?
And on the heels of this question are many others:
What is commitment?
What is freedom?
Since these questions are not easy to engage with, we often run away from them in the form of a simplistic conclusion, agreeing or disagreeing with some friend, guru, book etc. I am learning to keep the inquiry alive till there is so much blazing clarity that I can playfully engage with different views. The more I have a need to defend or promote my view, it is certain that I am standing on weak ground.
One question that often comes up about love in my mind and heart is..
How come we divide and define and confine love?
Is romantic love, parental love, love in friendship, love of God (or truth!), loving a book, a movie etc. hugely different? To what extent this is a function of the conditioning by society?
A dear friend with whom I have been existentially grappling about this question sent me a beautiful quote recently
“ Therefore, when I say that I love, it is not I who love, but in reality Love who acts through me. Love is not so much something I do as something that I am. Love is not a doing but a state of being – a relatedness, a connectedness to another mortal, an identification with her or him that simply flows within me and through me, independent of my intentions or my efforts. “ — Robert A. Johnson
I came across this piece by JK which speaks to me very deeply and I have shared it with many friends.
—————-
Love – J. Krishnamurti (from ‘Freedom from the Known’)
THE DEMAND TO be safe in relationship inevitably breeds sorrow and fear. This seeking for is inviting insecurity. Have you ever found security in any of your relationships? Have you? Most of us want the security of loving and being loved, but is there love when each one of us is seeking his own security, his own particular path? We are not loved because we don’t know how to love.
What is love? The word is so loaded and corrupted that I hardly like to use it. Everybody talks of love — every magazine and newspaper and every missionary talks everlastingly of love. I love my country, I love my king, I love some book, I love that mountain, I love pleasure, I love my wife, I love God. Is love an idea? If it is, it can be cultivated, nourished, cherished, pushed around, twisted in any way you like. When you say you love God what does it mean? It means that you love a projection of your own imagination, a projection of yourself clothed in certain forms of respectability according to what you think is noble and holy; so to say, ‘I love God’, is absolute nonsense. When you worship God you are worshipping yourself – and that is not love.
Because we cannot solve this human thing called love we run away into abstractions. Love may be the ultimate solution to all man’s difficulties, problems and travails, so how are we going to find out what love is? By merely defining it? The church has defined it one way, society another and there are all sorts of deviations and perversions. Adoring someone, sleeping with someone, the emotional exchange, the companionship – is that what we mean by love? That has been the norm, the pattern, and it has become so tremendously personal, sensuous, and limited that religions have declared that love is something much more than this. In what they call human love they see there is pleasure, competition, jealousy, the desire to possess, to hold, to control and to interfere with another’s thinking, and knowing the complexity of all this they say there must be another kind of love, divine, beautiful, untouched, uncorrupted.
Throughout the world, so-called holy men have maintained that to look at a woman is something totally wrong: they say you cannot come near to God if you indulge in sex, therefore they push it aside although they are eaten up with it. But by denying sexuality they put out their eyes and cut out their tongues for they deny the whole beauty of the earth. They have starved their hearts and minds; they are dehydrated human beings; they have banished beauty because beauty is associated with woman.
Can love be divided into the sacred and the profane, the human and the divine, or is there only love? Is love of the one and not of the many? If I say, ‘I love you’, does that exclude the love of the other? Is love personal or impersonal? Moral or immoral? Family or non-family? If you love mankind can you love the particular? Is love sentiment? Is love emotion? Is love pleasure and desire? All these questions indicate, don’t they, that we have ideas about love, ideas about what it should or should not be, a pattern or a code developed by the culture in which we live.
So to go into the question of what love is we must first free it from the encrustation of centuries, put away all ideals and ideologies of what it should or should not be. To divide anything into ‘what should be’ and ‘what is’ is the most deceptive way of dealing with life.
Now how am I going to find out what this flame is which we call love –not how to express it to another but what it means in itself? I will first reject what the church, what society, what my parents and friends, what every person and every book has said about it because I want to find out for myself what it is. Here is an enormous problem that involves the whole of mankind, there have been a thousand ways of defining it and I myself am caught in some pattern or other according to what I, in order to understand it, first free myself from my own inclinations and prejudices? I am confused, torn by my own desires, so I say to myself, ‘First clear up your own confusion. Perhaps you may be able to discover what love is through what it is not.
————————
My understanding is that it is not about making our human neediness wrong or bad. It is not about suppressing or denying our humanity. But indeed, in being human and through being human, discovering a ground that is unshakeable. To find a love that is not a function of circumstances, of people or emotional ups and downs.
How might we see that and be that.
A dear friend who also brings clarity and beauty in my life put it beautifully.
When we need love we cannot see that we are love.
Is it possible to watch how much we beg for love? And precisely that makes it go away! And when we are at ease, like a butterfly comes and perches itself on our shoulder.
Keeping the inquiry alive is helping me to see and be that love. Willingness to fail and feel, to be vulnerable and myself, to encounter pain and all that life brings is somehow, bringing me closer to that.
Story to Satori
31 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Reality, Story
When we can see the story in what seemed real, the real reveals itself like a satori.
Do not be satisfied with the stories that come
before you, unfold your own myth.~Rumi♥
Recently we were at a retreat of our small community, ChittaSangha, a group of some 25 plus facilitators, consultants, entrepreneurs working in the field of consciousness.
I have always been fascinated with how what seems so real is almost always a story.. especially if it causes pain. And also if it causes pleasure. Truth, as we know, lies in the region beyond pain and pleasure. ‘The Work’ of Byron Katie has helped many of us see this with great clarity. Many ‘aha’s’ have resulted just looking at how its all a story.
One of my close friends and fellow-traveler, Arjun Shekhar, an author has written a new book on Stories. He took us through a very interesting process to get us to see the story in a situation and hence ‘get real’.
Interestingly, in a previous retreat what he had shared had inspired another blog post on stories.
I found the process to offer a good texture and while the Katie process is elegant and simple and profound, Arjun’s approach adds a little spice and color to seeing stories.
He asked one of the Sanghis (members of the ChittaSangha) to volunteer and to share his perspective on a situation which he found challenging in working with Sanghis. And then that was gently subjected to some questions :
Is it a true story?
What’s not in the plot?
Are the conclusions drawn accurate? (Time non-linear, causality??)
What feelings spawn the story? (‘What story spawns feelings?’- my sense)
What are the unarguable facts?
Are the things not adding up?
What’s the Real Game? (more whole)- from a helicopter view..
What is the moral of the story? (take-away/ insight/ new perspective/ learning!)
We all looked at the initial story and how these questions revealed a greater texture of reality, a lot of which had not been looked at. It also created a safe way in which to examine something, which could get personal. After all – it’s a story!
We often jump to conclusions, make assumptions, judgments, blame others and oneself, assign causality without actually knowing the truth. The framework of a story and questions (which are non-threatening) can create a safe way to explore and discover the layers of reality.
As a facilitator I was observing this process:
Different perspectives get revealed like pieces of a jigsaw where previously a piece was felt to be the whole.
• Versions- pieces of the jigsaw
• Wonder- Learning/ Seeing newly
• Unarguable ‘facts’ / Feelings in the moment
• Questions to reveal it
• Realisations as they emerge
• What I am seeing and learning about myself/ life/ human mind
• Appreciating what is emerging
• Helicopter Viewing helps
It is indeed fascinating how the story begins to crumble as we examine it and the satori is inevitable.
So long as one is willing to really ‘see’, learn and let go.
Arjun Shekhar, a dear friend took us through this process which forms aspects of his new book. Thanks, Arjun!
Emergent Insights and ‘Outsights’ in the flow of life… ;-)
31 Dec 2011 5 Comments
Once I just got an idea to capture the facebook updates that I was sharing, those that had touched me along with the links.
And then I thought, why not share a collection of them on my blog?
So here it is.. some,maybe all of these may speak to you..
And you may like to cut-paste the link onto a new page to see what was the conversation that happened then..
Someday I will put the links in a format that you can click directly- for now, this may suffice.
Thanks facebook!
“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.” ~ Tom Robbins- via Glenda Anderson
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150315150557886?notif_t=like
”All of creation is conspiring to shower us with blessings. Life is crazily in love with us- brazenly and innocently in love with us. The universe always gives us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. The winds and the tides on our side forever and ever, amen. The fire and the rain are scheming to steal our impossible pain. – Rob Brezsny in his book, Pronoia- is the antidote to Paranoia www.pronoia.org
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150315143542886?notif_t=like
”When God wants to hide something from us, He keeps it right in front of us”. ~ Antony De Mello.-
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150311170132886
The flow of life..
That honors the strife..
And sees verily that
Stepping out of flow
Is
Stepping into a larger flow..
Can we ever ever fall out of grace?
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150311158037886?notif_t=like
… The urge to go deeper instead of wider, the urge to go inside instead of outside, the urge to be silent instead of talking .. Is I am seeing not in opposition to going wider, outside or talking … But is an invitations to deepen those movements.. silence can deepen talking, depth can enrich width, the inner can make the outer flourish ..
Find a Master who is like the Sun. Go to His house In the middle of the night. Smash a window. Act like a great burglar- Jump in. Now, Gather all your courage- Throw yourself into His bed! He will probably kill you. Fantastic- That’s the whole idea!!! 
)) – Hafiz
When perplexed by someone’s action/inaction.. I find it useful to ask – not – why is s/he doing this- but- ask in the silence of my heart.. ‘how is this a loving response of life itself that speaks through
Them..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150301715577886?notif_t=like
Letting go of something, someone or some idea/ habit.. Does not mean deleting it from our life. It simply means developing a new healthier relationship with it..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150301680682886?notif_t=like
Ever noticed: What major plans cant do with a lot of struggle, life does spontaneously, often effortlessly.. to shift lives, careers, families and more! Lets listen to life..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150301063382886?notif_t=like
When fear surfaces, life is an inviting me to love myself.. to release old patterns.. to watch.. and see the play of it all.. and play the game honestly!
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150299413427886?ref=notif¬if_t=like
There is a way to disengage by avoiding reality and then there is a way to detach while acknowledging and honoring reality.
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150297914417886?notif_t=like
Healing is simply Seeing clearly.
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150297816332886?notif_t=feed_comment
While the many stories seem very Real,
Reality is a whole different story
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150298109707886?notif_t=like
Its very interesting to see that often a completely different set of people resonate with different status updates.. and of course there are some who resonate with it all! We contain multitudes..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150296784897886
Dileepan:
Sainkadon hain mere andar, naa sabhi ko janoon
Sainkadon hain tere andar, kaise main pehchanoon?
Shaayar ki jab ghazal sunee, dil kaa taar khinchaa jo…
Sur tere mere dil kaa, jab ek hi ho toh maanoon!
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150296784897886?notif_t=feed_comment
’The beauty of all existence
Rests within you;
Heaven peers from your two eyes.
Compare yourself with another,
Watch how quickly the light goes out…
- Tao of Healing, Haven Trevino
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150297010142886?notif_t=like
Dileepan:
Andar jhaanko toh jannat kaa ahsaas
Baahar taako to jahannum hai paas
Kaisi ajab paheli hai tu, Zindagi…
Bada hi mushkil hai jaan-naa tera Raaz
You’ve made a shaayar of me, Kiran! I’m impressed!
Tof pune sept 2011
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154004431349430
Perhaps the most beautiful change of name i have seen is
Vishal Singh to Wishall Sing
… Thoughts are not meant to believed or disbelieved… They are meant to be laughed at maybe, or played with.. Stories… Views.. Ideas.. Paradigms.. There is a place beyond that… There Is..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/159796564033896
a recent chat with a dear friend (we have been trying to meet for a while! )
friend: bhai .. kya haal?
me: changa. aap?
friend: mast. dooba dooba rahta hu kaam mein
me: hmmmm…. aur kya zindagi mein doobna ishe kehte hain ya iss se kuch alag cheez hai voh?
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150296149132886
How is it a measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. ~Jiddu Krishnamurthy. viaAnil Dagia
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150295439232886?notif_t=feed_comment
Life is speaking and listening to life.. the rest is a story… and in some ways
a satori
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150294978327886?notif_t=like
”Before we can receive the unbiased truth about anything,we have to be ready to ignore what we would like to be true.” said Ann Davies.
She also said,
“Before we can receive the entire truth about anything,” said Ann Davies,
“we have to love it.”
from Rob Brezny’s newsletter and book, ‘Pronoia is the antidote to Paranoia’
Knowing when to invade and when to avoid, when to stand on the edge and when to walk away.. is perhaps at the heart of awareness in relationships..
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150294898577886?notif_t=like
Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
tlll the right action arises by itself?
- Lao Tsu, (Stephen Mitchell rendition)
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150294393727886?notif_t=like
Sometimes, listening is like dying.
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/160433597304275
Sometimes spontaneous action in half hour can accomplish what has been postponed for weeks! I often wonder what brings this energy.. and what takes it away
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150293182957886?notif_t=like
Pomodoro technique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH-z5kmVhzU&feature=youtu.be (via Deepti Gujar)
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/134227455263
A strand from a chat with Rajesh.. I asked him: ‘Is it possible to sense how much more one has to travel?’ he was silent and then said.. whats coming to me is ‘the more intensity with which u ask this question, the longer you will need to travel’ thats rajesh for you!
Is there something beyond liberation?
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/155073274518476
… We can all shift from making ‘judgements’ to making ‘discernments’ ..
Boy, what ever you is
and where ever you is,
don’t be what you ain’t,
because when you is
what you ain’t, you isnt.
- Uncle Remus – opening quote of the lovely book that made me love and accept myself more. ‘Delivered from distraction’ – Edward Hallowell
First, be kind and loving to yourself
As you would love a child;
Allow spontaneity and play in your work
And know the effortless healing
Of God’s indiscriminate laughter
- Tao of Healing, Haven Trevino
Muhammad said, “Woman prevails over the wise and intelligent; while the ignorant dominate over her” Woman is a ray of God. You could say: she is creative, not created. – the awesome Rumi in ‘Mathnawi’
Have you noticed how
- mobiles can immobilise?
- facebook can enable us to face life or run away from it? (efface)
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150283942357886?notif_t=feed_comment
If you are truly open-minded, you can never say ‘I am totally open’
http://www.facebook.com/kirangul/posts/10150280215432886?cmntid=10150281000057886¬if_t=comment_mention
hidden subtle intentions not congruent with actions create an energy which is not harmonious. learning to be transparent with myself about my subtle intentions and bringing them in alignment with my actions.
Relative and Ultimate Truth – Spontaneous Wisdom & Laughter
22 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Buddhism, Nonduality, Quotes
‘An idiot will do a lot of bad things and go to hell.
Another idiot will do a lot of good things and go to heaven.
The wise will transcend the good and bad and get liberated’
I heard this wisdom in the evening today from Dzongen Khyentse Rinpoche who was quoting a Buddhist master. Rinpoche is himself a great Buddhist master who, it seemed to me, was a Buddha, not a Buddhist. Also, an author and film maker.
And there were many other nuggets of wisdom, subtleties:
• Buddha said there are two downfalls:
1. Overly believing in things that are believable
2. Overly not believing in things that are not believable.
• Seeing Buddhism simplistically as just non-violence, meditation and eating vegetarian food greatly narrows the vastness of Buddhism.
• Both the relative and the ultimate truth are crucial. And the relative is as important and difficult to grasp as the ultimate. Deeply understanding the relative truth is the ultimate truth.
• He spoke of Nagarjuna who said, ‘I praise you, Buddha who never said there is Nirvana which requires abandoning the Samsara’ and in the same breath also said, ‘I praise you Gautama when you say Nirvana means seeing there is no Samsara’
• This quote of Nagarjuna summarises the 4 truths that he shared later:
1. All compounded things are impermanent
2. All emotions are pain
3. Nothing is inherently existing in nature (Shunyata)
4. Nirvana is beyond extremes
• Impermanence is not something negative but something that gives hope that we can change, evolve and thought can become richer. Renouncing what is carnal and material is not because it is evil, but because it doesn’t exist, in truth!
• Emotions create suffering. The word suffering doesn’t quite capture the depth and richness of the Sanskrit word, ‘dukha’ which has many elements- esp. the aspect of being ‘time-bound’ and anything that is time bound, is unpredictable, creates insecurity, something one cannot trust and hence painful. Have you noticed, he joked, how with your spouse one moment all is well and the next moment all hell breaks loose- Moods swing..
• Dharma, the Buddha said is required like a Placebo because we think we have a problem. The Dhamma is self –corrosive.. it is designed to ‘cancel’ itself. Which I guess prevents it from becoming actually corrosive and a dogma.
• Indians are so much receptive and understand unlike Americans and Europeans. From a young age they encounter things like Ganesha, an elephant riding a mouse. They are used to out-of-box, non-rational way of looking at things. Sadly, Indians did not have common sense because they had wisdom. Wisdom and ‘common sense’ are arch rivals. But sadly, Indians are now learning common sense. I was sad when I went to Delhi airport and saw it functioning so well. I like cows walking all around
• Indians have forgotten their wisdom maters and are following the likes of Freud, Jung, Tolstoy, Kant. Common Sense is not good to understand Shunyata which Indians understand intuitively.
• ‘Logic is the most sophisticated way of making yourself an idiot’
• Naropa’s 6 Yogas is Tantric Buddhism brings the solution and the problem very close to each other. Unlike Anger (problem) vs Love & Compassion (Solution). In Tantra Body is equally important as the mind. You are the deity. Even putting on a lipstick is an offering to the Buddhas.
• To see that the deepest truth is that ‘I am dreaming you and You are dreaming me.’ In Dream Yoga you learn to be aware of the dram inside the dream.
• The Guru in Tantric Buddhism is not limited to a person. It is the nature of the mind which is reflected as someone who teaches you.
• Karma is not fixed, permanent, fatalistic. Thanks to Karma, everything is very flexible.
• Buddha was not a Buddhist.
