A blog about experiencing spirituality and applying its principles to everyday life. Also, poems and blogs about the learnings and the journey that life is taking me through.
With the physical body we touch, With the mental body we think, With the spiritual body we experience.
We know that the journey is inward, That pleasures are temporary, Our memories transient, And experiences momentary.
With a birds eye view of the path, We may know the route, But know we not, The awareness to follow the path.
The rules are simple, Take care of your physical body, With a health diet, Good exercise and Sound sleep.
Take care of the mental body, With focus, Be it meditation or work or play, With discipline, Fighting your cravings, And finally, With positivity, Keeping the negative thoughts at bay.
The spirit strengthens, With belief, Belief and understanding of all, With practise, To strengthen your finer perceptions, And finally, With love, Living and giving with joy.
Simple as they seem, Following them, Not for ten minutes a day, But for twenty four hours a day, Will move us along the path.
Life is simple, But not easy. Most are trapped, In the myriad of reflections, Making life seem complex.
Few more, Are stuck with their ego, Ego coming from a sense of knowledge, wealth or power.
A small portion, Can see the path, But seem frozen and unable to tread it.
The rare few, Who move along, Shine brightly.
Move along, Your rules are simple, Practise and stick to it, For one day, You are destined to shine brightly for the rest of humanity.
The waves seem tall, Relentlessly they fall, The spirit withered, The mind numbed, And the body chilled.
Life, at times, Throws you challenges, Sweeping you off your feet, Dizzyingly quick.
But the externalities, Cannot extinguish the light within. You and you alone, With your mind, body and spirit, Can control the brightness of your light.
You choose to dim, Or rather allow others to dim your light, But be rest assured, You have the power to burn, Brighter than the sun, On a hot summer day.
Talk to yourself, Condition your mind, Excercise your body, And within you, Will arise a light, That touches the souls of others.
In your power lies, The decision to be drenched, Or to surf the waves, With joy and light.
We are born to shine, With our light from inside, To show the world, What our light could look like.
But as time moves on, It is the world that dims our light, Do this and then you are free, Complete that and your life is set, And so we dim ourselves, To create a shadow world.
The shadow world looks all glittery, A great job, A wonderful house, Loving family.
And so the world asks, What more do you want?
But deep inside, You feel empty and hollow. The world does not believe, That such a great life outside, A good social standing, And a comfortable life is not the end goal.
But what is it that is missing?
Then you realise you are no longer shining, Your light has dimmed.
Now you can go either way, The way most go, Tell yourself you live for your family, Drug yourself to drown your light – and call it fun, Run from one place to another – and call it fun, Believe a better house, A better job, And more money based pleasures will fulfill you, Run and create a shadow till you fall down to your grave.
A walking zombie, Or a running zombie, These seem to be your choices, And so you live, A life without life.
Some, yearn for more, Search inside, And the search consumes them. The search can be from the heart, Or from the mind, Whole-hearted or, Sharp minded, Where it will lead, And if it will end, Is unknown.
A rare few, Cut through the conditioning, The world has given us, See through and change their life, Changes which may not be visible outside, But mean a whole lot inside.
Have you figured it out? No. But the intent is to, With the heart and the mind.
Join us, In this journey, To support each other, Encouraging each to live the lives they were always meant to live.
I stood searching in the sky, You were in the depths of the ocean, I dived into the ocean, You rose to the sky.
You left me roaming the stars, Without any sense of myself.
Not good, Not good, Good moon, You are not good.
All searches for sound, Ends in silence.
All the silence in this world, Ends in self-knowledge.
When I search for you, You took off into the stars.
Not good, Not good, Pole star, You are not good.
As star dust, You fell on the earth. And with it bloomed a flower, Whose nectar I yearn to drink.
But as I reach out, The flower wilts, In the sweltering heat.
Not good, Not good, Starling flower, You are not good.
My search for you, Have lead me, Through skies and oceans, Through sound and silence, Through buds and flowers, To the nectar.
When I attain you, I will know, The meaning of this journey.
Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love, V
Commentary : All searches are for the truth. The elusive truth, which seems to slip away. The search seems so near and then suddenly so far. Sometimes you run after it, sometimes it seems to fall to you. The search, frustrating at times, beautiful at others, will give meaning meaning to this journey, when we finally realise the truth.
Oh God, The one and only, The only thing that exists, The only existence which is aware, I surrender to Thee.
Surrender is an act, An act of giving yourself to another, But the reason behind the act, The intention of the act, Will decide the success of surrender.
With a boulder on your shoulder, You carry your worry, Your ability is stretched by responsibility, The world wants more, And you surrender.
This surrender, Stems from frustration, From expasteration, Which all springs from fear, Fear of your failure.
The surrender seems like a balm, A balm where you throw your responsibilities, Onto to God, And he shall be doer, And you shall be free.
Does this surrender, Lead to eternal peace? Or is this surrender, Partial of only your responsibilities, And not your pleasures?
For some, Surrender is an act of running, Running away from your problems, Problems which you can’t face, Facing it which requires courage.
Out of cowardice, Comes surrender, And a external loci, For you to blame.
For other, Surrender is a deal, I give you myself, You solve my problems, As I deem fit.
Expectation of a smooth life, Is the seed this surrender, Plants in your head, But never shall that blossom.
True surrender comes, From within the heart, An act of unconditional love, Irrespective of what life throws at you, You surrender.
And your will, will be tested, To see if your surrender, Came from your Ego, Or from your heart.
In surrender, Your heart just gives, And your ego melts, Knowing that you are one, With the only one there is.
You may not at first, Understand your actions, Or understand if you are doing it right, But when the world opens its arms, Keeps you close to its bosom, You feel peace, Not because of circumstances outside, But because of the surrender inside.
The universe seems to know, How to keep you tense. Just when you think, Life is within your grasp, Your mind blows up, Thoughts run, Emotions boil.
The bliss, The universe made you watch, And intellectually comprehend, Flickers.
On and you know, Know what thoughts you should have, Off and the thoughts are haywire. On and you know, Know the response the situation demands, Off and you react. On and you know, Know how to watch your emotions, Off and emotions control you. On and you know, Know the cause of the emotions, Know how to use these emotions, Off and the emotions cause more chaos, Off and the emotions use you.
The world knows how to play with you, Play with you – just right.
Too much and you will throw this world away, Away into a self-imposed exile, Exiled into a monastery, Monastery where you may think, Think that the world will stop, Stop bothering you.
Too little and your senses drive, Drive you to pleasure, Pleasure which disguises itself as bliss, Bliss which seems like you created, Creation that gives you an Ego, Ego which tells you, You are God.
So the world tosses you, From too little to, Too much and, Everywhere in between.
The highs and lows, Make you yearn, For the bliss, That the reality show, Across the glass wall.
Onwards towards eternal peace,
Love, V
Mind games – with all its highs and lows – Colourful
On the journey, Like a mime, You hit a glass barrier.
Thou can see through it, Peer through it, But you can neither touch through it, Nor sense through it.
You think all that you see, On the other side, Is a reality show, On the television.
But just like a gripping movie, Deep inside you, It has gripped you. You feel you are the protagonist, Your emotions rush, Yours truly, You think is on the other side.
But you know not, How to get there. But you know not, If it’s yet another magic trick. But you know not, If it is the mind, Or if it is truly you.
What won’t you give to make, This reality show a reality.
One who has walked the path, One who sees beneath the layers, One who sees beyond the apparent, One who is full of compassion, One who is a tangible form.
Where art thou? Where art thou in my life? Where art thou in the vast cosmos?
Why am I struggling to find you? Why am I unable to reach you? Why am I here without you?
Oh Compassionate, Unconditional, Wise, Loving Guide. Communicate with me, Show me a sign, That you are watching me.
What shall I not give, To be able to receive, You wisdom and love.
My Namaskarams to thou, Bless me to have you, Always in my heart, mind and soul.
Walking the path, Keeping the mind quiet, Not for a few seconds of silence, Not for a few minutes of meditation, But for the entire day, Through daily actions and motions, Is the goal.
You set foot on the path, Your habits call you back, You resist the temptation, Strong as the old oak, Is your resolve to walk ahead.
So life tests you, To show you your strength, There comes a situation, Where your routine is gone out the window, Could be that your body takes a break, Could be you have to stay outside home, Could be an important decision that can change your everyday life, A job, love, moving to a new city, or something more somber.
Now in this situation, Your mind is back, The need to think through, The need to be back in control, This time you can see your mind race, But your resolve may just give way.
Let this be, Let this situation blow over, And then mind can be controlled, Is what the mind tells you.
You give in, But never give up, Mind wants you to forget, But you never should, Be it a day or a week, Stand up on your feet, Face your mind, And with all your heart, Say you believe, Believe that your heart can get you through, With the mind just as a tool.
This was nothing but a detour, A detour with the allure of logic, A reason to get back to being controlled, By the mind.
Keep this in mind, Get back to your path, Continue your journey, For the journey is all that there is.
A habit we are taught, Can be good or bad, It is an action, That we allow to grow to be a part of us.
Habits, mindless repetition of action, Lead to addiction, A mindless craving for a action.
Some are addicted, To chemicals from outside, Some to chemicals inside, Some to thought patterns, Which release the chemicals they crave.
A human without habits, Is in touch with his true self, And with that his journey begins. He is at peace, If he does or does not.
Monks seem addicted to meditation, You may ask, But isn’t meditation the only non-action? Meditation is nothing but an art of doing nothing.
As we start to walk on the journey inward, Our habits feel threatened, They may initially be silent, Assuming that you will give up the path, As you probably have countless times, But if you stick with it, It comes back with vigour, Creating a craving, That needs immense will power and discipline to get over.
You will fail, Failing is also a victory, Victory which makes you conscious of failure.
This consciousness grows, Grows until it gives you the power, Power which will overcome the habit.
By overcoming one, You see what lies beneath, Subtler and subtler habits, That you were unaware of.
Mother Earth, the Body and the Mind, What tools, what an environment, To study our souls deeper and deeper, To become free, Free from all habits.
I know the path I should take, Breathe in, Keep the mind out, Bring your focus to your home, Deep in the heart.
In a second, the mind wants to show who is the Master, Thoughts float, And the mind takes you on a train ride, Your breath is watched no more.
You walk in to work, And the mind gets to work, Not in a focused immersion, But in a frenzy of distorted diversions, Half do this, half do that, Write the email, pick up the call, Talk to the person walking in, And your mind is back to being boss, Boss not at work, but in your spirit.
Things subside, You have a bit of quiet, But by now you are tired, Catching your breath not watching it, And your mind ends up, Catching up on social media as your relaxation, Not that one deep focused inhalation that spikes your vitality.
Work is done and you take stock, And then it strikes you, Today was the day, You were to focus internally and not externally.
Nevertheless, better late than never, And you do it for a few minutes, Before you get on with your chores.
But whatever said and done, Giving up is not in your dictionary, Tomorrow is a new day, A new chance, And even if all I achieve, Is one additional mindful second, It will be the motivation, To move on to the next day.
There will dawn a day, Not far from today, When being mindfully present, Is a part of me, Where allowing my mind to play with my spirit, Will be a rarity.
Should I focus on this or that? The nuts and bolts of survival, Or taming the running mind?
You know the answer do you not?
Will it get my work done? Will it pay my bills? Will it answer the debtor at the door?
Maybe Yes or Maybe No. If you believe, The calmness of the mind, Will calm the clamour outside.
So shall I let it all be, Sit in silence and meditate, Isn’t that the fastest path to calm the mind?
Work. Work on silencing your mind while you work. Focus is the result, And is the fruit you seek.
Do you not know, About the sprinting mind, Which depletes your vitality, Alluring you from one place to another, From one desire to the next, For even a second it doesn’t stop, And this clamour is what you see outside, This clamour is what keeps you busy, This clamour is what makes you tired.
Now, I know the path, How fast can I reach my destination?
Knowing the path, And walking the path, Two different things.
Through this life, Your focus has been outward, Your mind has ran helter skelter, And you believe your mind is you.
Practise with every breath, Control your mind, Your true self first needs to be revealed, Then show the mind it’s place.
You, the true you, Vibrant, Focused, Will guide you to your purpose, The purpose of life, The purpose which gives meaning to your breath.
The rewards are aplenty, But the path arduous.
Now I know the path, But how do I act?
Watch your breath, Repeat a phrase, Chant a Mantra, Create your Mantra, Focus on one task, Dissolve yourself in it, Or you can do all of these.
Meditate and choose your action, Stick to it, Take the first baby steps, And with grace you will run soon.
Start your journey, The only journey that matters, The journey inwards.
When the lookout is corrupt, In comes what we know nought.
Attention is what it seeks, Energy is what it sucks, Listlessness is what it infuses, And addiction is what we get.
Our senses, our sentinels, Now our shortcoming, Falls prey to sight, sound and taste, Yet, we stop it not.
The temporary sensory pleasures glorified, Exemplified by society, Our minds are made to desire, Fooled into thinking this pleasure is what humanity has always seeked.
Sharpen your mind, Grow your discipline muscle, And slowly it will dawn, What you searched for was within, And that you were never without.
I asked for flowers, you gave me nature,
I asked for water, you gave me nectar
What should I ask for, for you to give yourself?
I was lost in the forest, you showed me the way.
I was lost in the dark, you showed me light.
What should I do to lose myself in you?
I fell into an abyss, you made me reach the peak.
I fell into the flood, you safely made me reach the bank.
What do I fall in, for you to make me reach you?
Am grateful for conversing with you,
But my heart won’t stop until I am you.
Poem about being connected and mind’s distractions
Close your eyes,
Cleanse your breaths,
Clear your thoughts,
Clamp your senses,
Connect with the cosmos,
And the master in you awakens.
So beautiful seem everything,
So mundane seem your trials,
So joyous seem the souls around,
So loving seem your adversaries,
So compassionate seem your haters,
So peaceful you feel.
Ahh the time when the mind sleeps.
Ding goes the calling bell,
Up goes your eyes,
Away goes your peaceful state,
Helter-skelter goes your thoughts.
With the mind in control,
Control which makes you think you are back,
Back to reality,
Reality with real problems,
Problems which need doing,
Doing things which never end,
Ending your connection with your true master.
A sudden whiff of fresh air blows,
A moment when the sun glows,
Your mind slows,
Your heart overflows.
How do you stay connected,
While being worldy wise?
Your mind has no answers,
But millions of excuses –
Food, friends, fortune,
problems, politics, power,
And life…
Excuses can take it thus far,
But one day,
One fine day,
You will break the mind’s control,
And be in connection and contentment.
Fill yourself to the brim,
And there shall be no fears to trim,
Fill yourself with light,
And there shall be no more flight or fight,
Remember to spread your love,
Because you need it more than they do,
In your own depth lies the inexhaustible source,
The source to all there is – Light and Love.
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