Sea and Sand

I felt why not about blog about something which has been such a recurring topic here.  So many times I have posted about playing football on the beach.

As a habit I would generally at end of football game wash my legs with sea water with friends besides mostly and I would just watch the sea for a few moments and just be awed, and I still am, by the vastness in front of me.  I would feel overwhelmed with an unexplainable emotion at times.  Trying to explain in words it was kind of mix of questioning myself did I give my best in the game but there was also a part feeling does it matter really every step and action on field will be washed away by the sea water after some time.  Also it made me realize to always remember that I am just like a drop in the vast ocean or a minute grain in the sand or perhaps even smaller. 

Recently after a cycling trip to the beach one thought crossed my mind.  There is this great Sanskrit word for horizon - Kshitijh.  Just as we can never find where sea ends and sky starts, no matter how hard we try by using words, feelings, actions, etc we can never fathom what it is like being someone else.  It is always a Kshitijh.  

We should always try being ourselves, give our best and at the same time learning to trust God's plan.

Joie de vivre

Joie de vivre is a French term which literally means exuberant enjoyment of life. This can be related to anything actually.  It is used to express cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit.  It can be joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do.  It denotes a kind of relaxed enjoyment.

We see about it or a toned-down version of it in so many movies, tv shows, social media, etc. 

But is life just only about enjoyment and indulging.  Where does self-discipline and values stand related to this sort of goal.

I think it is a great concept really to help one to have a positive outlook towards life.  In essence we can only really enjoy something as long as we are totally present in that moment.  There is a balance to be maintained between the two poles of indulging and self-discipline, of between letting go and holding on.  Once we find such right balance life will never cease to amaze.

I am grateful to have found something which strikes such balance.  

Pema Chodron Article

I have been reading a book by Pema Chodron recently.  Felt like sharing one interesting excerpt from it titled - Abandon Any Hope of Fruition - which is especially true considering our weekend culture.

"Fruition" implies that at some future time you will feel good.  One of the most powerful Buddhist teachings is that as long as you are wishing for things to change, they never will.  As long as you're wanting yourself to get better, you won't.  As long as you are oriented toward the future, you can never just relax into what you already have or already are.

One of the deepest habitual patterns that we have is the feeling that the present moment is not good enough.  We frequently think back to the past, which maybe was better than now, or perhaps worse.  We also think ahead quite a bit to the future, always holding out hope that it will be a little bit better than now.  Even if things are going really well now, we usually don't give ourselves full credit for who we are in the present.

For example, it's easy to hope that things will improve as a result of meditation: we won't have such a bad temper anymore or people will like us more than they do now.  Or perhaps we will fully connect with that awake, brilliant, sacred world that we hope to find.  We use our practice to reinforce the implication that if we just did the right things, we'd begin to connect with a bigger world, a vaster world, a world different from the one we're in now.

Instead of fruition, we could just try to stay with our open heart and open mind.  This is very much orientated to the present.  By entering this kind of unconditional relationship with ourselves, we can begin to connect with the wake quality that we already have.

Right now, can you make an unconditional relationship with yourself? Just at the height you are, the weight you are, with the intelligence that you have, and your current burden of pain? Can you enter into unconditional relationship with that?

It is definitely worth pondering. 

Social Media

Technology has become such an integral part of our lives especially since the smartphone arrived since the 2000s and gradually took more and more of our time in our daily lives.  This is more true as during lockdown in last two years everyone had free time.  For me like many of us it is just like an harmless habit turned into such a soft addiction now-a-days.  I tend to get hooked to social media especially before going to sleep which is one habit I am trying to replace with other things especially reading.  Still working on it.

I am glad that I was not exposed to smartphone culture when growing up.  But perhaps television was to our generation what smartphone is now.   The millennial generation was perhaps the last generation who learned the importance to socialise without the use of social media and also perhaps the first generation who know how to balance between the virtual and real world.

Facebook is good in a way to get to know what your friends and relatives are upto and when they want to share.  But really should be in moderation and not as a constant checking.  We all worry so much about how we portray ourselves and what others think about us.  We are all trying so hard to project an idealised image of our lives.

Now a days Youtube, Facebook and Instagram are absolutely everywhere.  These three mediums are used to connect people with companies, clubs and whatnot.  The different populations from various parts of the planet are being brought closer and closer through such media.  

Then there is blogger which i use as an online diary.

Interesting Speaking Tree and TOI Articles

From 2010 

From 2011 - Concentration Self Control Silence One from TOI - Test cricket and mindfulness 

From 2012 TOI - Silence Meditate without expectations Thoughtlessness 

From 2013 - Balancing Love and Logic Living From a Broken-open Heart 

From 2014 Bhagavad Gita Present 

From 2015 Social Media 

From 2016 Dance of Shiva 

From 2017 Moodling 

One from TOI - Ego and Will 

Archive Link

Slideshows on Silence and Soft Addictions

Writing

 After a long time felt like posting about something.

There is something special about writing which cannot ever be replaced by typing.  Cursive writing is all about going with the flow.  Writing has some effect on the brain which leads to better coordination and is such an integral part of brain development and hand eye co-ordination.  It helps to express ourselves in a very different way.

I cannot fathom that in school used to sit and write for three hours all the language papers.  Although sometimes I was a scrappy writer I still did finish mostly in three hours.   

Later on in junior college I really liked writing down quotations in a book.  The content would either be from the internet or the newspaper which later on evolved to writing more and more in a diary and then to blogging.  I would jot down anything and everything interesting so that I could read it again and ponder over it.  This habit of mine also lead to interest in reading more and more about various subjects.  

I would always try to write and make own notes when sitting for lectures and then later on sit in library to read on the same topic.  In a way this has led to my interest in the idea of being fascinated and involved in medical transcription which is in a way scutwork but it does not really seem so when doing it.     

I do not want to be single minded bringing every topic to work.

Sometimes I think I contemplate too much, at one point had been writing in four different diaries.  So now I have reduced it.  Thinking about blogging now but writing is one of my passions for sure.