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Showing posts from October, 2017

SURRENDER TO THE NOW

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I GAVE UP…. I acknowledged that I am tired and sad and don’t want to fight it any more…… For the past few years, I had been holding on to a memory of the past (part reality, part conveniently made up) and resisting what it is now.   The little child in me had first screamed out, then valiantly fought, used every trick up his sleeve, but finally, there was just one choice…..laying all the cards on the table, mourning a loss and just surrendering to the present….to the now…to this moment. And allowing the future to just unfold rather than trying to control it. It was time to stop trying to fit the proverbial square peg into the round hole. And in that surrender seems to be a quiet sense of peace….. As I look back, this process seems to have had three discrete and connected stages: 1.      Full acceptance – Not resist…but as E. Tolle and other wise ones put it…surrender to the now. 2.      Full embodiment of emotion–...

CELEBRATING WHOLENESS AND FLOW….

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CELEBRATING WHOLENESS AND FLOW…. I spent an hour sitting with my aged parents in their front porch at “Suraj’ this morning. My 95 year-old father had just finished his morning stretching routine and my 85 year-old mother was sipping her coffee when I walked in. There was a lovely sense of quiet. It was relatively early and the day was just starting. Soon, the lady in the picture walked in muttering to herself but smiling all the time. Upon enquiry from my mother I learnt that her role is to clean the front porch. I also learnt that she is slightly mentally challenged and that she had been working at ‘Suraj’ for over 15 years. My mother went on to describe her life in little more detail. About 20 minutes later trooped in another lady. She too gently nodded and went about her routine. Her role was to clean certain sections of the home. I learnt that her daughter was recently hospitalized and that my mother had given her some financial assistance. A little while ...

DOUSING THE ANGER FIRE-CRACKER WITH AN ICEBERG

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DOUSING THE ANGER FIRE-CRACKER WITH AN ICEBERG This period marks the most widely celebrated festival season in India – ‘Diwali’   - The Festival of Lights. While there are many interpretations, the one that resonates with me is the transformation of light into dark and darkness into light….. A wise person once taught me that occasions such as this omniscient festival season is a great opportunity TO tap the external energies and channel it to look within. So, I did…Here is one illustration: I WAS VERY ANGRY….AT MYSELF…… I found myself repeating a pattern that had had got me feeling down yet again. Despite trying hard and fighting hard NOT to repeat my behaviours, I had done it yet again…and I simply found that absolutely stupid! A few days ago, I had talked about being angry at someone else/a situation, but this time around the target was yours truly. This time the anger was accompanied by its evil shadow – contempt. And yes, the target for contempt was me. ...