Nagula Chaviti ....

I stopped blogging since a while ago ... No deep philosophical thoughts moved me in the last so many months. I guess New York is a better environment or perhaps it is the university life ... So instead of letting my blog die I though perhaps I could write about simple things .. things that I did not think were important before. Like Naren says "when you are out of form, just stay in the context. At least."
Today is Nagula Chaviti. I thought it was not a big festival but when I called Saroja atta, she decided to fast and not cut any food today. So I thought atleast let me pray for a while. So for 10 minutes or so I was just chanting "Subramanyam subramanyam, kartikeya subramanyam" from an old yoga camp.
The power of chanting is unbelievable. I could feel a perceptive difference. A surge of energy and some real nice peace. No wonder the ISCON people do it so much ...
Also the power of Pranayama. Prasad mama made us all do pranayama daily for atleast 3 minutes daily. The minute spent of Kapalabhati was wonderful. Current of energy flowing, vitalizing and the kind of urging to go into meditation ...
Simple things, beautiful things, things that get you back in form !

Tell me about your mystics ....

A wise man once said, "Tell me about your mystics and I will tell you how wise your people are ... "

Well, this is the same wise (wo)man writing the rest of the post ! But really, of all the achievements of a people it's not the technological, architectural, social, or cultural achievements that sing true praise of them but how many mystics lived among them and how well they treated them.

For all other achievements are of no real significance if their relationship with God is not intimate ... Which is why we all should be proud to be Indian !

I am interested these days in the religion of Judaism. I would love to know what their mystics were like ...

Selfish vs selfless ??

Since childhood we are taught that selfless activities - like helping people in need, are better than selfish activities - buying tons of candy for yourself !

But are these so called selfless activities really selfless ?

Some of them are obviously selfish ones - like when rich people give to charity and get extensive coverage for it and some of them are not so obviously selfish - like say in the case of anonymous donors who do not feel comfortable being recognized ....
But they remain selfish as long as they derive something out of it - recognition, fame or even a quiet warm feeling deep in your own heart.
Is a truly selfless act possible at all ?
What about the person whose concept of is self is so all-encompassing that he treats the whole universe as him-self. But wait a minute in that case it becomes a truly selfish act !

So I guess there is nothing that is truly selfless ....

The Path to salvation is a razors edge

The Path to salvation is a razors edge - So says the Katha Upanishad.
Somerset Maugham's razors edge tries to make a story around this. I remember reading this as a kid; and I remember being really impressed by it !
I saw the movie just now and I must say that while it was an interesting movie it had nothing to do with the Katha Upanishad or salvation or even a razor's edge ( literally or figuratively)
I guess this is what happens when someone tries to write about something they have no clue about !
Alas the job of salvation is not a rosy one filled with adventure and drama. Sometimes it's long and tedious and needs tremendous patience. Like the job of a scientist, sifting through a bunch of data ....
Or so I assume ...
But it is like a razor's edge. It's so easy to go off track and wander for eons !

Mr Micawber used to say .....

What with the economy heading toward a recession(?) and all that I was recently reminded of what Mr. Micawber used to say ...

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

But there are so many interesting things to do with those last six shillings !!!

The elusive little .....

Life is good ... pretty good ... Especially today :) Woke up late .. After a marathon of six movies yesterday. Had a great breakfast.

And here I am sitting and looking at the great view from my french windows.

Everything is great.
Everything except for the elusive little that is. The elusive little that will not come except in brief flashes .. rare moments ... only to taunt perhaps ...

The elusive little which is not people .... nor possessions ...
That which has been captured perhaps by philosophers, poets or mystics ...
The elusive little that can be unveiled only in your own heart ... and even to speak of it would jinx it forever ...

Or perhaps it's just imaginary, it exists only in my mind. Perhaps it's just the product of hours of leisure compounded with scores of satisfied and unsatisfied desires ..

Meanwhile here is a great song
http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu/movie/AD000161.html

An inexplicable peace ...

There are times when an inexplicable peace steals upon us .... for no apparent reason ... and at the most unexpected moments too .... a deep feeling of stillness, calm and rest ... of riding waves of bliss in an ocean of comfort.

These moments are so precious that sometimes I feel that thinking about them even will take away the sweetness and the best thing that can be done is to just BE.

These are the defining moments of life and the only ones worth living for ...

Resolutions .....

Sometimes when things are going good vacation, new year's resolutions, party's all look like a big colossal waste of time ..
At other times when you've been slacking off for a while and have nothing to show, New Year is a good time to make some resolutions ..
Even if you are not going to follow all of them, it's good to make some ... They remain somewhere at the back of your mind and keep reminding you of the "miles to go before you sleep " !
My new year resolutions
1. To become more disciplined - Either you control the mind or it controls you ...
2. Spend more time in solitude - The only single unchangeable goal of any human is to find God. You may word it differently or define God differently but this is only true quest, the final quest that puts an end to all other quests ..
3. Loose weight - It's like in Miss Congeniality where all the beauty pageant participants keep wishing for "world peace ". Sandra Bullock's has to add "world peace" at the end of her speech coz though it's almost impossible it sounds good on paper.