A-Z April - O for One

 

Beyond words, where silence dwells

Where what we do onto others

We do onto ourselves.

Shift the angle

What's wrong, what's right?

While this Sphere rotates

Occur day and night.

Pleasure and pain

A cycle so entwined

One follows the other

With the misnomer 'Destined'.

Causal links we search 

Up and down

In this Ego,we let the love drown.

What's yours? What's mine?

In this maze divine

Would you know what unfolds

Or what tomorrow holds?

Where do you start

And where do I end?

We are underneath a seamless blend

In this dual bend 

Of Yan and Ying

Oneness is the only thing.

Photo by Сергей Катышкин from Pexels

A-Z April - N for Norcturnal Diaries.

I swear, I had a whole shebang of a blog going with that title and suddenly what happens? It all disappears. I could'nt undo it. So actually, when I started off the blog I wanted to write about N for Nothing and make it like a allegory of sorts with something psuedo profound. But my nocturnal diariy was going somewhere actually profound. I found a parallel for how I am a morning person just like I am an introvert but somehow end up doing the polar opposite of my inner index. And poof...It all disappeared.

So the Univerese wants me to say Nothing tonight. On this day of N. No contesting that I guess.

So N dear Brethren is for No meaning, no  content and no nothing. Well, that's two negatives. Go Figure....

A-Z April - M is for Many things.

 

As I maneuvered through a very jam packed day, my mind kept going back to today's entry here. I really, really wanted to sketch a Matt and Bessie comic strip for today and I also thought of what they'd do and say - but there was a spontaneous energy the day had and I had to stream with it and put off the blog till the 11th hour, quiet literally. And when I think of what to write under this M header, nothing else came to mind. For a bit. And then, everything started coming at once so I decided to make a Multi many M for the day.

I recently put down Eckhart Tolle's 'A New Earth' and this time around, I really combed through the book, like I was doing some kind of a research project on what he had to say in there. The results are this new fond, and hopefully not temporaray moments of being Mindful. Tolle says that whatever moment we are in, is the purpose of our life. So, for now, my purpose is to write this blog, after which, my purpose would be to rest. In other words, he advices and does it like a broken record, to be in the present moment, devoid of all mental banter. I can go on and on about this topic, but the other Ms in the Matrix beckon to me. So,off I go.

I have many dear friends by God's grace - M is probably one of the dearest. He and I go back to quarter  a century of friendship, which had been nothing less of wonderful. M and I don't constantly stay in touch, but when we get in touch, the time and distance melts into a heap of nothing. Of all the things I feel profoundly grateful for, M features in one of the few top slots. He has had my back through thick and thin and cherishes our bond of friendship like a blood bond. When I think of M, I feel safe, loved and blessed. So dear M - Thank you becomes a small word to offer for everything you gave me.

Talk about Meals and my ears perk up. Just today, on a week night, I got this opportunity to host some special friends over for dinner. The plan was sudden but when it comes to making meals, I take it up like a mission or a prayer perhaps. I thank God for my love of cooking and serving. Without which my life would have been a little less fulfilling. 

Mommy dearest, aka the mother board turned a year older a few days ago. The more I age, the more pronounced it becomes, her influence on me. As different as mom and I are, I realize, so we are similar. A chunk of any merits I seem to have, I have to trace them back to her. She had inspired by example and left this huge impact on me that I am ever thankful for. Mommy dearest is someone that had moulded me to who I am today. 

Before I call it a day, I would like to bring in another M - Mojo - I cannot for the life of me, figure out where mine comes from - so I give up and blame it on my Mentor - or Guru. Baba of Shirdi is one of those great souls to have walked on our planet and to call him my Mentor, I feel like the luckiest, most blessed soul in the world.

And by the way - Maya it is. This whole circus we call life. Never forget that, and if you did, which you definitely would - look no further than Meditation.

Meditation is cracked up to be this, that and what not. It is no rocket science, no math problem - It is. It just is. It just is being in this moment. Try it. Be here. 

And the Magic unfolds here.

Merci! ;)

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

A-Z April L for Let it

 

Through this angle

Let it flow

Let it go past the cares

And those petty 'I, me, myself' affairs

Spreading across like light

Setting glitches alright!

Armed with a smile

A tender word

Those vows addressed, 

Those hindrances blurred.

What there of value?

Not jewels and riches

It only love that this life, enriches.

Let it go, fetch the priceless 

A brith well lived, love well expressed

Spawning like a glow of joy and bliss

If there's a thing that changes the world it's this!

LOVE

Like that's the only thing you are born to do

Love with all you got, and all the feelings true.

A-Z April - K for Know what?

I recollect my childhood as 'just yesterday' now, and then in the very next moment, it feels like another lifetime - Or another story perhaps that I happen to know. Of someone who was like me, or lived my life and left it for me to decipher it, and recollect it as a third party watching it on a screen. 

Nothing feels as weird as life. I sit here and think of all the people that left me. Some that left the world, some that disappeared on the other side of the fork while we travelled together, and some that just left. When I look back at these lost connections, I get amused at the surreal quality these people have. The ones that passed on, especially, feel like phatom characters - like my rich imagination. There would be circumstantial evidence of their time on the earth, but their presence feels like a fragment of my thought. They linger around in my emotion, reminding me of the times I fondly cherish, wondering if all this is just a dream, if my own being is as phantom as they are and I feel pretty sure, that sooner, or later - I would be just a dream too for someone remembering me on this earthly plane.

How many phases have I lived? They all seem to be different people. Sometimes, the me that is watching the me that is blogging feel like two separate selves. Much like the me of today feels about the me as a child. This body feels like a rental car. The one that I'd have to leave behind and take flight, lingering around in a phantom like texture in others' minds.

Then what is the purpose of this existence? I sit back and ruminate over the rhetorical question that we often miss in this mad rush called life. Then I realize that there's indeed a purpose - more than the chasing of accolades, achievements and accumilations. Then it also dawns upon me, that each life is a short story at the most. Concised into a few memories here and there, if we are fortunate, lingering in the hearts of our folks left behind. A summary of smiles and heartaches, if we live our lives well that is. 

And I say to myself, for the umpteenth time - Know what? Life is too short to be little. And I vow to let this me that I watch over, to let Love Last beyond this epsilon. 

A-Z April Day - 10 - J is for Jnani

I could add all the wordage to describe what Jnani means, but this Man right here - One of the most illustrous saints that had walked our blessed Planet is Ramana Maharshi, the poster child of the term "Jnani". His picture is worth all the words in the world, not just a thousand. The suffix Maharshi in his name means a 'Great saint' 

Jnani is a sanskrit word that means "Knowing", "Wise", "Sage" or "One possessing wisdom". The Jnani is the one who has busted the maze of 'Maya' or the llusion of this world and attained the highest wisdom of the True self. All I seem to be consumed for now, is admiring his Form, hoping His grace runs onto me and my banter and brings in the ever luminous wisdom to my words and silence them. An ironcial wish indeed ;)

In his human form, Ramana seldom spoke. He was silent, dwelling in the eternal peace that transcends all this creation we see. I wonder how He would have smiled at this constant noise I make here. I wonder if it would have been with motherly love, blessing me with the Silence that I seek, neverthless :) May His DIvine blessings be upon all footsteps that grace this space.

Day 9 - A-Z April - I for Inside

 

Photo by Miriam Espacio from Pexels

When I thought of writing about I, a lot of things came to mind - I first thought of writing about the  'If' clause. Then about the ego laden "I" but not the I, I as in me. I thought of writing a verse. Then I thought of musing about imagination, my best friend for life. 

Finally, here I am, the spirit me, operating through the form me, that's showed up to keep up with the challenge and in what way? 

Let me see....

The world is dual. Yin and Yang. The spirit world is Non-Dual which is called Advaita in Sanskrit. It finds its roots in the fact that the entire creation is one, and what we do to others we do to ourselves. The Advaita phylosophy simplifies the complicated. It sees and serves the world as one. There's no duality. All are one. One whole.

My school of thought, my practicing religion calls it 'Karma'- a term that is globally understood in the present day. Others might have similarly meaning terms. Simplified, Karma isn't a punishment. It is a lesson because if we separate ourselves from the whole, the whole will seperate itself from us. If we do not welcome happiness everywhere and for everyone  we see it, happiness will eliminate us from seeing it. 

Simple? Simple.

Advaita - that's what I am feeding on right now, and what definitely seems to be the vehicle that is going to launch me into the Great Beyond. Advaita decodes the spiritual seeking and with such simplicity. 

"Go inside" It keeps urging us. Look within. The shortest way to self realization is from the Inside, it pleads to the delusional junta that is a little too caught in the maze of this worldly play.

Advaita says that Joy, Peace and Love are our nature. They are not attributes. And Enlightenment is what we all are within. Except that we have a lot of fluff that obscures it.

Inside, It says. Inside, It insists. Inside, It importunes.

Inside us is the treasure of everything we need. We just need to go inward.

I, dear brethren, Is the I in joint hands, imploring to peek inside.

It could be the only insight we'd ever need.

A-Z April Day 8 - H for Hidden

 

The first born and I had a discussion about a regional movie she attempted to watch but couldn't go through. It was one of those controversial titles that most other conservative Indian mothers of  my generation would let out a scream and close their mouths in shock if they'd discovered their fifteen year old was up for 'watching' it.

I was mildly shocked, none the less, as this child of mine that binge watched Barney not too long ago, is there infront of me, speaking candidly about an R rated feature. I was happy, in the first place, that "if you are hiding something from your mom, it might not be a good thing to begin with" talk really held some steam and we were respecting one another space and freedom while making sure the needed parenting is done with minimal drama.

"So what is it that escaped your grey matter? or were you looking for something else that you didn't find?" I had to ask. Now, I didn't watch the movie in question, but prompty did at my earliest convenience. Except for the title that offered a promise of some titilation,or was named as a click bait, this movie was indeed something I would love for my fifteen year old to watch. I was intrigued by the plot and the 'reading between lines' message it carried, and ofcourse I would assume the metaphorical message laiden in a mass appealing title didn't particulary strike the tender teen mind. 

I promised A to watch the title with her and discuss the  message the makers were intending to deliver. As I did that we had a talk about 'negative spaces' in art, in literature and life. The ones where the details and the meanings lie, the ones that are obviously into our faces, but we are too tunnel visioned to notice or to learn from their subtle messages. 

Reminded me of all the layers of meanings I discovered in the poems of my textbooks back in the day. Art, literature and life have nuances that the busy world misses. Sometimes the shortage of time we have, and our 'busy-ness' extends to our hearts and more importantly, to our visions I suppose.

Day 7 A-Z April - G for Go figure

 

Auntie S, the fulltime nanny that we hired after our second born was spotted scrubbing away on a tea mug in the sink. Watching her in my periphery, I could see the confusion on her face. When she saw me around she said "This fly is stuck here. I am not able to get it off the cup" She sounded annoyed by the idea of having the carcass of an insect stuck on the prized fine china.

There was a reason why that seemingly persistent dead fly didn't budge from the cup though Auntie S had used substantial elbow grease to get rid of it. It was because the said fly was painted on to the fine china mug. It was a part of the floral design that featured on the outside of the mug - a little unexpected detail so to speak, that appealed to the critter loving, detail loving, cup loving, nature loving looney that's moi.

There's a critter, hopefully a mere imitiation on the God's original, in every nook and cranny of my humble abode. Some are carved out of metal, some curated out of wood, some moulded out of fibre, but all share the space and spread like a theme, for anyone that's looking to find one in my eclectic space. Inscets manifest into my world and words like some kind of indexes - some life lessons, some decorative accents. 

As conservative as I claim my dress sense to be, my earring wardrobe has every imaginable critter out there. Spiders, ladybugs, frogs, a pair of owls, bumble bees, dragonflies, turtles - you name it, I probably have them occupying the realestate of my generous earlobes the few times I care to wear earrings. I gave it a thought, kind of like a go-figure and all these tidbits of information flooded my mind's ambience.

Writing every day of the month, with a theme to boot, is a daunting task, while there's a hormonal 'party of sorts' happening in your insides and there's a block that refuses to budge, not even when you ask it to spare you as you are not a "writer" and a vaccine that's bent upon leaving its linger - with risen temperature that brings a turbulent temperament in tow - but Going and figuring out is the way of life, the sway of life - the display of life! Geez, that was a lame rhyme.

But on retrospect - G it is, Graceful Brethren that loves to blog, to blog hop and blog stop - (That's an other Geez of a rhyme) So what was I saying? 

G is for Geez?

Yes, Geez!

:)

Photo by Dastan Khdir from Pexels

Day 8 - A-Z - F for Friend

 As I sit by the table

Grub filling my gut

Spirits flow free

In liquids and essence

Descending abundant blessing

Upon this form

And then I cogitate

Over the count

Of these endowments on the existence.

How do I tally the ways?

That fortunes graced me

In mediums big and small

Tiny and tall.

To every one of you

That had called me a friend

For a moment or for years to no end

For a duration and for perpetuity

For picking up my untimely calls

Feeding my soul, when test befalls

Staying by my side in real and in linger

For enriching my life, my home, ,my living room, my garden

And above all my soul

With tales of laughter, 

Of love

Of presence and the Presents

Your friendship bestowed upon

This favored life.

I can string a puny verse

Offering this Universe

Lorry loads of flying kisses.

Just because

I had been the chosen one

To cherish your Fraternity.

Of all the blessings I have recieved

O Friend, you lead the list.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Day 6 - A-Z Challenge. E for Eternity

                          

                          Under the umbrella

Of the sapphire sky

And over the aquamarine sea

Somewhere on that horizon

An Us stands in embrace

Having one another's back

                       Of a life so complicated.

Lost in contemplation

No care in sight

No thought in flight

That stillness

Ushers a bloom

Of blissful bond

The one that connects and concocts

Being into believing

In that moment

Eternal Love emerges.

Photo by Nikita Belokhonov from Pexels