I love you. The Invitation #9

 The Commitment.

It doesn't interest me 

to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up,

after the night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done

to feed the children.

"TRY THIS ONE MORNING as you are lying in bed: imagine millions of men and women all around the world rising from their beds where the sun finds them- leaving back supporting mattresses and straw pallets,hammocks, futons, and thin blankets on dirt floors- to take care of the children. Regardless of their religion, culture, or material circumstances, there are noses to be wiped, bellies to be fed, tears to be dried, and answers to be provided for the questions of young minds. In modern cities and remote villages, luxurious mansions and desolate refugee camps, fires are lit, stoves are turned on, cereal boxes are opened, water is drawn from taps or pumps or streams, fruit is peeled, and breasts are bared for hungry mouths. It doesn't matter whether the men and women have the resources to adequately provide what the children need, or whether they feel like getting up and doing what has to be done-life cries out in it's need to continue whether the providers are ill or healthy, illiterate or educated, despairing or filled with enthusiasm for life."

"Reach out one morning with your imagination and feel them, the millions of men and women who do the best they can every day to feed their children's bodies, hearts and minds."

 

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Fitting tribute to Mothers and Fathers on Father's Day, if they have children then it's Motherfucker's Day. 

I love you. My secret sandwich.

 My lettuce, tomato, egg, cheese, gherkin and ham sandwich.  

I believe everyone is creative, (ie. can create something) and when pursued consistently, will yield satisfying results, for the creator.

Prior to recently gaining some measure of satisfaction in the home culinary field, I have often prided myself with the ability of making some pretty formidable sandwiches. Except in those days, my creations have been accidental, mainly comprising leftovers and improvements. This time, my sandwich dinner was pre-meditated (invaded my meditations as well) days ahead.

The key to a good meal is preparation. And I was prepared. All my ingredients were laid out on the kitchen counter so I won't miss out on any of my intended players.

I start with prepping and slicing the tomato, pickled cucumber, romaine lettuce, grate the block of aged cheese, and mix the mustard powder with the right amount of oil & water.

Then I line my small pan with premium unsalted butter and proceed to lightly brown the slices of bread in the heated pan. This gives the soft fluffy bread more rigidity to hold the impending load of goodies. Once done, I arrange the accompaniments on the slices of bread with great care, sequence and precision. On the bread, a bed of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickled cucumber slices, grated cheese. 

Then I butter the pan again to crack two eggs, one at a time, frying them until they can "fold over easy." Flip them over a couple of times, then I gently lay the hot folded fried egg on the grated cheese allowing the heat to melt the cheese. Then comes the slab of fresh french ham over the freshly fried egg, freshly mixed mustard is applied on the ham, finished with another leaf of lettuce and topped off with the other slice of bread. The bread knife turns the square to triangles. Two squares yield four triangles. Those triangles must have been equilateral because the tastes were finely balanced and equally distributed.

All went into my mouth, down in a flash, like circles disappearing into my belly. I'm a happy puppy. 

I love you. The Invitation #8

 Failure.

 

                I want to know if you can live with failure,

          your and mine,

          and still stand at the edge of the lake

         and shout to the silver of the full moon,

       "Yes!"

"When we cannot live with failure, we limit the intimacy in our lives. People do not tell stories of failure to those who have room in their hearts only for perfection. Tell me a story of failure in your life, a time when you made a mistake. Tell it with compassion for the child or man or woman you were. Tell it with ruthless honesty and gentle acceptance. We do not avoid shame by hiding mistakes. The shame just becomes buried within us.

 

"Shame releases it's paralysing grip on us when we take responsibility for our mistakes and the sometimes serious consequences those mistakes can have for ourselves and others. In this way shame can be our ally, pointing to things we have not accepted about ourselves, and making retribution for these injuries where it is possible. "Forgiveness happens with time, as we learn to live with what cannot be changed. The capacity to live with what is hard is within us. When we can live consciously with the knowledge of what we or others have done, we are freed from the constant, if unconscious effort of trying to pull away from what is.

 

~Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

I love you. The Invitation #7.

 Beauty. 

Linger a while and you will see so much of it in this chapter.

May I walk with Beauty before me.

May I walk with Beauty behind me.

May I walk with Beauty above me.

May I walk with Beauty below me.

As I walk the Beauty way.

 

~ Navajo prayer

"What is this Beauty that the Navajo seek? It is what pulls us toward life. It is what calls to us when we despair, seduces us into opening again and again to the possibility of love and laughter. It is the physical manifestation of the Mystery- God, Spirit, the Divine- that surrounds and beckons to us every day of our lives. It is life that chooses life. The Navajo prayer expresses our souls' desire to recognise and receive beauty knowing that as we do so we become co-creators of this beauty, of that which urges, "Live."

 

"Seeing beauty is not about narrowing our vision, designating only some of its manifestations as worthy. It means expanding our definition of beauty, suspending our judgements, and appreciating both the quiet joy of riding a bicycle along the lake and the raunchy glee of driving a cherry-red sports car that hugs the open highway. It means accepting the truth of being a middle-aged woman as it is reflected in both the lines and sagging muscles of my face and belly and the shine of my eyes."

 

"Seeing beauty is about broadening our ability to recognise the interconnectedness of all manifestations of life and delighting in how the smells and sounds and tastes and sights that surround us conspire to draw us toward living fully. I want to touch the power of life giving moisture and recognise the smell of the sea where it caresses the shore, in the scent of my sweat, in the salt of my tears, in the slippery wetness that pours from between my soft thighs when I am well loved. I want to focus on my finger tips, on the shape and weight of my hand, on blood and bone and a thousand nerve endings, as I raise an apple to my mouth, let the tip of my tongue slide on the round smooth firmness of the cool surface, and feel the spray of juice as my teeth pierce the skin and enter the crisp flesh inside. I want to taste the weeks of rain and sun, the ripening on the tree, the labour of the farmer and the fruit picker, the journey of the men and women who bring fruit from grove to table. I want to receive the beauty that reminds me that there is no separation- that each act I live while I am fully awake cannot help but be both prayer and lovemaking."

 

~Oriah Mountain Dreamer

"

"

I love you. Joy and Sorrow

 Joy and Sorrow

This gem was gifted from the stars tonight. 

Like music, this perfect piece was delivered with love to give meaning to a joyful and sorrowful life. 

On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil Gibran - 1883-1931

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Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
     
 And he answered:
 
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
 
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
     
 
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
    
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
          When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs           must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 10, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.

I love you. The Invitation #6.

 Betrayal.

This chapter first point to betrayal of self, but first a reprise;

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.

I want to know if you can 

disappoint another

to be true to yourself;

if you can bear the accusations of betrayal

and not betray your own soul;

if you can be faithless

and therefore trustworthy.

Then betrayal of another... 

"It is uncomfortable when someone perceives us as breaking faith with past promises. Yet, if we live fully, it is inevitable that this will sometimes happen, because change is inevitable, and commitments, if they are to remain vital, must be remade and renewed. Often we protect ourselves from the knowledge of broken promises by pretending that nothing has changed."

"These are the choices we make, consciously or unconsciously, and yet ultimately, if we can be still enough with what is, we can find the place the Native American call Chui-ta-ke-ma, the place of choiceless awareness, the place where it is clear which choice is a choice for life, where we can make no other. Sometimes, to choose life, we must break agreements; sometimes we must keep them although they are hard to keep.

 

Tell me, can you do this? Can you make the choice that's for life even when that choice is hard, when doing so means others will see you as faithless? Can you make the choice without putting yourself or the other person- no matter who is the betrayed, who is the betrayer in this moment- out of your heart? This is what I want to know. This is what I want us to learn together, to teach each other in the way we hold each other when the choices are hard."

 

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

 

 

I love you. The Invitation #5

 The Joy.

This chapter explores joy. And sharing it.

Why is it often hard for us to choose joy, even in moments when there are no painful circumstances in our lives? Sometimes we simply do not know how. Many of our secular rituals of celebration and relaxation involve moving away from what is- numbing out, if only a little, with drugs or alcohol. As one of my students once said, "We don't seem to know very much about how to lighten up without numbing out." Music and dance are obvious exceptions to this, but in our culture we are too often only spectators and not participants in creating and moving to the sound of celebration.

 

I want to cultivate ways of celebrating joy in my life and I want to recognise and savour the moments of joy that come. I want to enjoy the full variety of pleasures life holds, even when some of those joys appear to others to be incompatible and contradictory.

 

"I want to know if you can be with joy

mine or your own,

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your 

fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful

to be realistic

to remember the limitations of being human."

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

So get up and dance. 

 

I love you. Cricket Champions.

Champions of the State- TBS U-15 Cricket Team 1973

Tunku Besar Sec. Sch. U-15 Cricket Team
Back: L to R- Sailes, Ban, Gan, Balwant, Wong, Imtiaz, Rahim, Mat, Jeyakumar.
Front: L to R- Jagdish, Haji, Mat, Hari, Zul.

This team was probably the most successful under-15 team in the history of our school to have won a state champions trophy for the first time since the war. 

These are the days my surviving team mates speak of being 'the good old days' today. 

These were the days we wish we could go back to relive the glory and the memories.

But take a look at our faces. Look closely at all our faces. Can you find a really 'happy' face?

No. Not really.

Yet we all proclaim this to be the happiest days of our growing up lives. All of us. 

I wonder why?

I am on a journey to find out. Perhaps we can take a closer look at each one of us and examine our lives a little more in detail. 

Let's start from the back row left, 

Sailes Kumar S Patel, spin bowler & batsman. Son of a Gujerati furniture businessman, came out top student in 5th Form was promptly despatched off to the UK for studies bearing the hopes of his family on his skinny shoulders. He returned and eventually took his father's advice to run the family business. Today he still sits on his successful business in two towns in two states but has eased off to enjoy the gems of his life- his two grand daughters. And his F&B. Smiles a lot now but not then.

Ban Eng Lai, Batsman, bowler. A young novice with talent and height. He's not smiling, he has teeth like that. Probably a successful businessman in Singapore now.

Gan Siong Lim, opening batsman, in-fielder, the Chinese boy with that faraway look in his eyes. In this instance, he's halfway round the world lost in thought, in love or just confused (I was 15 & full of raging hormones). Still pretty much the same today except a little happier. 

Wong Sze Meng, batsman, bowler, completes the trinity of Chinese cricketers in the squad. Rose from humble beginnings to become tallest boy and Head Prefect in 5th Form as well as, you guessed it- Basketball Captain. That's not a smile either. 

Imtiaz Hussein, Captain, batsman, bowler, son of an immigrant Pakistani army tailor from Lahore. Even though he looks dwarfed standing next to tallest boy, he's truly a giant in talent and heart. A good captain and faithful friend. The guy's carrying the Champion's trophy and still has no smile. Now he's the one with the biggest smiles, he has the most number of grandchildren- last count, eleven.

Abdul Rahim Borhan, batsman, out-fielder, our gentle giant can wear the meanest look but has the gentlest heart and a beautiful smile but not here. He succumbed to heart failure several years ago, See, only the good die young.

to be continued...

I love you. The Invitation #4

 The Sorrow.

This chapter begins with;

"EVERY LIFE HAS PAIN AND SORROW in it. It is part of being human.

"...All the while, deep inside, I know what I have always known: that the knowledge will never be enough.

 

This is the secret we keep from ourselves. And the moment it is revealed, we become aware of a need for something else: for the wisdom to live with what we do not know, what we cannot control, what is painful -  and still choose life. Wisdom is often born in the shadows, frequently more visible in the darkness than the light.

 

...We must move into darker places if we are to find the wisdom we so desperately need. We rarely go there willingly, though every life contain its own cycles of grief and celebration. To meet wisdom in these dark places we must be willing and able to hold all of what life gives us, to exclude nothing of ourselves or the world, to tell ourselves the truth. Wisdom will stretch us far beyond where we thought we could or wanted to go. She will show us what we cannot change or control, reveal what is hard to know about ourselves and the world, and tear at the illusions of what we think we know, until we are surrounded by the vastness of the mystery. And all the while, wisdom asks us to choose life. She does not want us to just continue, to hang on, to survive. She asks us to experience life actively, fully, every day - to show up for all of it. 

*At this point, a reprise of a phrase of the poem is in order...

       It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

          I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, 

                 if you have been opened by life's betrayals 

          or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. 

                    I want to know if you can sit with pain, 

           mine or your own,

                    without moving to hide it

           or fade it

                    or fix it.

 

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer "

 

I love you. The Invitation #3

 The Fear.

Chapter three talks about the fears we face every day. Apart from death, the only other fear most of us have is the fear of looking like a fool. And looking like a fool stems from not being good enough.

Years ago, a student with chronic fatigue syndrome told me, "I am afraid that if I stop, if I slow down and rest, I'll never amount to anything."

 

I smiled. "What if I told you that everything you are ever going to amount to, you are right now?" 

 

I knew what she had feared, I have done it a thousand times - confused work with accomplishment, frenetic activity with movement, growth, and learning. We are afraid that we will not be enough. All of our deepest desires are our soul's way of calling us back to simply being all of who we are.

 

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

     

The worse thing about our fears is that nobody knows it, yet we deny ourselves our desires to avoid looking like fools.

I love you. The Invitation #2

 The Longing.

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

 

I want to know what you ache for,

 

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing."

         

Chapter two details the heart's longing. The crux of love has always been about deep longings. 

For it is the longing that transcend the physical, the mental into the spiritual realm. 

It is Love Longing for Itself.

"And if  we are to be lovers for the first time or again, after many times, let the lovemaking be filled with shyness and discovery the way it was, or could have been, when we were sixteen: today a kiss that lingers, a touch on the back of my neck that I can feel for hours: tomorrow a light caress across my breast that makes my breath catch. I want to savour each discovery of touch as the infinite unfolding of the other. I want to slow it all down, to wander around wet, aching for what is to come next, so I will know when I have been fully entered, whether by your body, your story, or just simply the moment that passes between us."

        - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

 

I love you. The Invitation.

Accepting the Invitation. 

A privilege to start the book, perhaps I shall document excerpts to further internalise my understanding and learning.

The first chapter has many gems and anecdotes. This one paragraph deserves keeping;

"There are a thousand ways to love other people and the world- with our touch, our words, our silences, our work, our presence. I want to love well. This is my hunger. I want to make love to the world by the way I live in it, by the way I am with myself and others every day. So I seek to increase my ability to be with the truth in each moment, to be with what I know, the sweet and the bitter. I want to stay aware of the vastness of what I do not know. This is what brings me to the journey, I do not want to live any other way..."

        ~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

There is much truth, humility and hunger packed into one single paragraph.

I love you. Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Invitation.

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

        It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. 

        It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it or fix it.

        I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

        It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

        I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from it's presence.

        I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the moon, "Yes!"

        It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

        It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

        It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

        I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.      

~ by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Post-Script* 

This Invitation came to me in 2011 as a poem when we first conducted and played the Samurai Game. 

The profoundness and depth of prose was as incisive as a cut on my heart. It took me ten years to finally accept the invitation. Perhaps it's because the book eventually finds you and not the other way around.

Now I am on the cusp of yet another journey of discovery to see what treasures the book shall impart.

I love you. There is no meaning to life.

What Is The Meaning of Life?

Photo by Ali Gündoğdu on Unsplash

Have you ever pondered this question?

Life has no meaning. The more we think about it the more life has no meaning at all.

There is nothing to do. Nothing to chase. nothing to achieve, nothing to die for if we don't give it any meaning.

Life has no meaning unless we assign it one or two or several. It's all up to us to define our life.

Life has meaning when I can forget myself, to do something to further a cause, or to love another to be more human. 

It starts with being attentive and inclusive to everything and everyone around us. Acknowledging the news vendor, the cleaner, the cashier, a word of hope to a friend who feels down, basically anyone we encounter in our daily life. Helping someone get in better shape, being a good parent, partner, friend, mentoring a child, spending time with the young or the aged. All these give us a purpose to live and they are all grounded in love to have meaning.

Maybe we will find something we are willing to die for, and then we need to live for it.

 

I love you. I don't know.

It is perfectly ok to say. I don't know. 

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

Probably the only other "Don't" word in my vocabulary apart from "Don't Worry" is;

"I don't know."

It's probably the most powerful phrase in the universe apart from "I am."

Because following I don't know, comes... But;

I will find out.

I am willing to learn.

I am willing to listen.

I am open to receive.

I am open to experience it.

And when we seek, we shall find.

Also because nature abhors a vacuum.

Only from 'No' thing can 'Some' thing emerge.

Namaste...

I love you. Cucumber Raita

 Channeling my Indian passion.

Some people who know me agree, I was probably an Indian in a past life.

Today I'd like to share my cucumber raita recipe with you. Why? Because this time I think I've made it very close to a fine composition of ingredients with an equally fine balance of tastes. 

A Raita is made as a side dish or a dip, like revenge, it's best served cold. 

As an accompaniment to hot spicy Indian creations. For me it's to compliment and enhance vada or lentil fritters/doughnuts. Already a spicy & savoury creation, the simplicity of this Indian tea-time treat is healthy vegan and absolutely delicious! 

So my raita preparation is to raise the umami levels of vada up a few notches. 

Here's what goes into my version of raita;

Ingredients

- Cucumber, less than a third of a stick.

- Onion, less than a third of a bulb.

- Green chili padi kampung, less than a third of a handful.

- Yoghurt, less than a third of a cup

- Salt 

- Black Pepper

- Lemon juice

- Lemon zest

Preparation

1. Dice and finely mince cucumber & onions in fine cubes.

2. Slice green chilis padi as fine as possible. Kampung chili padi preferred.

3. Pour all into a mixing bowl with yoghurt, add a splash of water and mix thoroughly.

4. Add salt & pepper to taste.

5. Then squeeze in juice of less than one third of a lemon. Refrigerate.

6. Serve when cold with lemon zest topping.

Enjoy!

Too complicated? Drop by one day and perhaps you're lucky enough to share some with me. It's gotta be tea time though.

Then we Celebrate!

I love you. Tropical Trees.

 A Walk in The Park on a Sunday Afternoon.

Last Sunday I took a walk in honour of Hypertension & Gout Awareness month. 

I was walking for my brother who has been a long sufferer of Gout. 

The Zoom walk with friends who attended from parts of the world took all of 20 minutes. It was a fun maiden 'zoom' walk for our startup and very heartening to feel the love from my family & friends.

My local team mate and his daughter were too exhausted to carry on so I continued my walk under the canopy of the tall tropical giants. It was a blazing afternoon but the spread of foliage from the numerous trees provided me cool comfort.

Though it was a hot afternoon, it was so cooling in some parts that moss grew in abundance under the Ficus and Tembusu trees. I couldn't resist, I promptly plonked my sweaty butt on the soft & spongy, cool carpet of green. I sat on the moss, kicked off my shoes and my inhibitions, remained very still for what seemed to be the entire afternoon. Apart from the trees, I had the magpies, the butterflies, the squirrels and the monitor lizards for company.

Soon it was time to leave, reluctantly I lingered around and walked on to the other end just to visit and pay homage to more ancient trees. As I frolicked among the trees one last time, the thought hit me again, the same though I had each time I walk the parks or forests.  

Wouldn't it be nice if we had all the names of the trees in the park proudly displayed on their trunks instead of just letters & numbers on a tag?  

I know for a fact that every tree just, like every person has a name. 

Can you imagine how the trees will feel to have their names proudly displayed for all to see?

Besides, what's worse than a horse with no name?

Walk On.

I love you. May all your dreams...

 My Wish For You; May All Your Dreams Not Come True.  

Photo by Ryan Hutton on Unsplash

I say this in all good faith and in all honesty. 

If all your dreams and wishes came true you wouldn't be able to live with yourself. 

Think of all the times when your dreams were just passing fancies or unrealistic cravings that even you'd be happy they didn't materialise. 

The other problem with dreams or goals is that they are based on accumulated memory. They may be situations or things you have seen, experienced or dreamt about. They are expectations based on known outcomes. The trouble with expectations is that things will never turn out exactly the way you expect.

They actually turn out better than your expectations. 

Except we don't notice them because we are too busy expecting a different outcome. Wanting to repeat a past experience and totally missing out on the reality of an even better dream coming true. Dreams never seen or experienced before.

So have no dreams or expectations, live life one day at a time with no expectations of fixed outcomes. 

Be fully conscious of all the little ordinary miracles happening around you everyday. 

Then maybe you will see that your life's desires are coming true beyond your wildest imagination. 

I love you. Success #3

 The Definition of a Successful Life. Now.

Image by PineForest

There is no need to wait until a ripe old age to assess if you have lived a successful life. You can do it now.

Ultimately life as we know it, boils down to three simple questions. 

Just answer these three questions with as much clarity as possible.

1. Where do I live?

 

2.  Who am I with?

       3.  What am I doing?

 

 Today we examine the third and probably the most important question.

"What am I doing?" is the most important because we are not what we say. We are what we do.

Having a job is the least important in this equation. You are not your job. Just like you are not your possessions or your intellect. These are merely accumulations of things or impressions you have acquired during your time here. They may be yours but they're not You. 

So, what are you doing? Refers to what are you doing with this life throbbing within you. And around you.

There are two parts in this. Within and Without.

Within you deals with what is happening inside you. Are you in a state of bliss? 

Are you living a life unsullied by memory or unnecessary thoughts that hijack your attention to a faraway place in the past or a non-event in the future?

Are you constantly present in the moment now? Are you living your life as it presents itself to you right NOW? Or are are you busy planning for the future right now? Or worse, suffering a past event?

Remember, the future is actually arriving in successions of the moment now.

So how do you know if you're living in the moment now? 

This brings us to the second part- Without.

Are you paying attention to everything around you with ALL of your sense perceptions?

• Do you hear the bird song in the distant trees? 

• Can you feel the morning breeze caressing the softness of your cheeks? 

• Do you notice the brilliant & ever changing hues of the evening sky? 

• Can you detect the subtle yet intoxicating fragrances nature exudes during the seasons? 

• Have you tasted the thick air on a moonlit night?

In short, Are you noticing in great detail the place where you live?

• Do you notice if she or he is happy, or sad? 

• Or whether your significant other is in need of a sympathetic ear or a strong shoulder?

In short, Are you paying close attention to the person you are with? 

So it doesn't really matter where you are or who you are with. What really matters is;

What are you doing?

If you think about it, what we should be doing is to be fully present to whatever is presented to us in the moment now. 

When we are able to do that, then the first two questions can only be truly meaningful.

Here's to a Successful Life. Now.

I Love You. MCO 3.0 Lockdown

Missing nature. More than people.

Today is the first day of another nation-wide 'lockdown'. 

Everyone agrees this is a necessary move to limit the free movement of our people, who otherwise would be visiting friends & relatives in the tradition of Hari Raya. It is due to this that Hari Raya clusters were started, sending unprecedented Covid-19 cases and casualties through the roof. 

Prior to this lockdown, there was a previous one which was too lax and taken too lightly by the masses.

Nevertheless the last MCO 3.0 prompted me to write a poem about my missing the forest. 

It was in late April during the start of the South West monsoons. (I was keeping it in the desperate hope that it'll age better like fine Burgundy)

Missing the Forest not the Trees

Thunderstorms & Rain, Days & Weeks on end.

Missed the outdoors & the trees.

Addicted to solitude in my cave, I yearn to walk in the forest 

Rain & wetness grows incessant.

Saw a window of evening sky free of rain.

Still wet from day long drizzle, the twilight inviting

Pulled my pants and my spirit on & out the door and onto the premises I went

How I have missed the road, trees, and flowers waning in the muted twilight

I am once again one with nature bathed in the swaying embrace of the trees 

Lining the perimeter they all reach out to greet me, shower me, swathing me.

Forests too far, the nearby trees I take for granted, beckon & cheer me on.

Hugged & kissed by the shrubbery, the rows of majestic pines, the phalanx of erect ashokas.

All along the walkway they line, as if for the first time, I walk with new strides.

Blessed & thankful. I am.

Lockdowns and lessons from the past can now help us be more aware of our situation. 

We know how to take responsibility for our selves and our loved ones. 

We know that by avoiding unnecessary travel and contact with others can help flatten the curve. 

With vaccination efforts being scaled up nationwide, we should reach herd immunity by August. 

Now that is truly something for all of us to look forward to.

Have a Happy two weeks of Lockdown everyone. I'm enjoying it already. 

I love you. Success #2

 The Definition of a Successful Life. Now.

Image by PineForest

There is no need to wait until a ripe old age to assess if you have lived a successful life. You can do it now.

Ultimately life as we know it, boils down to three simple questions. 

Just answer these three questions with as much clarity as possible.

1. Where do I live?

 

2.  Who am I with?

    

3.  What am I doing?

Today we examine the second question.

The second question deals with the person most significant in your life. 

The person you choose to be with, to spend time with or the person you love.

This person may or may not be with you all of the time. "Who are you with?" is a question that best describes having a deep and meaningful relationship with another person. 

The person you trust to be totally honest with. A soulmate perhaps. 

A person who you share unconditional love with. And more importantly a person who you can share silence and space with.

If you can be or have access to this person without having to be with him or her all the time, then you are truly successful. 

Ultimately the successful person is one who is happy being with oneself. Alone.

Who are you with?

I love you. Meditation #4

 A Meditation Sutra.

Be. The Observer of the thinker.

Be. The Observer of the meditator.

Observe. The Silence.

Be Aware.

Be Stillness.

Be Consciousness.

Hold Space

And Connect to the source.

Be One with The All.

*Notes to the sutra,

Meditation is like a luxury indulgence. It's the equivalent of taking a cigarette break, or a slow gentle hit from a nice joint. Only better. It is spending precious moments with oneself in solitude. 

Meditation is not about focussing on anything, instead it is about releasing and letting go of your mind and body. And reaching a point of no mind and no body-  getting in touch with our inner self which is formless and nameless. 

It is often described as the Oneness with everything around you. In fact the feeling is to be experienced, no words or no mind can describe. If you can describe it then you are still holding on to mind concepts. 

If at all you need to focus on anything, take your time and center yourself on the gentle awareness of your breathing in the background. 

How do you know if it worked? You will lose your anxieties, worries, fear, and anger. Feel calmer and more energised with acute consciousness.

To end, I like to quote one of the most influential author, activist and forward thinkers of our time; Marianne Williamson on twitter today. 

"If you don't meditate I don't know how you're enduring this moment in history"

 

- @marwilliamson

More on Meditation in previous Meditation #3 here > Stillness

I love you. Success #1

 The definition of a successful life. Now.

Image by PineForest

There is no need to wait until a ripe old age to assess if you have lived a successful life. You can do it now.

Ultimately life as we know it, boils down to three simple questions. 

Just answer these three questions with as much clarity as possible.

1. Where do I live?

2. Who am I with?

3. What am I doing?

These are the notes to guide you in the assessment;

Today we deal with the first.

Question 1 simply covers all aspects from where, to what sort of conditions, to how close to your dream abode are you living in.

This is the most important question because; Where I live determines where I am now. 

Right now is where life happens. The place, the conditions and how close to my dream abode all must contribute to my wellbeing, no matter how humble. Or opulent. 

It doesn't matter whether I own the place I live in. 

The key is my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

I may live in the slums yet I am happy. Likewise I may live in the swankiest neighbourhood in a palatial mansion but I may not be happy. 

This is how I benchmark my success against "Where I live?" 

- Is safety a tried and tested feature? 

We are responsible for our own safety- external & internal 

- Do my surroundings contribute to my overall peace of mind? 

Do the premises allow for physical activities, to move around to exercise. 

To be close enough to the community to not have to intrude and be intruded upon?

- Is the space within the walls conducive to my wellbeing?  

Can I conduct my personal pursuits and daily rituals in total silence and in absolute privacy? 

Can I play my music anytime. And loud? 

- Am I close to nature and space? 

Being from nature we need to connect with the source and free ourselves from time to time. 

Where do you live?

I love you. Stitches. Sutures. Sutras.

In the Silent, Stillness of Space.

Photo by Erika Fletcher on Unsplash

I have lost my patience and decided to put my thoughts in bits and spurts stringing prose like stitches, sutures or sutras together.  I aim to be short and sweet. As each is meant to sew, stitch and thread single simple thoughts together.

Each have a common thread running through. This thread is essential for these stitches, sutures or sutras to work. It might hold a garland, a string of beads or a diamond necklace.  Or even a message.

Like the thoughts these words carry in each instalment- they might be flowers, beads or diamonds and pearls to you.

Flowers and beads may give more joy to more people than diamonds or pearls.

It is what we value and give meaning to that counts.

Photo by priyash vasava on Unsplash

Enjoy!

I Love You. Zeno of Citium.

Stoicism.

I have fashioned my blog in the manner that Marcus Aurelius has penned his thoughts which he called his "Meditations."  I write in honour of the philosophy and ethics that guided our lives and is still guiding mine. 

The Stoics have been known to be seekers of happiness or blessedness a term they call "Eu~daimonia" derived from the greek language of Eu (good or well) and Daimon (spirit). This is attained by accepting the moment as it presents itself. 

Living in the moment or in the now.

Living fully in the moment simply means being fully present by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or by the fear of pain. Because both sensations only exist in the mind. 

Therefore, control the mind and you control the power of pleasure or pain. Otherwise it is the mind that controls us in meeting out pleasure or pain. 

It is also the practice of consciousness using one's mind to understand the world and to do one's part in nature's plan, and by working together and treating others fairly and justly. (Read kindness & compassion)

Perhaps the most evidently compelling case for Stoicism are two main principles;

1. It is not what a person SAYS but what he DOES that defines a person.

2. To live a good life, one had to understand the rules of the natural order since they thought everything was rooted in nature.

"Virtue consists in a will that is in agreement with Nature.This principle also applies to the realm of interpersonal relationships; "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousy, and to accept even slaves as "equals of other men, because all men alike are products of nature".


Here are more timeless Stoic principles that clearly reflect the rules of nature;

• Memento mori - Remember you will die. We all die. Sooner or later. We just don't know when. So remember to live. This life that we have been given is so fleeting.  For the conscious it is way too short. 

In a heartbeat or in one breath we can just disappear like the night at dawn. Or the day at dusk. 

• We will face challenges - Expect to meet people who are ignorant, arrogant, angry and fearful. Know that no one can hurt us. They're just ignorant. Just continue and Stay with breath. Overcome those challenges daily with consciousness of breath and...

• Daily ethical mindfulness - by paying attention. To everything.  Ethical dimension. Stay present. Stay with breath. Stay centered with kindness of heart.  Perform each action as though it were your last.  

• Amor fati - means Loving faith. Take a view from above. Transcend thoughts and emotions. Connect with your inner self often.  Give yourself advice from your inner being or higher self. 

• Meditate. To meditate is to spend time with yourself. Not your mind but your true self. When we get to spend time with our true self, only then can we begin to understand this life within us. This alone is enough to bring bliss into your life. Seek not anywhere else.

•  Daily evening journal - At day's end, Reflect on and write down;  What have I Done wrong. Condemn the action not the person. Question What did I do right?  What did I miss. 

• Kaizen - daily marginal improvements. Focus on just 1% improvement everyday. Small steps daily lead to huge long term benefits. This last one is more Japanese than Stoic but it fits.

Started as a philosophy of personal ethics in 3rd Century BC by Zeno of Citium in Athens, Stoicism lasted until the 3rd Century AD. It went into a decline when Christianity became the state religion of the Romans in 4th Century AD. 

Strong advocate of the stoics philosophy and ethics was the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and other Stoics like Seneca and Epictetus. Throughout history Stoic principles and thinking lived on and held true during the Renaissance period and in the contemporary era today.