tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9477372314168288322024-03-18T20:44:06.351-07:00Soul Food BitesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-2491883483058074632016-04-08T09:36:00.003-07:002016-04-10T12:11:20.780-07:00My Two Bits on... To Be or Not To Be.. :) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not writing long articles these days. Happy with bits and pieces.. Let's call them Soul Food Bits.. :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's more a compelling pull to write what's happening on the path. As if I made a promise or something before getting on a journey that I will keep writing...that I will keep posted...will keep communicating....literally.... Feels exactly like that.. that's what I realized I had been doing sub-consciously with my food blogs too .. :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyways :) Saw Kung Fu Panda 3 the other day.. And actually surprisingly many of these cartoon movies these days are quite inspiring and have very profound messages... Interesting to watch this Panda trying to live upto his dragon warrior destiny and wondering who is he? .. a son of a Panda? a son of a bird? a dragon warrior? a teacher? And finally receiving his answer that he is ..All of it....</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Brought a smile to my face when I saw that because interestingly this has been on my mind too... Obviously not a co-incidence.. :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have always wondered about this need to define ourselves in one line..in one slot...in one word. Yes, maybe what one does for money can be defined in a line to those people we are offering our services to. But is that all that we are? Is that who you are? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How does one define the multifaceted beings that we are?... The journey that we are on?.. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No wonder then, that people get disappointed when that one facet of their life doesn't work the way they want because that's how they have defined themselves... </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So then.. Am I a mother? A blogger? A writer? A cook? A vegan ? A dancer? A reader? A thinker? A fitness freak these days! And everything else that I've been in the past!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And interestingly someone very close to me had told me... to not think singularly and in those exact words..that I was ... All of it...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">One can categorize it whichever way one wants but it's all me.. and it's all inter connected..</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And time and again, I reach the conclusion that I don't want to Be This or That...I don't want to Wait to Be this or that..</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">Those with conditioned minds often get mistaken and think that when you don't care about Being this or that.. you are not ambitious enough. But infact, I have realized that I seem to be after the most ambitious thing this time :) I seem to have chosen a real ambitious fast track of learning and evolution this time.. :) Like seriously!! :) No nonsense on the way.. I've been on a fast track ever since I can remember!! :) Sorry....but I deserve to laugh a bit at that!! :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To me, whether consciously or unconsciously my journey has been most important.... </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every person that I meet....every experience that I have...every activity that I do.. leads me towards my destination..my evolution...</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">..</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">If earlier it meant to be in the corporate world for a certain purpose.. I did it...</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">And now... </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If that means I need to write a novel or something..I will write it..</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If that means I need to go dance somewhere to balance my energy ... I will do that..</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If that means only certain kinds of food suit me now ..I will happily do it...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If that means I need to meet certain people have certain experiences with them as a part of my soul work..So be it...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At this point in my journey ..I don't want to get fixed on Being one particular thing.... </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At this point in my journey.. my goal is my Evolution.. reuniting with my true spiritual being is what I wish and pray for...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Interestingly.. I became conscious of my journey about 3 years back.. and it has been truly such an amazing journey...So much has happened since then too..... I have to allow that process to unfold in it's own time... Every time you feel complete and ready there is a whole new level of completion waiting at the corner.. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every event since then feels like it's been minutely planned....each person.. each activity...each experience seems perfect ..like this had to happen....then this had to happen....then I had to meet this person... I truly feel blessed to share this journey with some amazing soul friends who I had to meet on the way...very strategically placed. And we keep reminding ourselves that our journeys are so same same yet completely different different.. :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everything so perfect... not a day wasted...pit pat like a script.. And I want to stay aligned to that and grateful for it...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since then, I have developed a much stronger faith in the Path and the Universe and given up the need to define myself.....</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My daily affirmation is towards my soul evolution and for all my loved ones...near and far..</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Too much has happened in this lifetime itself to fall for the need of the Ego to Be something... </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am not falling for that....</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have realized that, for me, it was never about ...To Be or Not To Be..</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is about.... I Am that I Am...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And That is Enough... :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia";">And the more all of us realize the importance of "I Am that I Am" rather than struggle with "To Be or Not To Be", the more liberated and joyful we all will feel. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-19218070998837483262016-02-13T09:53:00.001-08:002016-02-14T11:28:02.834-08:00Lots of ways to reach God.. I chose Love.. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>You have no idea how hard I've looked<br />for a gift to bring You.<br />Nothing seemed right.<br />What's the point of bringing gold to<br />the gold mine, or water to the ocean.<br />Everything I came up with was like<br />taking spices to the Orient.<br />It's no good giving my heart and my soul </i><br />
<i>because you already have these.<br />So I've brought you a mirror.<br />Look at yourself and remember me. </i></div>
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<i>- Rumi</i></div>
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<i>All, everything that I understand, </i></div>
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<i>I understand only because I love. </i></div>
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<i>- Rumi</i></div>
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Rumi, undoubtedly is my favorite poet. I am ever amazed by his beautiful inspirational words which seem to come from such a deep pure place. Each quote is such a masterpiece. Each of them is so profound and impactful that it takes time to soak in each of these quotes. Was trying to compile some of his beautiful thoughts and realized that all of them are so beautiful that my list ended up being much longer than what I had intended.</div>
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In Rumi's own words - <i>Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it</i>. Absorb each of these thoughts at your own pace, maybe just one a day and let your being soak in the beautiful eternal divine love expressed in these quotes. He has beautiful words for everyone whether you are together, single, separate, believer or a cynic - such as - <i>"Open Your Arms If You Want The Beloved's Embrace." or "A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home". </i>Truly words of a wise soul.</div>
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I am ever grateful and humbled by the power of this divine eternal love which has the capacity to awaken you, heal your deepest wounds, make you love your own self and want to make this world a better place. Nothing remotely cheesy about it. If each soul was soaked in this divine love and was inspired to be a better version of himself/herself and be of service to others around, how beautiful and peaceful this planet would be. <br />
Words truly are powerful and when expressed positively and wisely can have such a wonderful impact on the world around. Always sending lots of loving healing energy your way. </div>
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Here are some more precious thoughts by Rumi to warm up your heart on this or any other beautiful day..... </div>
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<i>Love cannot be learned or taught; </i></div>
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<i>Love comes as Grace.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<i>In your light I learn how to love. <br />In your beauty, how to make poems. <br />You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<i>One day your heart will take you to your lover. <br />One day your soul will carry you to the Beloved. <br />Don't get lost in your pain, <br />Know that one day your pain will become your cure. <br />~Rumi</i></div>
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<i>Your longing for me is my message to you,<br />All your attempts to reach me, <br />Are in reality my attempts to reach you.<br />~Rumi</i></div>
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<i>The minute I heard my first love story,</i><br />
<i>I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was</i><br />
<i>Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,</i><br />
<i>they're in each other all along</i><br />
<i>- Rumi</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsl7vvWpZnqCq782IULAi-KGakNNhzMD5XVckC6NVd7sQuI8GS5gpcjpIReFHcngFSkUuViCh9FROQxc3qgfbnOApm7MfCn7Z9-qaBtJNh9zViurNmIFKOXL_HD3SqOgJSY8ry7NppyA/s1600/1909495_47630178876_6686_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsl7vvWpZnqCq782IULAi-KGakNNhzMD5XVckC6NVd7sQuI8GS5gpcjpIReFHcngFSkUuViCh9FROQxc3qgfbnOApm7MfCn7Z9-qaBtJNh9zViurNmIFKOXL_HD3SqOgJSY8ry7NppyA/s320/1909495_47630178876_6686_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Someday our souls will be one and<br />our union will be forever.<br />I know that everything I give you comes back to me.<br />So I give you my life , hoping that you will come back to me. <br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FsVcSoaHkXGc0hXr2wJO3XcYUoJ7iWWEr5od9heR12svUYuTYXMuWZ5y3q9xVmgvq8LiJBvGwJYyr8I3EU3xPxjVDnbgYFxG9A9k6s7I2PRuvrFyq_LDppqOg5o5bcgfJkUHA6cxjAo/s1600/FB_IMG_1455197379200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FsVcSoaHkXGc0hXr2wJO3XcYUoJ7iWWEr5od9heR12svUYuTYXMuWZ5y3q9xVmgvq8LiJBvGwJYyr8I3EU3xPxjVDnbgYFxG9A9k6s7I2PRuvrFyq_LDppqOg5o5bcgfJkUHA6cxjAo/s320/FB_IMG_1455197379200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes.<br />Because for those who love with heart and soul, <br />there is no such thing as separation.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6ucZhQVEPtDtj36w7UKw76TPSnGqPfPv66xJlOoCZWiCnxIxSa_4nSnz0W9AqDqJTs7sUGP39wTBZkHy4VFcMmhFXtCzVu4OqySCjXIUTQJ0yMdUHO4akvCeaQ4aVthF0QKCX-qHHPM/s1600/mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6ucZhQVEPtDtj36w7UKw76TPSnGqPfPv66xJlOoCZWiCnxIxSa_4nSnz0W9AqDqJTs7sUGP39wTBZkHy4VFcMmhFXtCzVu4OqySCjXIUTQJ0yMdUHO4akvCeaQ4aVthF0QKCX-qHHPM/s320/mirror.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><br />Love is not an emotion, </i></div>
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<i>it is your very existence.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<i>Your body is away from me, </i><br />
<i>but there is a window open <br />from my heart to yours.<br />From this window, like the moon, <br />I keep sending news secretly.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuEFMUbA269JO8qKm9E8xOqHjp7gKbHuFMB_Tt8IvLxTWB__seSzohowbJUo6kAgsZdQu9sWjS0wmkxh5nK-z04WjwsNLrdXfA-ZdhYqZ3dYJdi2wOAkYjZKub3R3kyJ6JvUmqJQpUUw/s1600/FB_IMG_1455198010231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuEFMUbA269JO8qKm9E8xOqHjp7gKbHuFMB_Tt8IvLxTWB__seSzohowbJUo6kAgsZdQu9sWjS0wmkxh5nK-z04WjwsNLrdXfA-ZdhYqZ3dYJdi2wOAkYjZKub3R3kyJ6JvUmqJQpUUw/s320/FB_IMG_1455198010231.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<i><br />Why struggle to open a door between us when the whole wall is an illusion?<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1UEXh1tVpWNGfH2LvQ8tYKm0v-F8qs-nbnRkbPcweJSrV84vZPEtxmk10lzmF4wnfIhv1RYZDkSrO5ZSEdvPoNlnlaQXKRhaWly0cRbcmprpOihJojj_10TXjZo0NGgCkYvDkM04wBY/s1600/12301510_884111408347083_3066646858633233702_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1UEXh1tVpWNGfH2LvQ8tYKm0v-F8qs-nbnRkbPcweJSrV84vZPEtxmk10lzmF4wnfIhv1RYZDkSrO5ZSEdvPoNlnlaQXKRhaWly0cRbcmprpOihJojj_10TXjZo0NGgCkYvDkM04wBY/s320/12301510_884111408347083_3066646858633233702_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><br />You think you are alive because you breathe air?<br />Shame on you, that you are alive in such a limited way.<br />Don't be without Love, so you won't feel dead.<br />Die in Love and stay alive forever.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK69SOkULB0Fhx5Kzap4ov7bdWFE-u3CU7JeXC1HiTsDEMxC1Ak9X0YVPTBrmgY-DvmPDhBiMKIUzimL_c1J6h9wGd0jHRlxgf_5Jkxf-7lJnBJvK6KFL_MiInJ4gxnGjrLgNglYWf4Ho/s1600/1511072_10153074890433185_4055609081741875967_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK69SOkULB0Fhx5Kzap4ov7bdWFE-u3CU7JeXC1HiTsDEMxC1Ak9X0YVPTBrmgY-DvmPDhBiMKIUzimL_c1J6h9wGd0jHRlxgf_5Jkxf-7lJnBJvK6KFL_MiInJ4gxnGjrLgNglYWf4Ho/s320/1511072_10153074890433185_4055609081741875967_n.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<i><br />In fact, my soul and yours are the same, <br />You appear in me, I in you, <br />We hide in each other.<br />~ Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhafPB7Rgd_TH2DlaGr0v6F0suu_h7BvdYZeS7Bcct6ULsqmeAp8nQJ5BFgyMyz0suc2H5XInkEt6ua9optdtT0Yv3c1_GWLKRou1HfX2eq_fM8I0kRqO2lKqpX45YY1mOzIJNzCfrxY/s1600/12510424_911521022272788_9131735732703474117_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhafPB7Rgd_TH2DlaGr0v6F0suu_h7BvdYZeS7Bcct6ULsqmeAp8nQJ5BFgyMyz0suc2H5XInkEt6ua9optdtT0Yv3c1_GWLKRou1HfX2eq_fM8I0kRqO2lKqpX45YY1mOzIJNzCfrxY/s320/12510424_911521022272788_9131735732703474117_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>At the end of my life, </i><br />
<i>with just one breath left, <br />if you come, I’ll sit up and sing.<br />-Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9qFY1aEbgcnYcnmgIgaPAghxGylubIsXgWeDe03I7Y6eeS7WMx9s2XMK5-MZ8YFgoqv4HBsPzc65lWFpvQjk5KFUbC6SA6xAQ5YIOKeCmDn5T0e6dMGPzztq5n7NXc-XEL_jp_sv0Ps/s1600/4542887645_e6dbc8f9b9_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9qFY1aEbgcnYcnmgIgaPAghxGylubIsXgWeDe03I7Y6eeS7WMx9s2XMK5-MZ8YFgoqv4HBsPzc65lWFpvQjk5KFUbC6SA6xAQ5YIOKeCmDn5T0e6dMGPzztq5n7NXc-XEL_jp_sv0Ps/s320/4542887645_e6dbc8f9b9_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><br />I will be waiting here<br />For your silence to break<br />For your soul to shake<br />For your love to wake. </i></div>
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<i>-Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MjVwYrYVkTOXpOC8FpMt7ctE5dG1NBllQ3-qpNIT0ocq-9YdbkrDOBh4RwNjvJhw8VK6_F_sbBcKPue_QxxmwvR4Sm91Ap77EfX2oc4oLBfDTQ7r4-aEAN1i5SSzTZg0LNrvnQDwIbA/s1600/lovelyeyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MjVwYrYVkTOXpOC8FpMt7ctE5dG1NBllQ3-qpNIT0ocq-9YdbkrDOBh4RwNjvJhw8VK6_F_sbBcKPue_QxxmwvR4Sm91Ap77EfX2oc4oLBfDTQ7r4-aEAN1i5SSzTZg0LNrvnQDwIbA/s320/lovelyeyes.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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<i>To Love is human. </i><br />
<i>To feel Pain is human. <br />Yet to still Love despite the Pain is pure Angel.<br />-Rumi </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiW2poA0sqpPeduymiUL8TWc-G4FRga60vKm7zVXKluT-lCMnJFRG3NFwxQirb-INGDW8Sy6Rv0A66DOuwYIIjdGBVkZJF9RYQIAy1DmfCnnbYX4Z8sqeJY-nTSE7EAoRAf9h1eNBnoM/s1600/11225294_10153737625438185_5862584586800271425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiW2poA0sqpPeduymiUL8TWc-G4FRga60vKm7zVXKluT-lCMnJFRG3NFwxQirb-INGDW8Sy6Rv0A66DOuwYIIjdGBVkZJF9RYQIAy1DmfCnnbYX4Z8sqeJY-nTSE7EAoRAf9h1eNBnoM/s320/11225294_10153737625438185_5862584586800271425_n.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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<i>I don’t know where I end and You begin.<br />~Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrmCUieifXkWt1uPKkVZqm_8JuZFO84xqeb-dOFfDTTsFK7ctVKkPCX2wWcI_GM9lo2RS03iytCkpGiMkN7eJ-r7-TyUffYTYtgwvFDLbWO9Bz9M8PEnw2-6AFjh28cqcxaGoJ_Z4P4E/s1600/1925188_10152359787773185_589355136_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrmCUieifXkWt1uPKkVZqm_8JuZFO84xqeb-dOFfDTTsFK7ctVKkPCX2wWcI_GM9lo2RS03iytCkpGiMkN7eJ-r7-TyUffYTYtgwvFDLbWO9Bz9M8PEnw2-6AFjh28cqcxaGoJ_Z4P4E/s320/1925188_10152359787773185_589355136_n.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>No joy have I found in the two worlds <br />Apart from you, Beloved.<br />Many wonders I have seen:<br />I have not seen a wonder like you.<br />~Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3LLWdEhKakC1CjKuFQFz_1gAx5ehkvcDEMs_9vwNB-0-GAyt_y_Ghu_aSvWU-XSH8SGqCs5OVeQwuXPIh_aPp3Ce0caDtUE7jKaUnVDaNVuM0wP7cgU5YCOmESlV0e0eNy1ye2m3-UA/s1600/11140348_1616202621971165_346246219875117519_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3LLWdEhKakC1CjKuFQFz_1gAx5ehkvcDEMs_9vwNB-0-GAyt_y_Ghu_aSvWU-XSH8SGqCs5OVeQwuXPIh_aPp3Ce0caDtUE7jKaUnVDaNVuM0wP7cgU5YCOmESlV0e0eNy1ye2m3-UA/s320/11140348_1616202621971165_346246219875117519_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>I am a Mountain<br />You call ~ I echo <br />Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpCa-ACRlKqih1oQq6uVpHPVAzIgmQQMQFJocxGmPk-RoxRHf3ULDPTpgYrHbREu7px2qLpskMXmFCuzJEkeKEdyuRT3ookmwP-tRO-9NJiVZt77vtfMO7Bf0WzFJJwcjP8-ljq72QYM/s1600/FB_IMG_1455197815402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpCa-ACRlKqih1oQq6uVpHPVAzIgmQQMQFJocxGmPk-RoxRHf3ULDPTpgYrHbREu7px2qLpskMXmFCuzJEkeKEdyuRT3ookmwP-tRO-9NJiVZt77vtfMO7Bf0WzFJJwcjP8-ljq72QYM/s320/FB_IMG_1455197815402.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>The One Who Truly Loves You <br />Will Set You Free<br />~Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9U74zn9bx7kCuVu4OS9WfhBHbGcyemPClBaNNkn7zBZB3vs0akvImuDMrYEc68sAoOwWSRqFH4-UIQys4g-vUd5C12ZlxWO0G4JUVRIJuuQ8P9vawlSjrWc2Pcd6s2yrKnxBu7V3BNg/s1600/12279125_10153777239733185_395105987656604757_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9U74zn9bx7kCuVu4OS9WfhBHbGcyemPClBaNNkn7zBZB3vs0akvImuDMrYEc68sAoOwWSRqFH4-UIQys4g-vUd5C12ZlxWO0G4JUVRIJuuQ8P9vawlSjrWc2Pcd6s2yrKnxBu7V3BNg/s320/12279125_10153777239733185_395105987656604757_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Your soul is so close to mine..<br />That what you dream, I know...<br />I know everything you think of...<br />Your heart is so close to mine!<br />-Rumi</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k0hwDwWOgP48_Ujn67KFyDYPngSe5lA7dM_Gbko6SRndVsn_tz2rZYfVrrJbaN8cWFh02XSxZl_f6aXLHdVFdXD40trArvK8HtPNnBYjl2aRHW71JfY9OZdC_0Kql4wH_hdOYjsdMAg/s1600/littlegirllights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k0hwDwWOgP48_Ujn67KFyDYPngSe5lA7dM_Gbko6SRndVsn_tz2rZYfVrrJbaN8cWFh02XSxZl_f6aXLHdVFdXD40trArvK8HtPNnBYjl2aRHW71JfY9OZdC_0Kql4wH_hdOYjsdMAg/s320/littlegirllights.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Come let's fall in love again <br />let's turn all the dirt in this world to shiny gold.<br />~ Rumi</i> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-5971798824359182382015-09-26T10:58:00.000-07:002015-09-26T11:48:43.122-07:00You are the Universe expressing itself.... Don't die with the Music still inside you...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><i><b>"<span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't die with the music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your souls" - Wayne Dyer </span></b></i></span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666;">Most of you are well aware that I </span><span style="color: #666666;">have not been writing much recently on Soul Food Bites. I am not sure if it was a writers block or simply that my soul had chosen to experience and express itself in other creative forms recently. Between this period my vegan food website "A Sweet Vegan World" was born and it will always be very close to my heart. But whenever I would go anywhere people would ask me about Soul Food Bites articles and why I had stopped writing them. I really had no answer. It just wasn't happening. I just wasn't feeling like it. I felt like I had nothing to say really. I guess.. </span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666;">But then something really got to me the other day. It was the news of Wayne Dyer passing away. </span></span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14.66px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I honestly couldn't believe that this man had died...</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 14.66px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? You ask.. I didn't even know him personally right? But you know what? when I was in my darkest dungeon ..his words had the power to pull me out... Yes simple words..I held on to those words like a rope which pulled me out. Wise and inspirational words by some very wise authors. And Wayne Dyer was one of them. Wayne Dyer, Robin Sharma, Anthony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho and even Brian Weiss.. These authors unknowingly became my mentors through their works and their books.</span> </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="line-height: 1.38; text-align: left;"></span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="font-weight: normal;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c8f8034d-f97f-c2f0-f724-0ead61e05417" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14.66px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These authors became my rocks. And Wayne Dyer was one of such a big rock. He spoke about hope, inspiration, strength and sometimes even about orbs around his head and monarch butterflies sitting on his shoulders. :) And honestly initially even I wondered if he was deluded or something but as I read more and more of his books.. his words would resonate with the deepest part in me.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And today as I looked at his picture on one of my books, a sense of realisation dawned on me. His face appeared so serene and peaceful. It was as if he had written everything he knew and believed to be true and now had moved on to his next step in his eternal journey. It was as if he had emptied himself out ..fulfilled his purpose and moved on.. Some got inspired by him, some must have called his work humbug and some don't even know who he is. But he did what he was meant to do on this planet.. He wrote it all out... </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It really made me wonder..Had I written it all out? Yes some may read it, some may not, some may like it some may call it bullshit, one day it may culminate into a book , one day it may not. But the real question is had "I" written it all out? Or was I going to die with the "Music still inside my heart" as Wayne Dyer himself would say it. Was I going to share with the world everything that I had learnt since I began my journey consciously or would I just die with all the knowledge inside me?...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you really ask me last 6 years of my life have been so dramatically life altering that I have really prayed to God.... please give me one non-happening year!! Seriously! But then I realise life gives you experiences so that you may learn from them and share your learnings with others. All this could not be happening for no reason. I have to write it out. Weave them into beautiful stories.. Or what's the point? Right?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I believe the Universe expresses itself through us. It gives us desires, dreams, knowledge, experiences and opportunities for our learning and for sharing these learnings with others. And to express these desires is our purpose in life..The Music in our hearts.. And that's why many famous authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Paulo Coelho have repeatedly said that ..When you decide to follow your dreams the entire Universe supports you ....... Why? Because I believe you are simply the Universe expressing itself through you so when you align yourself with your dreams and desires you allow things to flow....allows opportunities to come your way. Yes ,we like the word opportunities as compared to the concept of the Universe supporting us..isn't it? :)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And to think about it..we are all going to die one day..each and every one of us..And it's really not going to matter how many Likes you got and how many you didn't. Even Mr. Deepak Chopra or for that matter Mahatma Gandhi have their fair share of nay sayers. But imagine if they didn't do what they were meant to do because of fear..</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A friend had recently sent me a message that<i> "The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are. The second greatest is being happy with what you find"...</i>How true is that!<i> </i>Accepting our true self is surprisingly such a challenging task. Never thought it would be like that.. But that's what it is.. right? I mean, I always wonder ..why did I choose this silly task of writing such thought provoking stuff!! why couldn't I have just chosen to be a famous movie star instead!! :) haha.. But I guess that's not how the story was supposed to go.. :) So many times we literally need the Universe to push us to finally get down to what we were meant to do! So funny huh!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span id="goog_10499462"></span><span id="goog_10499463"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666;">And as I stare at Wayne Dyer's serene face. I realise that even I want to die like that..after having written everything out.. Some may not read it, some may not like it, some may call it airy fairy but some sweet souls quietly read it and look forward for more and so I write for them and mainly for Me. As most of all I owe it to all my life experiences and my own soul to express itself clearly and give it an opportunity to do what it was meant to do!! Yes..it takes courage to put yourself out there..But that's the whole point isn't it?. I am not coming back all over again for it!! What about you? :) </span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-45767887807007672502014-10-06T08:30:00.000-07:002014-10-06T21:19:39.329-07:00Lessons of Unconditional Love from "Doggy"….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGmWsNWwM3OzAE_HRHqnC6i-pBiX_5-d9qAyX-9oeuUPPKn_mF3WULA6s4Rq7-3Wcjtmuhd_W5Wu7EwEoDQMtLPsh6D0tBQ3gitPdFvhJ2iXhbMVYk_UTAixQQvxWNq_ge1rYjYWlYmA/s1600/DSC_1073~2-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGmWsNWwM3OzAE_HRHqnC6i-pBiX_5-d9qAyX-9oeuUPPKn_mF3WULA6s4Rq7-3Wcjtmuhd_W5Wu7EwEoDQMtLPsh6D0tBQ3gitPdFvhJ2iXhbMVYk_UTAixQQvxWNq_ge1rYjYWlYmA/s1600/DSC_1073~2-001.jpg" height="640" width="338" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to introduce you to this wonderful being who recently came
into my life simply called “Doggy”. Why he is called just Doggy and not some
proper name is the entire basis of our relationship.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when we started
regularly visiting our small little beautiful village house, I was this typical
city dweller who would walk around with a wooden stick in my hand to protect
myself and my little one from some doggies who followed us around in the campus.
I would often wonder why the stray dogs are allowed to walk around in the
campus in the first place. Then slowly I noticed that this one particular doggy
always sat outside our house, always followed us everywhere no matter what
wherever we went. Sometimes I would be scared but then slowly I started getting
familiar with him. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;">Sometimes a thought would cross my mind whether I should feed
him something but then I would stop myself thinking that maybe this would
encourage the whole bunch of dogs to land at our doorstep. I thought this would
not be a wise thing since I had a little one to care for and protect and would
be scared of the germs that these dogs would be spread around. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this particular one would not give up. He would follow us
everywhere. Even if I didn’t give him any food he would still hang around in
the verandah and spend the whole weekend around us. My son too became familiar
with him and started pointing him out to me. He would say “Look Maa, there’s
our Doggy.” Slowly he started being “our doggy”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I began wondering that if he spends the whole weekend with
us where would he be eating? So I slowly started giving him some food. Then I
would notice that he would loudly bark whenever he saw any other dog near our
house. He was getting territorial. I never realised how powerful his bark
actually was. He never showed it to us. But whenever another dog approached our
house this fellow would growl and bark at him and then again gently just come
and sit on the verandah. I didn’t know what to make of this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then one day while walking around I happened to glance right
into his eyes. I was told never to stare at a dog right in his eye, but this
just happened. And I noticed such deep wise gentle eyes. He too was gently
staring right back at me. I suddenly felt so safe. I realised that he meant no
harm. Eyes are truly the windows to the souls and animals have souls too. I had
read a lot about this. But this was the first time it truly sank in for me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to think that my heart was open enough but I guess
not. This doggy taught me that I could further open my heart to him too. That
there were still places in me that I had not yet explored. Growing up in
matchbox sized homes in Mumbai, having a pet was a luxury that I hadn’t even
thought of. So I had an indifferent relationship with “pets”. I thought it was
something that I did not have to bother with. Humans already have so much
trouble. And that, there was already enough and more on my plate to worry about.
I didn’t realise that I had the capacity to hold much more love and compassion
than I had imagined. And ofcourse, with time he helped me open my heart so much
that I ended up becoming an active Vegan. I realised that I had an unexplored
area in my heart where I could extend my compassion to not just dogs but all
animals. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that day everything changed. I now looked forward to having
him around <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and he would always hang
around us during our entire stay. I started taking care of his meal timings. I
noticed which food he preferred and his mannerisms. He was simply just our
doggy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then came a stage when I would wonder what happens to him
when I go to Mumbai. Who gives him food? Would the other doggies be caring for
him now that he barks at them, when he is with us? Taking him physically back
with me wasn’t a realistic option for me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s when I learnt to hand him over to the Universe. I knew
he would be fine even when I was not around. I don’t need to own him, name him,
chain him, train him. Nothing! He is his own being. He is his own master. He
goes for his walks, comes and goes at his will. He stays with us out of his own
will. He is not our “pet”. And I am not his owner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is simply just our doggy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s when I realised what this doggy was teaching me! Isn’t
that what unconditional love is about? Not wanting to possess another being. To
be able to love another deeply without owning them. And more importantly, trusting
that they will be feeling that too no matter what. This has been such a major
lesson in my life.. letting go physically of my loved ones… my parents are in
another realm, my sister stays in another continent, my besties stay in other
countries and cities.. Infact, isn’t that the case with most of us nowadays?
Probably humanity as a whole needs to learn this lesson to love each other unconditionally
without physically possessing them. We may be spending the days of our lives
making new wonderful friends and sharing lives with other good people. But deep
down, given a choice, our hearts truly crave for each other. And if it doesn’t
then why worry anyways…</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They say that true unconditional love doesn’t mean that you
are visibly inseperable. It means that you are separate and still nothing
changes. If we are able to even understand this and more importantly believe
that such love truly exists and is even possible. It is enough. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And that’s what this gentle soul, “Doggy” teaches me….. Let
go. Don’t own me. I will still choose to come to you… And I too choose to have
that faith…</span></span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-5503187081692705012014-09-26T11:11:00.001-07:002014-10-07T02:24:01.643-07:00Our Hidden Sanctuaries, A Visual Diary and A Song ....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifmvei-Jla9zyBdHnx3Zpsj4FkLzhNAxNMd0rCTW_5O1SNgC-3c6xdIpGcZy1JCP-8ts0n1t3yw3TAXZfiIlI-M1iIEk3B5BRH97S8IAgt5s3Q-yXXRDSUxG1R1ZZL14dPgRIgEshydhw/s1600/IMG-20140819-WA0041~2~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifmvei-Jla9zyBdHnx3Zpsj4FkLzhNAxNMd0rCTW_5O1SNgC-3c6xdIpGcZy1JCP-8ts0n1t3yw3TAXZfiIlI-M1iIEk3B5BRH97S8IAgt5s3Q-yXXRDSUxG1R1ZZL14dPgRIgEshydhw/s1600/IMG-20140819-WA0041~2~2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<em><span style="color: black;">Here is an article that I had written for Speaking Tree on Meeting of Inner and Outer Sanctuaries which appeared on Sept 21, 2014. </span></em></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having been born, brought up and lived in the city of Mumbai most
of my life, I have always craved for the simple village life that I felt
deprived of. As a child, I would love to hear the stories that my friends had to
share about their visits to their home towns during summer vacations. Among
them, I thought that my friends from Goa where the luckiest people in the world
for being able to live in a sea-facing house surrounded by tall coconut trees.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I was very excited when we got the opportunity to buy a
beautiful small place of our own in the western part of Maharashtra admist the
heart of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nature - not for the glamour
quotient of owning a weekend home, but because this presented an opportunity
for me to experience the simple village life that I craved for. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To me, village life meant a beautiful sanctuary where I could
plant my own trees and follow the rhythm of nature. A place where I could go
for a healing embrace of mother nature and come back afresh to handle the day to
day hectic city life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mother Nature has that kind of healing effect on us, helps us
transmute all our stored negativity that we carry around and has the capacity
to fill the crevices of our jaded souls. Allowing us to experience that just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being</i> is enough we don’t have to
constantly to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">doing</i> something. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We all feel the need to experience such outer sanctuaries in
various forms whether it is a simple spiritual getaway, a weekend home or a
relaxing vacation repeatedly to heal our splintered souls. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What happens for most of us is that after we come back from
such a getaway we immediately start feeling the withdrawal blues rightaway. The
peace that we experienced gets immediately washed away as soon as we are back
home.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thich Nhat Hanh explains in his book ‘The Heart of the
Buddha’s Teaching’ that our object of perception is already inside us. When we
perceive the moon, the moon is us. The flower that we are looking at is a part
of our own consciousness. In this perspective, it helps to realise that this
outer sanctuary that we repeatedly crave for and the peace that it offers is
already contained within us. In our daily meditations by going within we can
access this beautiful place inside us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then we could be travelling in a train, or waiting for the
bus or sitting in the office, we can just simply close our eyes and visit this
beautiful sanctuary in all its beauty inside us and come back rejuvenated, well
equipped to handle the daily chores that lay ahead for all of us and fulfil our
roles with sincerity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This meeting of the outer and the inner sanctuaries is
nothing but a profound realisation that whatever we seek for in the outside
world is already inside us, we just need to see it with the right eyes… </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><em>So much hard work for a bowl of rice.....</em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQS2SUA9duk0YGn5bxV4A382yLE9zzTbWC44M-vnFa_HPAplpxfGJBbDaMdzdQFfwnO94XTos14oBYUeD9iZrGQxh7YVDYwqahyphenhyphenBJGLV8dtm1htww6IzEK1Ea_vW5V3Dyq4Mm2qYtnm8/s1600/IMG-20140819-WA0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQS2SUA9duk0YGn5bxV4A382yLE9zzTbWC44M-vnFa_HPAplpxfGJBbDaMdzdQFfwnO94XTos14oBYUeD9iZrGQxh7YVDYwqahyphenhyphenBJGLV8dtm1htww6IzEK1Ea_vW5V3Dyq4Mm2qYtnm8/s1600/IMG-20140819-WA0042.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
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<em>It's never too early for a bit of gratitude meditation</em> </div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx_g_ArmCXixLG8RSWAS4jd0nE-lPbhy-hqa7m0Rzkpw2tln_44zLIawhjbipdw09IioWenPwCSGyWXElNJa23dMbRFZLPIHaPphJL3wzXzGlHEXCOANdt9QYi5HPNxJRyme5oAE0Mps/s1600/DSC_0106~2~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx_g_ArmCXixLG8RSWAS4jd0nE-lPbhy-hqa7m0Rzkpw2tln_44zLIawhjbipdw09IioWenPwCSGyWXElNJa23dMbRFZLPIHaPphJL3wzXzGlHEXCOANdt9QYi5HPNxJRyme5oAE0Mps/s1600/DSC_0106~2~2.jpg" height="640" width="516" /></a></div>
<br />
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<em><span style="color: black;">Or some contemplation....</span></em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtWuBJEaaPqqe82URn97SbPIPm6Oumiel_TYYiRLGghf4IoJR8m7JQHzp90h4q-uZbfp_5wRGiFvoPG8keeIjoSaXLqZyXcw0GB_nANA_gX-cwhYt65O2_aYKRedCnqbPv-sge3aM5pY/s1600/DSC_0129~2~3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtWuBJEaaPqqe82URn97SbPIPm6Oumiel_TYYiRLGghf4IoJR8m7JQHzp90h4q-uZbfp_5wRGiFvoPG8keeIjoSaXLqZyXcw0GB_nANA_gX-cwhYt65O2_aYKRedCnqbPv-sge3aM5pY/s1600/DSC_0129~2~3.jpg" height="292" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Or seeing the connections and cheering for the snail.......</em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE78_WJcpfyqr4ze_LRrgC0oG_F8bTuc6-L_5mAzAPZkBb8WL5CIG0MlhrEQJR6oZleh5UqiB3VDu1aP8Ok-oCFDs5GA7K3QaV-7qEjPlyCvQhW5GiMORAZxlGEBwhmKxvGRI9cXAnIQg/s1600/DSC_0072~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE78_WJcpfyqr4ze_LRrgC0oG_F8bTuc6-L_5mAzAPZkBb8WL5CIG0MlhrEQJR6oZleh5UqiB3VDu1aP8Ok-oCFDs5GA7K3QaV-7qEjPlyCvQhW5GiMORAZxlGEBwhmKxvGRI9cXAnIQg/s1600/DSC_0072~2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Home is truly where your heart is.... </em></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjcjgPEfz76Qei5BO_cFsdydEyciJUVi-WmDa43oVl5oSk0MPBJTY_trvvn6Bof9ve46YwoSylCx-FdlQMHBAvd7-Z98Fe21BSVOq8v1q5KZjnCQXnBevopz3UtGWeSCm_LegddDM-UQ/s1600/DSC_0148~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjcjgPEfz76Qei5BO_cFsdydEyciJUVi-WmDa43oVl5oSk0MPBJTY_trvvn6Bof9ve46YwoSylCx-FdlQMHBAvd7-Z98Fe21BSVOq8v1q5KZjnCQXnBevopz3UtGWeSCm_LegddDM-UQ/s1600/DSC_0148~2.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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<em>On that note it reminds me.. long time, no song, right? Listening to <strong>Samjhawan sung by Arijit Singh</strong> on FM right now. Beautiful lyrics and this Arijit Singh is a truly blessed singer.... Njoy, listen to each and every word with full awareness and Smile! Your smile is precious....</em> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-24754074038177899452014-09-08T01:26:00.000-07:002014-09-08T01:26:32.196-07:00There goes my glass of wine too!! And I am not even complaining... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_zGDLTHshtll2w1rA_iRHgI8kq6W4nDBKUU6dGk-dVr88alFRNgC3a-1XKKjtODmA-84bzWhUVY0iW5_iwR2JgcwnhoPnU5x6_ZJc1Gw-5Mq1-7KFkokUCq2HEaPeODX1VYIJ6xYtMc/s1600/3849294263_9e25a667cf_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_zGDLTHshtll2w1rA_iRHgI8kq6W4nDBKUU6dGk-dVr88alFRNgC3a-1XKKjtODmA-84bzWhUVY0iW5_iwR2JgcwnhoPnU5x6_ZJc1Gw-5Mq1-7KFkokUCq2HEaPeODX1VYIJ6xYtMc/s1600/3849294263_9e25a667cf_z.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our daily life presents us with wonderful opportunities of mindful living and the other day a simple conversation with my little 5 year old son made me realise the powerful potential that each moment presents to us and our capacity to either harness it or ignore it has the power to plant the seeds of endless future possibilities which we cannot see today.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would really hardly call myself a drinker and a single glass
of wine maybe once a couple of months socially almost qualifies me as a teetotaller.
But the other day, while we were sipping a glass of wine, on a rainy late
evening, my son came there and asked me a simple pointed question. He came up
to me and said “Maa, isn’t alcohol harmful for health? Don’t you know that? Then
how come you are having it?” And as most adults would, I went on to explain to
him that one glass of wine occasionally is not harmful and anything that is
done in the right balance is not harmful to our health. He seemed unsatisfied,
had a disturbed look on his face and said “But it’s still alcohol!” and then
went about his way. :(</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I felt very uneasy after that incident. As a logical adult, I
know for a fact that one glass of wine perhaps once a couple of months does
absolutely no harm to our health. But then, why am I feeling uncomfortable? What
is this situation trying to teach me? I wondered. Here is a little boy bringing
a lesson to me, what am I missing out here? His face kept coming to me and I
could imagine both of us having the exact same conversation a few years down
the line in reverse roles. I couldn’t reach a resolution. So I thought that if
I let this just stay with me, it will eventually lead me to the answer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And co-incidentally, these days I am reading Thich Nhat
Hanh’s book called “The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching” and a couple of days later
I reached the part on page 97 where he explains an exact similar situation
about a woman having wine! He explains beautifully that the Ministry of Health
in France advises people not to drink too much. They advertise on television
that “One glass is ok, but three glasses invites destruction.” But if the first
glass were not there in the first place, how could there be a third glass? Not
having the first glass of wine is the highest form of protection. He goes on to
say that if you give up wine, you’ll be doing it not only for yourself but also
for your children and the society. You may not have the seeds of alcoholism in
you, but who knows whether the seed of alcoholism is in your children! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oops!! This hit me like a bull’s eye! This is a bit much of a
co-incidence. Was this the resolution that I was looking for? I thought. Most
of us on the spiritual path are well aware of the concepts and ideas that there
are actually no co-incidences and that the universe sends it’s messages to us
in strange little ways. We are well aware and well-read about the concepts of our wise
new age children. But do we have the courage to act upon these messages and
listen to them when they actually happen in our life or do we just simply
ignore them? That is a true test of our beliefs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I decided to take this message from the Universe seriously
and act on it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went up to my little baby
and told him that he was indeed right. One glass of wine is still alcohol and
that I do not really need to consume it at all to feel good or comply socially. I thanked him for being
so wise and pointing it out to me bravely. He looked very delighted with this
and the look on his face itself was worth the decision for me. :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some people may call this extreme or too moralistic but I
call this heart based living. Doesn’t make logical sense but feels right to me.
This may not make me very popular but then again I am not here to be popular,
am I? I am here to follow my deeper purpose in complete harmony with the Universe. So many people have wines and all
sorts of things and this situation does not happen to them, does it? Maybe giving up wine
may not be in tandem with their purpose in life, which is great for them. But it did happen to me! So I
have to have the spine and respect and honour it for what it is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And in a way I am also not very surprised as I realise that this is not way out of line of where I am naturally heading towards too.. I am already a vegetarian.. literally a vegan.. can't really consume animal products anymore....done with the lattes, milk chais, cheese, paneer and yoghurts also...So I guess, there goes my indulgence of a glass of wine too!! :) It's almost like a natural guided progression.. something which I am not even actively advocating.. Its just happening effortlessly and I am observing it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also today, I have no idea what this simple act of giving up my
glass of wine based on my son’s observation may have an impact on mine or his
future life or the society that he will operate in. And when he grows up I
don’t want to hold him to it as a tit for tat and a reason for him to not touch
alcohol. Ofcourse, he will go through his own experiences of what this world
has to offer. But I am sure that this tiny incident is etched forever as a part
of his life story and his consciousness. Maybe it will help him in his darkest
hour or maybe he will probably amusingly tell this story to his grandchildren and
that itself will have it’s own ripple effects on that future generation. I
cannot see those ripple effects today. But I do know that today I was presented
with an opportunity to plant this seed of Right Action which may grow into a
beautiful tree somewhere tomorrow. Isn’t that what mindful living is all about? :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9RhQcDh3FRJNii_SaGcrB89MkMs6zKauWWXAeVK0hGsQL-rn7y7xpgPidQnjT-xBbbreExhPsrjAqH_YuOc4QCgZd-IjY2H8YRF9F2egyYHgae92dGgFVKUt6VEpCg67uGWjU9R-pRQ/s1600/3244719456_6b24583237_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9RhQcDh3FRJNii_SaGcrB89MkMs6zKauWWXAeVK0hGsQL-rn7y7xpgPidQnjT-xBbbreExhPsrjAqH_YuOc4QCgZd-IjY2H8YRF9F2egyYHgae92dGgFVKUt6VEpCg67uGWjU9R-pRQ/s1600/3244719456_6b24583237_z.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-47751286170306520572014-08-03T21:19:00.000-07:002014-10-07T02:40:30.112-07:00It's A Personal Journey...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">Here is an article that I had written, an abridged version of which appeared
in The Speaking Tree Edition of The Times of India dated August 3, 2014. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHDHmQDqv2psKhaCDiaMsJYUDoPwzFGNER1VmWuvb_1KDGG_C-FvrJWNyJ6DYfOWhU6GgUqK66aoETeprlDXfCChmKhHXgCt-88HuG_C6rk-nf8S-jsrnobE92phQ9bQbo4ErywIbcKU/s1600/Its+a+Personal+Journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHDHmQDqv2psKhaCDiaMsJYUDoPwzFGNER1VmWuvb_1KDGG_C-FvrJWNyJ6DYfOWhU6GgUqK66aoETeprlDXfCChmKhHXgCt-88HuG_C6rk-nf8S-jsrnobE92phQ9bQbo4ErywIbcKU/s1600/Its+a+Personal+Journey.jpg" height="400" width="378" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEq4phXI9_bMG0dfB8LMfcKCYFvOOZ5PC2Q052WiHh310Stc_3shPGo0pqCcn8r7mvr82V66__HE_edBwVms_GGCrY5QGIG139RRGHaS3GTRKlJdkQ2-x5fl5KlogYaCqUV9y2aLgEjA/s1600/2940184534_ba64046979_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEq4phXI9_bMG0dfB8LMfcKCYFvOOZ5PC2Q052WiHh310Stc_3shPGo0pqCcn8r7mvr82V66__HE_edBwVms_GGCrY5QGIG139RRGHaS3GTRKlJdkQ2-x5fl5KlogYaCqUV9y2aLgEjA/s1600/2940184534_ba64046979_z.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">Most of us who are on the spiritual path would have encountered the
terms spiritual ego, spiritual competition and spiritual shopping. When I
became conscious of my path, I was warned of these concepts also. But I was
sure that these things won't happen to me, or so I thought, this path was
supposed to be full of compassion, healing, love, peace and happiness. I
thought competition was a part of the corporate life which I had left behind a
few years ago.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">But as I trod along the path, these terms began making an
appearance, albeit slowly. As people around you come to know of your spiritual
interests, conversations naturally tend to steer toward it. You will be asked
with anxiety, whether you practice reiki daily? How long do you meditate daily?
Have you read a book of this particular author? How many spiritual workshops
have you attended? Do you know pranic healing, tarot cards, angel cards, etc.?
Are you part of any spiritual organization? You will be given unsolicited gyan
on what a particular guru or teacher says and if you tend to disagree with
that, then Lord only spare you!! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">All this can sometimes cause a lot of energy imbalance and anxiety
inside you. One needs to remember that at a deeper level this is a very
personal journey and that it needs to be respected for what it is. There are
many paths which lead to the same Source and to assume that yours’ is the only
path is a serious disservice to someone else’s journey.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">My conscious journey started after the sudden and tragic death of
my parents in an accident when I had just been blessed with a lovely baby. This
was the first time aspects of duality- death and birth, anger and gratitude,
darkness and light were staring at me right at my face. This made me question
every concept I knew or was conditioned to believe about life and death. My
relationship with the Universe had got distorted and it had been of anger yet
of thankfulness. And this confused state of mind was affecting my daily life.
And I realised that to be a better person, I have to heal myself completely at
a soul level.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">Clarifying my purpose helped me to get back to the place of
unconditional love and compassion once again. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">We all got attracted to our own spiritual path in this lifetime for
a particular reason. The reasons could be various for each one of us such as
needing to manage our daily stress, loss of purpose in life in general, relationship
issues, a need to heal some disease, a loss of loved one and so on. If we are
clear about our purpose of getting on this journey, then it helps us stay true
to it. Monitoring our improvements on this front helps us increase our self-confidence
and thus reduces our inner anxieties to keep cross checking our efforts with
others. As Thich Nhat Hanh said “There is no enlightenment outside of daily
life”. If your practice is helping you in your daily life to become a better
person, improving your relationship with your loved ones, healing you, giving
you inner strength, then how does it matter how many hours your neighbour is
meditating or how many workshops he is attending?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"><span style="color: #444444;">To me, a spiritual journey is an inner experiential journey of
self-actualization. It is about discovering the divine place within you and not
outside of you. It is futile to judge others and draw comparisons on this path.
It is about listening to our inner voice who has been our eternal companion in
our journey and guides us towards finally uniting with our true being, provided
we listen to it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #7F7F7F; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: background1; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvlRDuRThGjVA3_TCT62Gol3-K2eoCej8DP-ATHHNijnVN6WIjjcIZbUPDVndltcXcCOnMagh3ott6UhsSlmcvjz5rL9apIH-DiZPfF_eiJ7Jn6HI4jNMeh85N0o7GksnZVQohWJsL6g/s1600/5854574536_a93c588068_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvlRDuRThGjVA3_TCT62Gol3-K2eoCej8DP-ATHHNijnVN6WIjjcIZbUPDVndltcXcCOnMagh3ott6UhsSlmcvjz5rL9apIH-DiZPfF_eiJ7Jn6HI4jNMeh85N0o7GksnZVQohWJsL6g/s1600/5854574536_a93c588068_b.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-5343496047183850312014-07-18T00:59:00.000-07:002014-07-22T20:39:31.896-07:00I am the soul that lives within.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Life is the most amazing teacher. Every single day through simple daily instances it teaches you something new about your own self and pushes you to go deeper and deeper to question your belief systems. Makes you wonder about everything that you thoughtlessly judged as good or bad before. </div>
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Worth noting them down...life's little musings... with all its contradictions and humour.. Nothing heavy today.. just some simple wonderings....</div>
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And the other day, a simple act of getting a photograph done got me thinking and musing over what I actually am. Made me question what is my outer me and what is my inner me? And who sees what?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8QHUfiD64Q0-CCbYHSQGaVdnwD7FXgmw9CR02JRejd1DUkLDFV6eHQhAyltWn7IT0VjKbSSqU96luKLt-bWx5iysyCioNYz0AnHyeRRnwh4kWrM2lVNJy1wzwR9ICqvefXMfweMb5mY/s1600/3276731419_69cfe3e7f5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8QHUfiD64Q0-CCbYHSQGaVdnwD7FXgmw9CR02JRejd1DUkLDFV6eHQhAyltWn7IT0VjKbSSqU96luKLt-bWx5iysyCioNYz0AnHyeRRnwh4kWrM2lVNJy1wzwR9ICqvefXMfweMb5mY/s1600/3276731419_69cfe3e7f5_z.jpg" height="376" width="400" /></a></div>
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<em>"I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within." - Rumi</em></div>
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So the other day, I wanted some instant passport size pictures done. I went to this cute little shop and the guy there quickly clicked my picture and went to take the printout. And while I was waiting there, I could see him working on his computer. I was curious to know what is he exactly doing with my picture so I went near him to watch him work. And I was so fascinated by what I saw. </div>
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This guy had opened my picture in photoshop and was working on my face. He very sincerely removed every single blemish from my face, he nicely smoothened my cheeks and made me a shade fairer. He didn't stop at that, he then went on to fix my hair too. He nicely with his paintbrush adjusted them, rubbed out the ones that were flying out of place and made me prim and proper. One part of me wanted to tell him.. Dude, I look just fine the way I am!! and I am not going to pay you extra for this "fixing." But he was doing it all so sincerely and as a matter of factly that I just smilingly waited for the final result. I wanted to know how exactly, did this person think, I "should" look like? :)</div>
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And then very pleased with his job gave me my printouts. And obviously I looked great in it!! And it made me wonder, Really? Who can I even show this picture to? This is not even me. :) And even if I ended up showing it to people they would simply dismiss it as a fudged photograph, right?</div>
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But then I remembered something which made me wonder even more. Remember in the earlier days (Did I just say that!!?? ;)) Well, yeah, so before photoshop, I should say :). So earlier, when we would go to take a picture, they would give you a few minutes to fix yourself. There would be a small corner where you could look in the mirror, put on some talcum powder and comb your hair. And after this ritual you would sit there and properly get a picture taken, right? </div>
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Come to think of it, didn't the photoshop guy do the same thing on my picture? He put some concealer on my face and added some pink on my cheeks and brushed my hair...but only digitally didn't he? So then, it's still me, right? :) What's really wrong with that? </div>
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And so many people feel compelled to do that every single day of their life, right? No, I am not talking about basic hygiene and being "presentable" here. I am talking about actually picking up a brush and painting your face... putting on some makeup to enhance our looks..that's perfectly okay, right? So why does it feel wrong if we do it on photoshop? Why does that feel like fudging? Something to think about.....</div>
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And imagine, if I put this picture of mine on social networks, people would actually think this is what I look like! There are some people who probably we will never meet again in physical life but we are virtually connected to them on a daily basis. And with this picture, their entire lifetime they would think.. this is what I look like, with flawless smooth skin, a shade fairer and perfect hair!!! Talk about reality...and being yourself...<br />
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But what if I put on some makeup on my actual face and post that picture. Wouldn't I be doing the same fudging? How come that's alright? <br />
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And would I feel my authentic self with people who thought and wanted me to look flawless like that? Is it even worth it? <br />
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When I get stressed or depressed I tend to put on weight...when I start healing I automatically loose all my extra weight.. sometimes I colour my hair red...sometimes I straighten them out prim and proper... sometimes I like them loosely curly and flowing. I look different when I wake up in the mornings. I look different when I feel happy. I look different when I am sad or angry....<br />
So this outer me keeps changing all the time and sometimes not even in my control. They say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and the one who doesn't see the inner me....sees who and what then? <br />
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Reminds me of the day that I was going to get my glasses for the first time with my Dad and my sister. I was in my 10th standard then so obviously I was not very happy and a bit sad then. And my astute Dad had sensed that and he very sweetly with very few words told me that anyone who can't see the real me beyond my glasses was so not worth it. And that was the biggest advice I carry with me always and in some ways it got me thinking at an early age about the joy of being my authentic self and the real me...Who was this me beyond my glasses? I found it a very fascinating idea...<br />
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But yes..there's one enhancer that I myself am addicted to.. and that's my eye kohl...my kaajal pencil...and as I ponder more about it.. I guess that's where it leads to... the eyes.. </div>
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The eyes are the windows to our soul, they say. Is that where my inner me resides? :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeouqmjhpsfulG1FB7nGMtyOW9eu_Y3S_7wxZ5VO6Ql7FpxZRF6QGMpVW0HropKcmtwEzm3GwgB-bbpNMvRggMbEy4VSp9xWDL0IPUqYlLWmna3MYyXYIt99peRbOyE8MINSRXdZzc2mE/s1600/5413027180_8b59fbf6c8_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeouqmjhpsfulG1FB7nGMtyOW9eu_Y3S_7wxZ5VO6Ql7FpxZRF6QGMpVW0HropKcmtwEzm3GwgB-bbpNMvRggMbEy4VSp9xWDL0IPUqYlLWmna3MYyXYIt99peRbOyE8MINSRXdZzc2mE/s1600/5413027180_8b59fbf6c8_z.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-79813517332366262852014-07-09T07:35:00.000-07:002014-07-09T21:35:05.251-07:00Let Our Children Just Be....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">I
am truly blessed to have been meeting really wonderful souls as my journey
continues. And a few months back, I met a wonderful friend, Lissa and through
her I had the opportunity to know about her little sister Tara. Tara, a
lovely 12 year old beautiful soul, left this world on 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> March 2014
but is still spiritually connected to all of us. This amazing soul
left behind a treasure cove of wonderful metaphysical and thought
provoking writings at such a young age. The Universe feels like a safe and
wonderful place to be in because pure beings like her are still a part of it.
And she shows the proof of her eternal existence through her lovely poems which
she left behind for her loved ones and the rest of the world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Through
some of her metaphysical writings, Tara, a little 12 year old girl displays a
lingering memory of our true identity, that we are not just the bodies and the
physical form that we appear to be in. And she expressed it beautifully through
her thoughts and feelings. Her lovely thought provoking poems simply amaze me.
Makes me wonder, if a 12 year old child can be true to her feelings why can’t we
all be. And she seems to keep inspiring us all in multiple ways….</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfejkyTouAXRlNprDeJM9W3PBqiGhV3_nHqGxXcYA2rFqiIZuNEHfIFWN5B9ixAcbDtSGSaRy2RlDaR2CmZI6AP3ZdpvBmGrhbVQe4u9bjnbAfd4HQV-Y4Txh2Od1SA2KkKCuWoJaero/s1600/Tara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfejkyTouAXRlNprDeJM9W3PBqiGhV3_nHqGxXcYA2rFqiIZuNEHfIFWN5B9ixAcbDtSGSaRy2RlDaR2CmZI6AP3ZdpvBmGrhbVQe4u9bjnbAfd4HQV-Y4Txh2Od1SA2KkKCuWoJaero/s1600/Tara.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Tara
is a true example of our delightful children who have come down here with a
mission to make this world a better place. They are wonderful, sensitive beings
who possess many special unique talents and are gifted in their own way. The
eternal question “Who am I?” which haunts us all throughout our lives is
arising in their minds at a very young age. </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Perhaps,
because they have not yet forgotten the reality of who we really are. But many
children these days get misunderstood because of lack of spiritual awareness of parents.
In the name of “focus” we teach our children to repress all such beautiful
wonderings that come to the minds of little children naturally. Many of the
children are very spiritually aware and are highly evolved souls and have many
questions regarding God, heaven, hell, good, bad and everything else under the
sun. Sometimes, they even have answers that we ourselves are seeking. The real
question is, are we prepared for them? Or are we so “intelligent” and practical
that have we never “wasted” any time thinking about all this “stuff” in our own
lives?</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Tara’s
words in her poem …<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who am I?</i></span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Who am I? Am I a human?</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Am I an animal? Am I a soul?</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Or just a body?</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">But though now I lie in this bed,</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">One day I will be on my own feet
running and all of my dreams will come true.</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">But I still have to find who I
am…..</span></i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">In
the above poem, this little 12 year old girl feels the need to find who out she
truly is and knows there is much more to her than what simply appears to be. Have we tried to really find who we are? All souls are beautiful and
pure when they come down and are full of such wonderings before they get polluted by our limited
conditioning. </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">And
as a mother of a boy, it also makes me wonder, would we have been so accepting
of our little boys too? A boy writing metaphysical poetry! That’s all fine, but
he has to be focused, strong and aggressive to “do” something “real” in life,
right? We probably would have even secretly worried a bit about him.</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Imagine
this very familiar scene, A bunch of little boys are playing in the playground and somehow
the ones who are most aggressive, loud, dominating and wanting to control everything
will always be labelled as a potential “leader” material by some
observer. And to be nice, nobody around defies this label given to such boys.
But you think the other boys are not listening and learning from this?
Ofcourse, they are. So what has happened here? Firstly, the aggressive boy’s
behaviour gets encouraged and secondly, silently the other boys have learnt
that this is what one has to do to be a leader. Leader? Really? Leader of what?
And where will such a leader lead us to? Seems like not a very nice place to
me. </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">A
boy writing metaphysical poems would probably be seen as an aberration and a
cause of concern for his parents. There seems to be no apparent place in today’s world
for thought leadership or so we think and hence end up inculcating wrong values. And where did this all imbalance start?
At that playground… when nobody taught fairness, the importance of being kind,
compassionate and caring towards one’s own friends to these little boys. How
many of us would come back home and openly name and discuss these control
dramas which people knowingly/unknowingly play and how each unique child can
handle these situations without emulating another child? How many of us put our
energies and thoughts in this direction?</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">And
then we watch the television and complain about crime against women and
innocent people and feel horrible about these same grown boys….. But where did
this all start? Where did they learn that aggression and manipulation is what
gets you things? At that playground, when some parent thoughtlessly tried to show off
their leadership assessment skills….and others were too “nice” and kept quiet or
discuss this uncomfortable situation openly with their children.</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Children
are just pure children. We are the ones who begin slotting them in gender roles and fixed
templates. We forget the importance of letting them grow as holistic people and not just as boys or girls. The path of self-actualisation requires us to
balance our masculine and feminine energies and not supress either of them.
It’s important to encourage sensitivity, kindness, creativity, responsibility,
co-operation and assertiveness in all humans…both girls and boys equally.</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Yes,
we all are worried about the future and the careers of our children in today’s
competitive world. But thinking from a scarcity mentality won’t get us
anywhere. If we just allow our children to be who they are and help them in
exploring and honing their various unique talents, then they will develop high
self esteem, and will love to put in the required hours to master their talents
willingly and then eventually be successful and fulfilled in their life. It is us parents who
are not aware enough and hence have a very closed view of careers and life
which we pass on to our children. Just to give a simple example, if our child
likes music then our closed mind only imagines him playing in a rock band or a
classical concert and we discourage him to go ahead with it as a career. We
never imagine that maybe this child will open music schools countrywide or will
make music education accessible to everyone or teach a better way of learning
music to the coming generations or combine his love of music, maths and science and
come up with something totally new. It is our limited imagination and awareness
which makes us worry and transfer our insecurities to them and want them to be
a certain way and grow up in a certain fixed template. Imagine billions and
billions of children growing up in a few fixed set templates about life.
Really? </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">To
me personally, Jonathan Livingstone Seagul is one of the best books that you
can read to your child and help them celebrate who they really are and how only
by truly being who they are, will they shine and end up finding their “own”
tribe.</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Tara
is a beautiful example of our wonderful children who are immensely wise,
unique, thoughtful and talented. It is us parents who need to realise and
remember this sacred responsibility that we undertook. We need to be more aware
and be open to their unique talents and to the idea that they may end up being
teachers, healers, writers, artists, musicians, sportsmen or take up
careers and life paths which our little minds cannot even imagine at this point in time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">Also
Tara’s writings and her thoughts inspire us adults in a way, that we don’t need
to “Be” something to write out our pure thoughts and wonderings. She truthfully
wrote what she had to because she was connected to her Source and her intuitive
wisdom. And aren’t we all? She was not worried who will publish her material, who will read it and who will like it? She just simply wrote. She just simply was, who she was and hence inspiring us
all to “Just Be” who we are....</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">I
AM that I AM…..and that’s enough….</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You
can read more about lovely Tara and her writings on </span></span><a href="http://estrademagazine.com/tara-chazot/"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">http://estrademagazine.com/tara-chazot/</span></span></a><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"> </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-85777139933712617452014-03-01T13:04:00.000-08:002014-05-12T01:52:50.115-07:00The Universe is unfolding exactly as it should...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ22e2TKL_cqYwVpMa5HOzzPefNSEuHt7u0_ogsTZOmjSyBILPc0t8stTRMxlliJKbRq3gn6GCiLnoWHiZece0Of7euHkXhjv3sezP15yPeKBtJTxtplf-Dl4NXm3nSRXbpY_yCYZtt6M/s1600/4671195283_a216b1f88d_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ22e2TKL_cqYwVpMa5HOzzPefNSEuHt7u0_ogsTZOmjSyBILPc0t8stTRMxlliJKbRq3gn6GCiLnoWHiZece0Of7euHkXhjv3sezP15yPeKBtJTxtplf-Dl4NXm3nSRXbpY_yCYZtt6M/s1600/4671195283_a216b1f88d_b.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Whether or Not it is clear to you, the Universe is unfolding exactly
as it should” – Max Ehrmann</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While I was growing up, every
time we faced any challenge or any difficulty, my mother would always say
“Everything happens for the best”. As a child I took great comfort in that way
of thinking, as always after some time, things would come back to normal and we
all would be happy again. But as I grew up I started becoming more and more cynical
and felt that this was a fatalistic point of view. Ofcourse, everything turns
out well in the end ..do we have a choice? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought…we humans are highly adaptable and
as a survival strategy we look for the best in everything and try and be
happy…. But does it mean that, that was the best thing to happen? I wondered.
Little did I know that, what my Mom had shared with me, was such a profound truth….something
which I probably needed to discover on my own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so as I grew up, I kept struggling between
the ideas of going with the flow and being proactive. I wondered where one
ended and where the other started…..…..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometimes it helps to reflect on our own life and
how we ended up where we are and how it all panned out for us……When I was young
I actually wanted to be a chef. I used to come back from school and watch this
one cookery show from some culinary school in Switzerland which showed how to
make perfect white risen meringues and such amazing stuff….I was so fascinated….I wanted to do just that.
But my Dad was completely against me becoming a “cook” and thought that I would be cutting sacks of potatoes and onions for the rest of my life. ;) And in all fairness, I
loved him just too much to put up any fight against him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDxUb3JgBdd9fqQooLX0OvVhBSmAQSqm_TzfZzwHWrsxkb99lk7KohbJXzfsrXUmYTRwPJ0rwYFqQDpwfI6_fEVqwy8U8K9FTMwvnWVAxLtrPUsiPrci9jQ5LWJ8SUoP9r0kB0DDNMVs/s1600/Pictures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDxUb3JgBdd9fqQooLX0OvVhBSmAQSqm_TzfZzwHWrsxkb99lk7KohbJXzfsrXUmYTRwPJ0rwYFqQDpwfI6_fEVqwy8U8K9FTMwvnWVAxLtrPUsiPrci9jQ5LWJ8SUoP9r0kB0DDNMVs/s1600/Pictures.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what if I had fought with my
father and taken that path? I would not have met all the wonderful people that
I did…because they all already were on this other path. But the way things
have unfolded….I landed up exactly where I was supposed to be….I met exactly
all the people that I had to…Even if I tried to break away…..I was plonked
right back in the thick of it…. How much of it did I control? Or was I going
down a path which was already decided for me….Now if you ask me to rewind my
life and take me to the point where I could choose to becoming a chef.. Would I
take it? No, certainly not!! I may still take up a culinary course in future for
the joy of it.. But no rewinding…..</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lesson that I learnt here is
again listening to your heart... (somehow everything seems to boil down to that)...and understand its signals even when it is reluctant about something.
There are so many people who actually do put up a fight for their chosen path.
But I guess, I did not feel so strongly about the culinary path to put up a
fight for it. Not because I did not have enough courage to fight with my Dad
but my own inner conviction was not strong enough about it. Till a few months
back even if I was offered an opportunity or any suggestions to enter the food
industry, I would find myself being absolutely reluctant and finding some
reason or another to not enter it. That’s the difference between our talents and our purpose also, I guess.
Our purpose, when we finally discover it.. is something which makes us push all
the boundaries and we stop caring about who thinks what… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But honestly, all this can be a bit confusing,
yet fascinating and somehow seems to make sense only as an afterthought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I hadn’t gone through everything that I
did I would not have been able to identify my purpose or atleast parts of it and
reach this place in time at all…So everything unfolded exactly as it should
have….</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We tend to believe that we know
precisely what we want and know how to get it and everything is in our control.
And if somehow if it does not happen then we tend to blame ourselves that we
fell short somewhere. But when we look back at our own life and think how much
of what happened was totally in our own control given the available variables
at that point…you’ll get your answer. I mean, we believe that we can actually
control everything so much that we blame ourselves for every single thing. I
remember sitting and wondering what did “I” do that I lost my parents. Did I
not value them enough? Did I misuse their love in any way? Did I take them for
granted? I mean seriously!! On top of that we are told we completely manifest
our own reality…So I’m thinking did I create this reality for myself in any
way?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gosh!! Seriously!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Universe is unfolding exactly
as it needs to… the earth, the planets, the sun, the moon, the plants, the
animals, the birds….all function effortlessly as per its laws. Only we humans
keep resisting this. Each and every person in our life was meant to meet us at
the perfect time that we needed each other…Each and every experience came our
way to help us towards our soul evolution…..our soul growth…Our own soul chose
it that way…not necessarily because it wanted to but because it needed to ....in
its own highest good. Sometimes it deliberately plans obstacles in our way so
that we learn all the required lessons at a much faster rate. So what’s the
point in resisting our lessons and then go back again and the regret about it.
That would be totally self-defeating. What a waste of precious time… </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having
said this, in no way does this mean that we become fatalistic and get
complacent about life. I believe that we are co-creators with the universe, we
need to do our part to our best without attachment to the results and then let
the universe work its magic. That’s the unfolding part. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sooner we soak this in, our journey
becomes effortless and meaningful… We really have it much easy in our current times....
only a little patience will glide us through…..</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, Is it the end of where I am
supposed to be? Nope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the goal is to
work towards that and learn all the lessons that come our way gracefully….and
develop greater faith. And how can one develop greater faith? I believe life
itself is a great teacher and we can develop greater faith by looking back at
our own life and reflecting on how it has panned out for us till now. And if it
has unfolded in a certain manner till now, there is no reason why it should not
unfold in future also. And if soul evolution is the ultimate purpose of our
being….then the universe has to unfold accordingly. Not us, but the universe has
no choice in that matter... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit69jxZi_gDNFqLNk6gs10aPGxQDC_xWBxRvCBStrYccZr8QIEh2B8vbBBJzsqjMchvfATE7tAIgi3ar5xmKv0tW_4a5ssjuxiSETKDMUHIAbuyuUKFY7cYY4bVpaYIzCJpAjK8So_zIQ/s1600/universe3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit69jxZi_gDNFqLNk6gs10aPGxQDC_xWBxRvCBStrYccZr8QIEh2B8vbBBJzsqjMchvfATE7tAIgi3ar5xmKv0tW_4a5ssjuxiSETKDMUHIAbuyuUKFY7cYY4bVpaYIzCJpAjK8So_zIQ/s1600/universe3.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></div>
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p.s. : Saw the movie "Highway" this week...Absolutely amazing.. Its like reading a heart warming novel. An absolute must watch. ..If you are reading this kind of a blog.... I am sure you will love this movie...don't miss it!</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-14152121928504965352014-02-21T01:00:00.000-08:002014-02-25T09:43:39.852-08:00Your Personal Relationship with the Universe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKwICoq9i2xFD2HJFZuuyL-JesneaWmugrbIOG4G9RQe-AJnFBaIHvDGLFmB3QBK_Lu9mrQ0_-opyCgUN1yMHk0r3A6bZh0sZeRaNREbk4nj2vHILAKEXcFHQlq40QpgQ_VaNu03fZ9Y/s1600/universe5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKwICoq9i2xFD2HJFZuuyL-JesneaWmugrbIOG4G9RQe-AJnFBaIHvDGLFmB3QBK_Lu9mrQ0_-opyCgUN1yMHk0r3A6bZh0sZeRaNREbk4nj2vHILAKEXcFHQlq40QpgQ_VaNu03fZ9Y/s1600/universe5.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“There are two ways to live : you can live as if nothing is a miracle ;
you can live as if everything is a miracle” – Albert Einstein</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we tread ahead along our
spiritual path, the thing we hear the most from everyone is that, I will
believe in all this only when I have an experience myself. And that’s perfect
and exactly how it should be....I myself have a certain belief system only
after having my own really dramatic experiences and honestly after being
bombarded persistently left, right and centre by them. As if this is my destiny
and I cannot run away from it. Till then I was a skeptic or a so-called “realist” myself.
Whoever tells anyone to believe in anything blindly, has no idea what it’s all
about! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what is that big experience that
we keep waiting for?? I mean, is God going to come in our dreams or are we
going to have some out of body experience or some astral travel. I doubt if
that ever happens for majority of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
mean….seems like God only talks to Neale Donald Walsch.. :)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Right?? :)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> But hey!! <a href="http://soulfoodbites.blogspot.in/2014/01/a-true-lesson-of-eternity-in-todays-age.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">The Universe has finally decided to converse with Shilpa Deshmukh</span></a><span style="color: #990000;"> </span>;) or has Shilpa finally started
paying attention to it now, is the right question?? :)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what does happen for many of
us is that we keep experiencing signs or meaningful co-incidences or
synchronicities or little messages in the form of intuitions. Some people call
this accessing the storehouse of your subconscious mind, some people call it a little
help from your spirit guides, some call it the intentional manifestation of the
universal energy, choose whatever resonates with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They help us make decisions in case of
dilemmas or just to remind us of our connection to the Source. And they come to
us in many forms…through books, songs, movies, hoardings, somebody circulating
some message on exactly what you were looking for, a gut feeling, a dream, a
kind act from a stranger on a bad day and many such ways…. Many times there is
something bothering us and we come across a book or an exact chapter on the
same concept and that helps us reach a mental resolution. Many times it comes
as a flow while writing something and you later wonder where the hell did these
words come from?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many times you see a
hoarding right on your face..in big bold black and white..exact words staring
right back at you..that you needed to hear. The examples are innumerable and
its only between you and the Universe…Earlier I would get totally spooked out
but now I feel like smiling when I find them as I finally understand that they
are meant to keep me on the path.…helps me connect with the Universe and it
keeps me grounded. </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Synchronicity is the coming together of inner and outer events in a
way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the
observer” – Carl Jung.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They could be as simple as a
message reassuring us in a time of doubt. At the risk of appearing naïve..let
me share a very simple co-incidence<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that
I experienced when I was choosing the name for my son. I remember, I had
already decided during my pregnancy that my child’s name had to be from “S” and
if it was a boy, then the name would be Samar. If you look up on the net, the
literal meaning of the name is War.. which can have a bit of negative
connotations.. but the more I went inside myself.. only one meaning kept coming
to me, which was… A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Warrior.. A Warrior
of Peace and Light</i>. That’s what my inner voice kept telling me. A few days
later we went to Crosswords and I glanced upon this Paulo Coelho’s book called
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Manual of The Warrior of Light”</i>
which I had never seen before, so I immediately picked it up for casual browsing and for some
reason on every single left hand side page there is a “S” written up and down on
the pages with a quote on Warrior of Light in the middle. What that “S” is doing
in that book on every single left page and what it means to Paulo… only he knows.
I found it amusing and funnily felt very reassured but kept the book back on the shelf. And so when the baby came
out we named him Samar and we told to whoever asked that it means…. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A warrior of peace and light</i>. ..because that’s
what my inner voice had told me. And now I see my 4 year old son and how
delightful he is and only now I read many spiritual concepts on the new age
children and how they are meant to have warrior spirits and are meant to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Warriors of light and peace and love</i>…. I
got totally spooked out! How exact can it get?? Where did that phrase come from
to me during my pregnancy? But now I see the whole connection between this
amazing soul and why he would have chosen me to be his mommy…and it is truly
fascinating and extremely profound. Someday it all falls in place for us and makes
us smile…that’s all…no pressures…just smile….it’s enough to get you by the day….</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before you start judging me and my expectations of him, :) let me add a disclaimer over here that Warrior of Light is <em>just a way of being </em>and in no manner suggests the path or any field that he may choose....that part is entirely up to him and his eternal journey.... :)</span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let
expectations hinder my path” </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">– Dalai Lama</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But most of us choose to ignore these simple
things around us because at that time they don’t seem very dramatic enough or
we feel a bit stupid about it.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>People
from the creative world still pay atleast a little attention to these signs. But
if you come from an orbit where most of your peers and friend circle are from
management studies or a corporate background then you have chosen a tough
audience for yourself!! :)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
I mean its really far easy to get a hundred likes for a piece of cake but to
have chosen a task to present such thought provoking articles to especially
such an audience is not easy by any means. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> :)</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
We lot are a bit of a lone warriors ourselves and we would rather fight it out
alone than receive some divine help!! ;) So burnt out in these heavy karmic
places that we seem to have lost all our connection to innocence and any sort
of higher Source. No wonder then that only rude wake up calls work for most of
us!! Atleast that’s what made me notice and look back on all the “small”
things….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After I started writing and
sharing my thoughts on this blog, the amount of such experiences that people
have been sharing is not funny. It’s almost as if we all are closeted
spiritualists and are somehow keeping it inside us. Most of us are looking for our
own connection to the Universe or a connection to something higher than
ourselves. It’s a nagging feeling which most of us have about where do we
actually fit in the greater scheme of things? Is there any meaning to this
whole drill or just a random occurrence of chance events? But it seems like we
would have to discover that on our own and establish that connection on our own
as it is our personal journey which began really eons ago and probably now we
are at a stage where we feel the need to figure it all out. Despite having
everything to be grateful about we feel totally lost at times. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s where these little signs help us
with little pointers on the journey, provided we pay attention to them and have
faith in them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I have realised is that they
are not for just a chosen few but are for everyone and are there to help us and
guide on this wonderful journey. Start paying attention to the world around you
and you will notice them everywhere..you will start seeing the magic in things…
journal them….they may not make sense to you at all right now.. ..but they are
your little jigsaw pieces which one day will form the bigger picture…..and one
day it will all make perfect sense to you……. :)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
And will be the “big” experience that you were waiting for…..and your own
connection to the Universe…. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So last Friday, I came across
this same book by Paulo Coelho after 4 years at an obscure roadside bookshop
and it brought the whole episode back to me and I finally picked it up. … There
are several quotes in there which are good….. maybe I will read them out to Samar
soon…he loves all my books already… :)</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and thinks that all these writers are my teachers... ;)</span></o:p><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-23453585687843917032014-02-13T23:40:00.000-08:002014-02-13T23:40:56.713-08:00Loving Yourself......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe,
deserves your love and affection” - Buddha<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although it appears that most of
us in today’s world are self centered….. We are actually not. We are not as
selfish as we think we are and are made out to be. And how do we know this?
Because most of us do not pay any attention to our own core needs..our soul needs.
Most of us actually believe that loving oneself is the epitome of being
selfish. Imagine a friend saying…. You know what, I’m going to love myself from
now on. And you would think in your mind that this person surely has some serious
issues going on or maybe just a passing phase of low self-esteem! I mean..what
kind of person would say.. I’m going to love myself?! Right? </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And why do we believe this?
Because our definition of loving ourselves is very limited. To me.. truly loving
yourself doesn’t mean…..going on a shopping spree, fighting for the remote to
watch your favourite channel, making your own favourite dinner rather than someone
else’s in the family, etc. Nothing wrong with all this but soon we would
realise that these are very shallow and limited ways of loving yourself and that’s
why they don’t seem worth it after a point and we don’t bother about them. Fighting
for petty things fails to empower us. Unless we get to the core of ourselves..
we remain unfulfilled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But loving yourself, to me means digging
much more deeper. Firstly it is accepting that you are a soul on your own
journey… yes, totally interconnected with others.. yet having its own path. Being
more gentle with yourself. Taking time out and listening to the little voice
inside you. How does it like to express itself? How does it like spending the
days of its lives? What kind of people does it like to be around? Acknowledging
that your soul has its needs and desires. Whatever the answers are, its
important to acknowledge them…. how we choose to react to these things and act
on them in a balanced manner is another thing. We are already feeling a bit
selfish aren’t we? But soon we realise that unless we are genuinely happy we
can’t make anyone happy around us. If we don’t have love for us we can’t offer
it to anyone else. And the more we ignore ourselves, the more blockages we
create inside us leading to the state of “dis-ease”. We all know this.. but
somehow it all goes under the carpet in everyday life and we spend obscene amount
of time cribbing about everything else…everyone else. How happy would the world
be..if we were focused on improving our own selves.. our soul needs..our own self
esteem would automatically increase and we would experience true happiness and
share that with everyone around.. simply by our loving presence...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>"A loving person lives in a loving world, A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror" - Ken Keyes</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They say a true and genuine creative
artist in whichever arena, can never find fault in any other’s creative work as
he realises that everything is subjective and a unique expression of that particular
soul. Thus if we truly focus on working on ourselves.. we will realise that
everyone else is work in progress too and feel more love and compassion for
them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And to me, it begins with honouring
your own uniqueness. I remember being asked once…. What was it that I was
passionate about? And I remember thinking..Is it cooking? baking? Is it reading
books on personal and spiritual growth? Is it music? Is it spending time with
my loved ones? Is it learning new things? Pursuing genuine happiness? Swimming?
I couldn’t pick one..I loved all of it!! (by the way writing was nowhere in the
radar then!!) What was it then? And then something inside me answered “Life”. I
am passionate about Life…and everything that it has to offer. And I remember beaming
with the answer and feeling so liberated after saying that. The opposite person
suddenly ceased to exist.. It didn’t matter to me what they thought of it. It
was my truth and it gave me self-power. It is a unique answer..but that’s how
my soul expresses itself. And I realised that the first step in loving yourself
starts with acknowledging and honouring that small little voice which is truly
wise and keeps guiding us towards true and lasting happiness….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do yourself a favour today and start
truly loving yourself…..you will know the difference between pursuit of vanity
and pursuit of fulfilment.. between being selfish and honouring your true self...between being self-absorbed, narcissistic and being your own true friend deserving your own unconditional love...</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-44904619463258818202014-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:002014-08-22T06:15:45.609-07:00A True Lesson of Eternity in Today’s Age of Instant Gratification….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness ; and
knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream” –
Kahlil Gibran<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All of us on the spiritual
path come across the word eternity so often. We reach a point when we become
truly aware of concept that we are immortal souls… not immortal bodies. We intellectually
understand the concept that we don’t have a soul…<em>we are a soul and we have a
body</em>. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But how ingrained is that concept
in us.... how well do we accept or even have the patience to understand this
obviously most important concept of eternity. How well can we take this lesson?
Somewhere on the journey at some point the universe is kind enough and shows you
the way.. your answers..your final goal…many people call it differently.. Nirvana,
Moksha, Re-uniting with the Source, Being one with God, etc….whatever you may
choose to call it …probably exactly what you were looking for but didn’t understand
it before. And as per the laws of the universe also it seems knowledge is not
given without a test. But how do we react to it…..Why do we struggle with it so
much?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Universe : OK.. Here’s your yummy lollipop...You've been looking for it forever haven't you? And its
not just yours..but its always been yours for eternity..and will always be..
You seek it and It seeks you…And heaven awaits you and blah blah blah…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You : What?? Really?? Sounds
truly unbelievable!! Isn’t it too good to be true? But feels right to me...…Ok
then… I want it now!! And I want it in this particular way only! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Universe : Excuse Me!! Now?? What
is Now?!! You have to do this and that and get yourself sorted first and be
compassionate and kind and help humanity and be loving and understanding.. But
all this should be easy for you and should come naturally to you anyways if you
have truly reached a certain stage…Remember I express all my desires through
you.. Your desires are not just yours. They are part of my plan!! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You : What??? All that is fine. But
it seems like a cruel joke!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Universe : Looks like you didn’t absorb the
concept of eternity very well…You are just getting narrowly stuck with one
chapter of life. You’re not going anywhere without this lesson properly!! You asked for the real thing.. didn't you? Can you not handle it now? How much more grief and shocks do you need just to let go of your silly conditioned concepts!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You: Hmmm!! I shall go and
meditate on that!! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Telling you.. This whole spirituality
thing can be quite hilarious at times if seen in a lighter vein and the joke it
seems is on you!! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Reminds me of a quote which
always makes me smile by Douglas Adams from the Restaurant at the End of
Universe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The story so far: In the beginning
the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been
widely regarded as a bad move.”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s exactly how our reaction
to this lesson is… usually in frustration and we self-contract and recoil and
go in denial. Why? Just because there is no instant fulfilment and ownership the
way we are conditioned to believe in today’s world. But the sooner we accept
this lesson and move on beyond it we realise there’s still so much more work to
be done and only then can we move to further heights..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I believe most of us use the word
eternity and being an eternal being very easily and casually.. but when we have
to actually live out this concept consciously... we really start throwing in
the towel and start losing patience. I personally find myself grappling with this concept. Our minds are so conditioned to a certain way of thinking that anything outside the box seems difficult to digest. But I realise that I have to get over this or I am not getting anywhere....Spirituality and eternity go hand in hand. I absolutely cannot move ahead if I cannot embrace and soak in this concept fully. I cannot get stuck in what just appears in the "right now".....chapters were different before and they will be different later too....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of us on the spiritual path have an idea on how the book of our life
will supposedly end but whether that ending will be in this chapter or the next
or after 100 more.. will really be the test of patience. And if we truly
believe that our being is eternal and like a book and our various lifetimes as
only chapters of this fascinating book…accepting these lessons become much more
easier. Space can be made for more positive energy and to move beyond it. Atleast
you can now slowly recognise the main protagonists from the rest. And that
itself is a remarkable achievement… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>very
few have been able to achieve this itself…that is being truly successful with a
whole new meaning.. something one should be truly truly thankful and happy
about…After all what is happiness… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Happiness
is the settling of soul in its most appropriate spot”….</i>as said by Aristotle….</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-23795177292261573072013-11-08T10:00:00.001-08:002013-11-09T08:55:27.820-08:00My World of Superheroes! A Potent Mix of Science and Spirituality!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Being a mother of a 4 year old boy comes with its own peripherals. Just as my son's world is surrounded by various Superheroes... So is mine! Every birthday party (including my own son's) has to have a theme of either Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, Hancock, Avengers, X-Men, even Chhota Bheem and sometimes a mix of all of them. When I go to buy a water bottle, lunchbox, pencil box or anything I have to be aware of the picture of the superhero on it and his current ranking on my son's list of favourites. You just cannot avoid their presence in our lives. And maybe it is for a good reason. </div>
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Like they say your outer world is a mirror of your inner world. As a mother either I can get annoyed with all this and get into heated discussions of how this is inculcating violence in young minds or I can try and proactively use these same Superheroes to inculcate the right values that I want in my child. And as I understand that is my role and I can't run away from it and blame the society. But for that I have to first clear my thoughts and love the Superheroes for what they stand for. And when one actually does that you realize what a powerful tool you have in your hand. </div>
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To me, a Superhero movie or a story is a heady and a potent mix of science and spirituality. An adventure filled with pain and loss of loved ones (most of them incidentally are actually orphans), the inner turmoils of a person, the depiction of love more powerful than any romantic flick, the making of choices between how the world sees you and what you really are, accepting the burden that comes with the truth, accepting and discovering your own unique superpowers, living with the responsibility that comes with it, using superpowers for the betterment of humanity, trusting your inner voice and the loneliness that comes with it, sometimes losing some battles to emerge even stronger later, living without ego...Clark Kent, Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne.....none of them feel the need to impress on the world that they are the actual Superheroes. Hulk actually teaches you what anger can do to a person. My son won't listen to me even if I keep harping on this point but the minute I speak about what anger does to Hulk.. he immediately gets it! So fascinating to note what makes a lovable Anakin Skywalker turn to Darth Vader! If you choose to see these stories for what they are...a great number of powerful lessons are stored in here. It doesn't get more spiritual than this.<br />
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The eternal debate between free will and determinism is faced by almost all of them.. Just like us. Some have or get the powers unwillingly beyond their control and actually struggle with it first. Its only their free will which decides whether they rise to the occasion, do what is required of them, use it for the higher good of everyone around and in turn fulfil their own destiny. Most of them are even in touch with their shadow self, a dark side which all of us have and sometimes it appears that they are actually on the verge of falling but it is strength of character, clarity of thoughts and their ability to learn their lessons without ego is what usually gets them back on track.</div>
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Sometimes it is really funny to see these little kids at 7:30 in the morning, waiting for their school bus and debating about which superhero they are on that particular day and who has better powers. And this gets you thinking and gives a wonderful chance to bring out how each of them is unique and gifted on their own. You become a superhero only if you recognise and accept your own superpower and use it to your advantage. Yes, a Spiderman cannot fly like Superman but he surely can make webs and fly away. Batman infact, has no superpowers!! But he has the resources which he uses to create the tools that he needs to fight the evil. Iron Man has a piece of shrapnel in his chest but he uses his knowledge and intelligence to create an iron suit and becomes the Iron Man. Superman is actually an alien but he doesn't sit and cry about it. Daredevil is actually blind so he uses his other senses to get his job done. Don't we all need to know and accept this in ourselves too? Only if we recognise our strengths and gifts and work on them and develop them rather than cry about our weaknesses will we live a happy and fulfilled life. And who is to say what a weakness is? A weakness in one situation can be a strength in another.</div>
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My only bone of contention is the absence of a real Woman Superhero.. who herself deals with the pain of loss, faces the same inner turmoils, has the same commitments, has her own reputation at stake, has her own burden and loneliness of knowing the truth and possesses her own unique superpowers! And moreover because of being in touch with her feminine nature is not afraid to trust or reach out! Now that's a story waiting to be told! <br />
Yes.. there is Elektra but she definitely is not in the same league.</div>
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But on an end note my personal favourite is "The Amazing Spiderman" who seems the most real to me who carries his cell phone around in his bagpack and even picks it awkwardly in the underground sewers when it rings. But the best part about him is that he has a mind of his own.. he chooses to trust Gwen with the truth ...and chooses in the end to break a silly promise made to her dying father which never should have been made in the first place ..Now that's refreshing!! <br />
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Also this one features one of my son's and my favourite song - "Till Kingdom Comes" by Coldplay. My son calls this "the drummer song" and this was one of the first songs that I had caught him humming on his own...much to my amusement. :)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-70102195524662775712013-10-28T20:34:00.000-07:002014-05-12T01:18:40.795-07:00Return to Innocence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The more I think about it..it feels like a journey back to innocence. And it helps that currently I am surrounded by so much innocence...so many 4 year olds...teaching me all these wonderful lessons. I feel so fortunate when I see the timing of it all and the fact that I am now open and conscious about learning them too. Its so easy to get lost in their world and so satisfying that you are able to give them that time and attention. And because of my little one I have made so many wonderful friends of my own who are like an extended family. Our daily lives are so entwined with each others' ...thanks to these little ones. These little ones are truly little pieces of God(sometimes even devils!) and you pray that they remain the same. But in your heart you know whats coming....<br />
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I fear the day they will stop thinking that they are perfect and unique by themselves. Today, they have no doubt that they are indeed truly lovable. Today, they all are living in a protected wonderland where everything is fair and fun. They laugh out loud, sing and dance like there is no tomorrow. They listen to all the wonderful stories with so much attention. They all believe they are superheroes (and really how true that is!!) And when they play...they just play. They are not conscious of any social structures and they truly believe that they are beneath no one. But one day they will grow up. <br />
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And that's a great thing but for most of us growing up means closing off our true selves. We become transactional, judgemental and worse start doubting ourselves and our capabilities. We become anxious and insecure about every small thing in life. Relationships start getting more and more complex and one realises the dynamic nature of human interactions. There is a phase when you stop believing in fairy tales, the term soulmate feels like the most crappy term anyone has ever invented, the feeling of deja vu...I mean who ever believes that!! It surely is for really naïve people. You won't pay attention even if you felt a punch in your solar plexus. (What the hell is that anyways? Never had time to read about that!!) You stop believing in such stupid stuff...Signs! Yeah its a great movie.... but what does it have to do with "real" life?....You think you are totally on your own and you get busy making your own life! Getting your own big rocks in place...you don't want to look at somebody else's perfect life and pine for it. And intuitions and feelings can take a hike.. they really didn't help much in any of the exams, or group discussions or interviews or any of the Monday morning meetings. In fact, one mistake and you can get nicely publicly pulled up and snubbed by your same so called well wishers or whatever term you may choose to call them. So obviously you are on a guard.. totally armed and closed walled. Its just you and your mind on an alert... all the time....<br />
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You always knew in your heart since the start that you wanted to volunteer, maybe give time to some NGO, contribute towards some social cause and do more fulfilling and satisfying work.. you knew your heart craves to do something more meaningful....But you know what? That can wait.... I need to pay my EMIs right now...help my own child get a great future....others can wait... I am not responsible nor connected to them...Will think about it when I have some free time and lots of money....Yes, its much easier to be a nice and wonderful person when you have lots of money. Surely, those who have totally deserve it! But you know what? I also need to earn mine!! So goes the inner dialogue for most of us ..just on and on.. and life continues...on and on...on the same track...for several years. Until you rudely get snapped out of it and receive your wake up call!! Because your soul had other plans!!<br />
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And this is the first time you will be at war within yourself! You realise you have so many parts.. your soul, your heart, your brain, your physical mind, your subconscious mind, your solar plexus, your other energy chakras, your aura, your higher self, your inner self!! Wait there's more.. the real biggie.. your ego! And each with their own plan.. Its like a whole walking battalion. No wonder they say. You are never alone!! :) Tomorrow morning when you wake up please say hello to all of them!! All of You!! I mean what the heck!! Nobody ever wrote about this in any biology book!! <br />
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Then you get real mad at your own soul plan because you wonder why did it have to be so hard? You were anyways doing the right thing..trying to lead a simple life...anyways being grateful for and satisfied with whatever you have. Why did it have to wake you up so rudely? And then begins your first lesson to learn to live with Paradoxes! And slowly when you start listening to your inner self.. let go of past hurts.... aligning yourself with your soul... then begins your wonderful conscious journey. Its almost like the universe just wanted you to return to innocence.... Do what you always really wanted to do...Just Be Yourself.. Believe in Love (Starting with yourself!!).. Believe in Signs.. Believe in Synchronicity.. Believe in Yourself.. Knowing that the Universe supports you.. Knowing that you are a Pure Being.. Knowing that you never really die.... Knowing that your loved ones are always with you.... Having faith and believing once again in the goodness of humanity and seeing the connectedness between everyone. And above all, testing you on how much do you really trust yourself?<br />
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And funnily, a 4 year old instinctively already knows and lives out most of these things. And the more all of us grown ups start living out these simple truths, the more effortless our journey will be in peace and innocence...and hopefully not be rudely awakened. Then again, I don't know how much of that part can we truly control but atleast we can make a conscious start towards it....<br />
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And as I see my 4 year old, I silently pray for all our children that they do not lose their true joyful self as they grow up... are able to live out to their fullest potential, develop and share their gifts and fulfill their purpose in this life and above all, experience true, eternal and unconditional love.<br />
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My friends say that I look much more happy, serene, peaceful and glowing these days!! Now which part of me should I thank for it?? Gosh! It is a big list, isn't it?? :)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-23509657950641774592013-10-12T13:54:00.000-07:002013-10-13T21:25:06.045-07:00Finally... Letting It Go!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A birth, two deaths and a journey. If someone had told this to me about 4 to 5 years back that all this was in store for me just down the road.... I would have probably asked that person to just scoot off. It's been 4 years today since the day of the accident and I finally feel light...I have finally let go.. And how do I truly know that? I actually lost track of the dates. :) Till last year on this day the entire ordeal would just keep playing in my mind over and over again. But today I simply just forgot. I even thought about my mother like I do everyday but didn't realize about the day till my sister called me in the afternoon. And guess what!! we actually laughed about it. Because both of us realised that we really don't need to hold on to any particular day to feel love for our mother.. she is a part of us every single day....and by letting go...and by realising this profound truth we felt even closer to her..in a very very happy way... :)</div>
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Infact, after a really long time I had inadvertently made plans to go out today of all the days with a very dear childhood friend of mine who was in town. So we roamed the whole evening, went around our old college remembering silly times, taking pictures and sitting and chabbering on our famous Podar <em>katta</em>. And guess what? I didn't even feel guilty at all. I couldn't stop saying whole evening ....that I felt so happy.. so happy that I have finally let her go.....happy, that just knowing this she would be happy too.....:) I had such a great evening of all the days.. today!!</div>
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Sometimes we just keep holding on to grief because unfortunately that's the only thing that's left with us. Not out of choice and not because one likes to feel like a victim but really what else have you got? No goodbyes..No nothing..Just Boom..Gone..Forever! And at some level you actually feel guilty if you allow yourself to be happy again. Its weird but if you have lost a really close loved one and are still holding on to the grief you will know what I mean. And you think that if you let that grief go....you won't feel them anymore. But you know what? Infact, the opposite happens... If you keep holding on..you are just blocking yourself to feeling anything. But the minute you let go..truly magic happens.. you begin to feel your loved ones in ways that you couldn't imagine before. I feel the love of my parents all the time now. When I swim... I know my father is smiling at me and I can't help smiling too. When I am just happy, I know that my mother would be happy too.... That was what their whole life was about....just to see their daughters happy.... so we better damn be happy!! :)</div>
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Sometimes changing our relationship with certain conditioned concepts helps a lot. Opening your heart and mind helps. We simply accept certain notions of death and life without ever questioning them or without ever having done our own persistent intellectual enquiry on them and reaching our own insights to them. Nowadays there is so much literature available on the Eastern and Western philosophy be it new age or ancient texts that its not that difficult to do your own research if you truly desire to. You may not get all your answers but atleast your mind broadens to the fact of alternate realities and suddenly death doesn't seem so scary at all. It doesn't feel like a permanent end to things. To me, its worth finding out the answers for yourself and then choosing your own belief systems consciously.<br />
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Here is a wonderful story that I came across worth sharing that will make the hardest skeptics think for a moment.. Here goes...<br />
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<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><em>In a mother's womb were two babies. One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?" The other replies, "why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later. "Nonsense," says the other. "There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?" "I don't know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will w</em><span class="text_exposed_show"><em>alk with our legs and eat from our mouths." The other says "This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short." "I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here." the other replies, "No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere." "Well, I don't know," says the other, "but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us." "Mother??" You believe in mother? Where is she now? "She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world." "I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't exist." To which the other replied, "sometimes when you're in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her." I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality....</em></span></span></div>
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No one can deny the pain that comes with the physical loss of the person and only time and conscious efforts can heal some wounds. And above all, good old Love and Faith can have profound healing effects. And among many other lessons that I am learning each day, today I realised and experienced the power of letting go in a true sense... And I am so eternally thankful to both my parents who probably knew this at a soul level and gave me the biggest gift any parent can give their child...that of setting me off on a journey to find my true self. I love them always and forever...and I don't need to hold on to any particular day to prove that! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-947737231416828832.post-51963036707033933522013-10-03T01:59:00.000-07:002014-05-12T01:11:30.591-07:00Longing to be in Nature...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Having been born and brought up in Mumbai, I have spent most
of my life living in this city, other than a few years here and there. I have a
life full of memories of this city and I guess that’s how I see this place…through
the eyes of memories….. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the funny
thing is that not only am I born here but my mother, my father and all my
relatives are born and brought up in Mumbai. Infact my paternal grandmother was
born in Chembur which used to be a village long time back…</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> I guess you get the picture…I won’t
get into the whole family tree now. :)</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> So while growing up whenever someone
asked me.. “Where are you from?”…Firstly, I never understood that question and
Secondly, I replied matter of factly that I am from Mumbai. Most of the time these
people would not understand my answer and further try to dig in but which
village, etc and probably end up thinking that my parents are too busy working
to tell me anything about my roots..:) <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Everyone I knew had some village or native place where they
came from even though they lived in Mumbai and would have fascinating summer stories
to narrate of that place and the people there. Having big spacious old style
houses and lots of mango trees, banana trees, jackfruit trees, etc. The best
stories were of the people who came from Goa. I thought they were the luckiest
people alive.. living by the sea…eating fish and rice daily…and living the
whole Goan lifestyle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I always grew up craving the village life. And I was very thrilled
when we got an opportunity to get this lovely place in Western Maharashtra
amongst nature. Not for the glamour quotient of having a weekend home but just to
satisfy the craving to live the simple holistic quiet life amongst nature which
I felt deprived of. To me it signified a place where I could live with the
rhythm of nature and where I could plant my own trees ..lemon trees, chickoo
trees, guava trees and plants with various flowers. I also have dreams of
planting my own kitchen garden there soon. I have had my emotional ups and
downs with this place but now I have taken to it like a duck to water. And there
is deliberately no television, no wall clock, no internet here so to balance it
out we carry loads of books and music and coffee …with lots of delicate golden
string lights. I used to worry how my superactive 4 year old will take to the relatively
slow pace out here but surprisingly he too loves this place. He loves our
nature walks to the temple. He loves checking on the plants everytime we come
back here. I believe this change is good for his soul too. Here is where he is
more open to listening to the stories of Buddha and Krishna and many such more
with full attention and not just Superman and Spiderman!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And everytime I come here I myself learn new lessons from
nature. Its as if Mother nature embraces you and renews you to keep you going
and coming back for more. Something that bothers you back home just
disappears…doesn’t seem important anymore. Endless things accumulated .. just
don’t seem necessary. You realize that you actually need such few basic things in
life to be happy. The outside noise just vanishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You interact with the locals and see the simple lives that
they lead. They share their joyful stories with you freely and your small
conditioned mind can’t stop wondering what could be their intention. Its hard
to believe that someone can share with you something without any intention….without
knowing anything about you really. I can’t believe that I was scared of these
same people once. I was not raised to fear anything so I can’t believe that I
could reach such dark depths. I didn’t even know I had that place within me.
For some reason my soul had chosen to experience that too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Out here, you look at the sun, the moon, the plants, the
mountains, the clouds, the fireflies, even the cows and feel a part of it all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives you a sense of serenity. Sometimes in
the mornings you can see the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time if
the skies are clear. A bit rare but it does happen. Try sitting under a quiet night sky full of stars and you can’t
help feeling grateful for everything that life has to offer you…..whatever is
near……whatever is far. Even getting a glimpse of your angel is enough to last a
lifetime. When a flower falls down you count if its petals are in a certain
sequence with a sense of wonder. You start wondering about the migratory
patterns of the birds. How do they communicate with each other? And you realize
there are many things that the human eyes cannot see and the human mind cannot
comprehend but they still do exist in a perfect design of their own. We have
conveniently called ourselves sentient beings and decided by ourselves by
conducting experiments on our own parameters that other species cannot self
reflect but maybe they can… in their own way….by their own parameters.. Who
knows? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then you begin to look at your life and see how well designed
and perfect it all is. Without even knowing or consciously choosing anything
you were already slowly heading in a certain direction. You were persistently
receiving signs from the beginning towards your path....its just that your
small mind kept dismissing every single thing as wishful thinking. But its
amazing how the universe just keeps at it. Accepting that with humility and
grace stops making one anxious about everything. Your ego may not like this. It
doesn’t like to feel so vulnerable and open and will want to do its own thing.
But I guess..that's the lesson out here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its humbling to note how each and every
person in your life is so perfectly placed with so many synchronicities…..
makes you feel connected with everything and everyone. You start seeing where
you fit in the greater scheme of things. This feeling of connectedness which
nature offers you, the quietness that it offers you to reflect on things and
reach your own insights is invaluable. It reassures you to just keep
calm, be on your path ..that's all that matters…..everything else is temporary…all
your anxieties will vanish away. This experience of the loving energy of mother
nature and all the wonderful things it has to offer truly works wonders. I can
see what this place means to me now….I am going to keep needing to come back
here to get a renewed perspective of things when they get a bit painful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Nature....Books…Music…What more does a person need? Ummm…….Let
me think.. :)</span></span></div>
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