Search This Blog

Monday, February 28, 2011

Village behind the marshes.

Yaheval was walking through the marshes of Klamath, chasing a buffalo. He left his clan people behind, now it was a waste of time waiting for them to catch up, noon was sliding down fast. He hurried, thinking about all the venomous snakes and other wild animals of the marshes that come out in the dark.

The hunt and the day converged together, it was late evening. He had some preserved fish, water, weapons, a bottle of liquor in his leather pouch. He decided to spend the night on a relatively drier rocky outcrop by the marshes.


He created a fire and roasted meat, ate and sent smoke signals to his village to let them know he is safe. Tribesmen saw the signal, understood he is safe and went back home to rest. Later in the night he looked at the bright and clear night sky and felt the crisp air around him. The fire kept the animals away, barring a few desert lizards that came close to get warm. He did not bother them and they left him alone. However there were other entities of the marshes that saw the smoke signals and thought they are being evoked. Those were some powerful primal forces, resting in the marshes for a long time.


They surfaced like vague forms, from the grassy marshes surrounding him from all sides. He asked for the old wise man of the village  for help in his mind. The wise old man saw it all in his dream and went to help his disciple. He covered Yaheval with a thick layer of smoke hiding him form evil forces. But the two of them were heavily outnumbered.Old man fought with all his might till the first ray of the morning.It took the last strand of his energy to keep Yaheval alive.

Next morning he returned to his village with a heavy heart, he knew his wise old man gave away his life saving him.He cremated him and with a grieving heart decided to go out into the marshes and finish his work.
Every night he went  to the same spot looked at the stars and learned everything about their movements, how to understand their bearings, how to interpret stars aligning to indicate solar, lunar eclipses, planetary alignments, destinies, apocalypse etc.


He later married had a son and took the responsibility of the wise old man of the village and trained the next generation. When he left he met his old man in the ether, he was surrounded by brilliant white light, he embraced him warmly and said,"our work here is done, now things are going to change this landscape forever, we need to go to another world and learn something new"


Few years later the marshes dried out, the Indian tribes was replaced  by people from outside and new kind of settlements developed in the region, but the spirit of the marshes, mountains and night sky tells the tale of the brave and wise men who lived and honoured nature as the wisest living being.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Tale of two beings.


Bhringraaj was a poor brahmin who took care of a small vishnu temple by the river Trapti in Kaushalpur.His wife Kalyani died during child birth. He really loved Kalyani, now all he had left was his daughter Pragyakshi. He diverted all her attention and affection towards her. When she turned a year old, Pragyakshi fell sick, he did everything possible to cure her. He ardently prayed to Vishnu Bhagwan day and night, yet his daughter's health deteriorated, he cried in the temple and prayed for her life. One day she passed away. Bringraaj was inconsolable.


He went to the cremation ground and prayed to Mahashiv, sitting by Pragyakshi's funeral pyre.So ardently he prayed that Shiv had to appear before him and ask him for a boon. Bringraaj cried and said I want my daughter Pragyakshi back, Shiv expressed his inability to change the laws of nature. He said once the body is dropped the spirit merges with the supreme then no one can recreate it.Bringraaj wailed that Vishnu did not save his daughter either.Shiv said Vishnu is only following the laws of the universe.

Mahashiv finally gave in and said I would leave Mahadevi with you for some time to help you overcome your grief.Bringraaj went home and found a radiant little girl playing in Pragyakshi's cot.
Bringraaj felt no immediate affection for this girl but took care of her as a duty towards Mahashiv and Devi. She grew into a naughty little girl, she was loved by everyone. She became a source of joy for everyone including Bringraaj himself, her affection healed his heart, in time he came ot love Uma as his own daughter Pragyakshi.


When she turned 20, she appeared in his dream, touched his feet and asked for permission to leave.When he woke up he understood what that dream meant and he got her married to the son of a wealthy merchant, a year later she passed away , Bhringraaj left his body soon after.

When he reached in ether space of supreme presence, he saw his daughter, wife, mother, Uma, all other women and female beings in the universe as one being, the divine Goddess, and he and other male beings were all nothing but infinite forms of Mahashiv.

He understood a great secret that all beings in this world are nothing but many forms of Mahashiv and Mahadevi. The two of them have been creating this divine play and experiencing each other through their many forms since eternity and  till eternity.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The French Connection.




Pierre was deeply in love with his vibrant young bride Rosetta, she had the nicest golden skin, curvaceous body, dark lustrous curls, deep honey coloured eyes. They lived in their beach villa, he was one of the wealthy merchants of the Mediterranean.
 
When other men glanced at her in admiration, his heart burned with jealousy. The very thought of any other man even looking at her, turned him into a state of extreme rage. Their outings shortened to a visit to the lighthouse, then to the beach, finally those visits shrunk to the garden area and then he confined her to the house. Even peeping out of the windows became a luxury. They had two children but none could survive, midwives came to help with the delivery and were sent out hurriedly. Jealously he kept the babies away from her, he would not even allow her to feed the newborns; insecure that she may direct her love towards the babies and he would be ignored.

Confinement made her sick and lonely, she longed to see a sunny day, other people, her own babies.
Suffocating existence was no longer an incentive to live,  so she died early. Pierre was heart broken, yet he did not realize his mistake, he still saw his over-possessiveness as love.He  became sad and distanced himself from everyone else. He confined himself to his villa for many years, there was no contact left with the outside world, he forgot how he lived earlier.


One day he accidentally opened his door to let a stuck pigeon out of the room. Morning sun was filtering through, scent of poppies and lavender wafted through his sunny verandah. He had an epiphany.It filled his being with a renewed sense of awareness. He stepped out and smiled at strangers and felt alive again.
He walked to Rosetta's grave, he sat there and cried.For the first time he understood her pain.


He understood how the cord of life was squeezed and pulled out of her existence by his possessive  nature. He understood her sense of lonely darkness, her helplessness, her feeling of being trapped, giving birth and yet not  being a mother. It dawned on his repenting heart that he killed her with his obsession for her physical body.What he thought was love was just an obsession for the physical form called Rosetta.





Sunday, February 20, 2011

Tales of separation and reunion.


आनेवाला रुक न पायेगा, रुकता जायेगा हर कदम वो कराम्गाह है जो मेरी
तेरे इज्म में है जुनून तो फिर गुज़र जायेगा काफिला इस इश्क का|

सुनता गया में मद में चूर उसके ख्याल की ग़ज़ल को
लफ्ज़ से गिरते गए मोती और हमारे दिल में  हज़ार जवाहरात बन गए |

जो दूर से दिखा था, खो गया  वोह रास्ता वोह गली वो मोहल्ला वो घराना
घूमता हूँ अब दरबदर बस उसका दर ही है मेरा ठिकाना |

तेरी नज़र ने दी पनाह तो में ख़ाक से फूल बन सका
जो न होता तेरा करम दर दर की धूल भी न होता |

आज न कहना भूल गया मैं तुझे , तुझे याद करने में ताउम्र भटकता रहा 
तेरी याद है तो सुकून है इस दिल को , अब भूला तो जीना क्या मरना बमुश्किल होगा |  

जो तेरी याद का दर्द है इस सीने में, हर आह तेरे दीदार का एक ख्वाब है
मेरे अश्कों की गर्माइश इस दिल में जलते जलजले का सुबूत है |


Rumi and Hubba Khatoon were both mystical poets, who sang songs of love and longing for their beloved.Both had lost someone they loved and cherished dearly, in Rumi's case it was his friend and mystical teacher Shams and Hubba  lost her love Yusuf Shah who was imprisoned by Akbar, he died in captivity.

Sometimes separation from a beloved becomes a reason and the force to find the divine.

   

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Laws of the Universe.


Undefined are the laws of the universe yet so precise and unwavering
there are no first amongst equals before the laws of nature.
All are measured with the same yard stick and all are bound by its parameters.
If you follow natural laws, as a precise calculated outcome, you are rewarded,
when you go against the will of the universe, you may have your way to a certain extent
but it would come with a heavy price.
I have learned the alchemist way of wanting something and nature conspiring to fulfill it, is true,
but it leads you to enormous struggle and what you eventually achieve comes at a huge price.
You want something nature provides it, without questions,without reservations.
Then as a defined law nature expects the same from you,
when it asks, you have to provide or else it will take away your power to make free choices.
so when you are being asked to fulfill certain roles, complete certain tasks
you better tune in , listen and complete it as soon as you can.
Being choice less is a sub-human condition.
We humans are the only beings, who have been given this power of creation.
 To be able to create our own choices and our own outcomes,
we need to give the same power to the supreme creator.
He created us, and chose things for us
denying his will is denying yourself the pleasure of living and
creating the kind of life we want to live.

Surrender to his will in order to empower yourself.
What you give up on, is what will be granted invariably
and what you run after shall elude you till its very end,
Being one with the flow teaches us the lesson of being in the flow.
It makes you the moment as well as the momentum and then you are unstoppable.
Just like water that follows the path of least resistance,yet it is so forceful.
Surrendering to the laws of nature works on the same principle.

Next time tune in when you find that some thing, some goal, some desire, some event, that you are seeking to  fulfill, is meeting with all possible hurdles and unexpected problems from all sides.
Then you must understand, this choice is not what creator made for you, there is something else that is even better waiting to happen.
 And what is meant for you will fall in your lap, it will be synchronized perfectly with the events around you, such that all you will is ease into it.
All that universe is asking us to do is to tune in, so you can listen to your favorite music.
That way you can easily avoid a rigorous hour of commercial talk on your radio.


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Clothing for the soul.



Sundari was obsessed with clothes, she would collect old , new, worn, torn, shredded, all kinds of clothes that were bought, borrowed, gifted, stolen or found.Even a smallest piece of an old cloth would catch her eye, she would pick it from the street and keep it lovingly in her small house.
People joked about her habit, her husband and son were tired of her strange obsession, there was hardly any space left in their home to walk or sit comfortably.If they threw it out with the garbage she fought ferociously and nagged endlessly, both of them decided to let her have her way.

However she became more and more obsessive about collecting more clothes, cluttering and piling up her house, her son finally decided to take her to a doctor, hearing her quirky problem the old doctor suggested he should take her to the village priest Swami samwad.
Sundari and her son paid him a visit one evening, Swami said "leave your mother here for the night and morning take her back, by then she would be completely cured of her sickness.
While she was complaining about her son, Swami let a snake slide into her clothes and raised an alarm.She panicked and took off her clothes and stood naked before the old man, he looked at her and said 'Sundari, do you realize that  you are standing here without your clothes before me?'
To which Sundari replied 'Thank you for reminding me, In my previous birth I was Duryodhan's sister, after they tried disrobing Panchali, she cursed them that 'your sister will have to struggle all her life to keep her modesty, all the clothes in the world will not cover her body'.

Her curse took effect, after that whenever I came out in public my dresses would tear, fall off or rip open in public. I tried everything, even spare capes around for such incidences,even those drapes would come off, exposing my body to people. I was embarrassed and I slowly withdrew from public sphere, I stopped interacting with people and became a recluse, I left my body desperately trying to cover myself with clothes.Now in this lifetime I am reliving the trauma and I am obsessively collecting clothes,trying to cover my body."
Swami asked "how do you feel  about clothes now?"

Sundari replied "I have learned that clothes, cannot bring you respect or shame, your body is not you.
Even my body is just a clothing for my soul, that I can shed when it grows old and get a new one".

Monday, February 14, 2011

Caravan of knowledge!

Steep climb accompanied by rockfalls and debris slides was making it difficult for Orgusan to complete his journey to the mountain top.It was a dusty and rocky precipitous climb on mount Kali-angaaroo in Africa.


His tribesmen believed that all pilgrimages begin and end with this journey to the cave of Mother Mathayay. Hunger and thirst was taking a toll on his energy reserves.He had a tall lean and muscular frame, draped in red robes and traditional  silver jewelery and tattoos all over his body.
He saw a mountain goat, captured it, had his meal in the night and carried the rest with him, in the afternoon, vultures started to hover over his head, looking for their share of the goat flesh.
Half of his energy was lost in warding them off , in the night after the last meal of the goat flesh he left the remains for the jackals and foxes.


He was assigned the task to collect the remainder of the secret texts from the cave before it falls into the wrong hands. They contained esoteric knowledge and magical chants.He found those chants painted on the walls,he would read them first, memorise and then scoop and erase them off the walls.
This took him an entire day, soon he was on his way back, he followed the regular course of the stars as indicated by the nightsky.However he was not aware that the magic chants that he touched and remembered were causing illusions before his eyes.


What he thought were stars were actually magical lights, spread across the desert, he was simply in his hurry not paying any attention to decipher them.As a result he lost his way and went deeper into the desert, mid-day sun  sapped away the last drop of his energy. Thinking about all the knowledge that would be lost he started writing those magical symbols and chants on the dunes.

Shifting sands leave no marks behind, those symbols were blown away by the wind, he lost consciousness and fell on the sand. Well, knowledge has its own way and will of propagating itself, a caravan going to the east spotted him and took him along, when he woke up, he was lying on a bed in a tent, an arabian slave girl was tending for him.


In his hazy state he was constantly murmuring those chants, causing all kinds of magical beings to appear and disappear before the caravan people. He summoned the ancient spirits of the desert.
The caravan thought of him to be some kind of spiritual master and took great care of him and he was recieved like a king in their city.

People flocked to his place, he would summon ancient bird spirits to spell out the fortunes of many who gathered to know about their destiny, Monkey spirits to fetch lost items, find lost loved ones, Elephants to conquer the opponents in battles and wars, Tigers to assert power over other, using his knowledge he collected enormous wealth and he forgot about his tribesmen who were anxiously waiting for him the retrieve the sacred knowledge of the past.

Orgusan's fame and fortune grew to enormous proportion, and news traveled through the winds to  his people. Worried they decided to protect what was sacred, they sent out a batch of trained warriors along with the old medicine man of their tribe to retrieve the information from him.


The native healer stood by the outskirts of the city and re assimilated all the knowledge floating in the air and tied it around his talisman, the warriors went to capture him and stop him from using it for his and others selfish purposes. He ordered his guards and slaves to not let anyone reach him, but those warriors were trained by powerful masters, they disguised themselves as a windstorm and captured him.
They tried persuading him to give up his selfish practice and greed when he refused they took away all his memories in a magical lamp and left him in his palatial tent.


His memories are still buried in the great deserts of Africa, every once in a while when the wind blows with great force some of those chants resonate with the wind, spreading and keeping the magic alive in nature, guarded by its own force and spreading at its own will.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Doing away with the habitat.



Abhilaksha was a very powerful demoness, she lived in slowness of the dark part of the universe, her movements were so slow and imperceptible that it attracted different beings from the entire universe to use her body as their dwelling place.
Because of her huge body that resembled mountains, plateaus, and valleys that humans and other beings lived their for a long time.Her hair were their forests, here eyes were the seas and lakes, her ears and nose worked as passages for them.
She in her slow indulgence tolerated them for many many years and their population grew in huge proportions, such that she was eventually completely infested by these beings.

She felt immense suffocation with these parasitic beings and she was desperate to get rid of all of them blocking her from feeling her slow ecstasy.
She in her restless pain went all out to get rid of these humans and other beings.But they had infested each and every particle of her body, desperate she walked into a ball of fire and burnt her hair, eyes and body to get rid of those infestations which were blocking her life energy.

As her flesh and muscles melted away in the burning flames, she felt partial relief yet she felt the burden of many sticking to her bones,she took her skeletal frame to be turned into ashes, she walked into another inferno, which evaporated her bones and along with it her infesting beings.

However there were many who were closest to her , that would stick to her being, which was no longer a physical body. she cried in pain and begged for mercy.
Those whom she loved dearly infested her soul and refused to let her be free.
She had no instrument or flame or inferno to burn away her soul. Helpless she cried for help.
Finally a being of light took mercy on her, and touched her forehead to make her aware that she is not even the soul.

That lesson was the toughest for her,It could only be learned through inner means.As soon as she became aware  that she is a non-being she shed whatever notional being that she believed herself to be, that made her suffer for her attachments till that moment.
She felt mercy for those souls who were left with the notional being but understanding with compassion helped her to know that these beings will in time shall also learn that they too are non-beings like herself.
And hence the bondage of being and non-beings were dropped freeing her to feel the flowing bliss that she was use to.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Rush hour.



We live in our daily grind,
If we are not food grains
then what is eating us?

In our lust we bind daily
If we cant stick together
then what is tying us?

In our forgetfulness we are making notes,
If we are not memos
then who is reading us?

We are rushing to win the race
If we are picking many trophies
then who is losing us?

In our thoughts we plan everyday
still accidents happen,
then who is insuring us?

We are saving by depriving ourselves,
If we are still not full
then what is taxing us?

We are living for our goals
if nothing but the goals are left
then who is living us?


Between today and tommorrow
we are living many moments
between these moments are silent gaps.
 Its upto us to live the moments or the gaps in between.

Life lived in moments is counted as time.
Life lived through gaps between these moments
 is counted as eternity.


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Allah-Hoo!


तू अनंत, तू अभेद
तू आकार , तू निराकार 
तू रंग , तू रूप
तू रूप , तू वेश 
तू धूप, तू छाँव,
तू नगर-नगर, तू गाँव-गाँव
तू अपना, तू बेगाना
तेरा न कोई ठिकाना
तू समझ, तू नादान
तू लफ्ज़, तू अंदाज़
तू ही गीत , तू  ही साज़
प्यार भी तू, जुदाई भी तू,
हर वक़्त दिल में ठहरी 
एक तन्हाई भी तू
तू सुकून , तू जूनून,
तू इकरार, तू इंकार
फिर भी तू बस प्यार ही प्यार|
तू धरती , तू आकाश,
तू रुदन तू विलाप,
तू जुदाई, तू मिलाप 
तू आंसू , तू हंसी,
तू रुखसत, तू मिलन,
तू खेत , तू खलिहान,
तू मवेशी, तू इंसान,
तू पानी, तू आग,
तू काला, तू पाक-पाक
तू हक , तू चोरी,
तू हिम्मत , तू हार,
तू मात, तू ही चाल,
तू ही राह, तू ही पाथिक
तू दूर , तू पास 
तू सूरज, तू चाँद
तू प्रार्थना, तू प्रसाद
तू पत्थर, तू कंकर,
तू हास्य, तू विलाप,
तू दरख़्त , तू फूल
कहीं हवा तो कहीं समय की धूल|
तू पौधा , तू वन 
तू हरियाली, तू रेगिस्तान
तू रुष्ट , तू मेहरबान
तू निहाल, तू कुर्बान,
तू अमिट, तू निशान
तू लहर, तू समुन्दर,
तू दुःख, तू सुख में,
तू सुन्दर, तू कुरूप
तू हुस्न, तू इश्क
तू चिराग, तू आतिश
तू दरिया , तू लहर,
तू ढंग , तू बेढंग
तू हंसमुख , तू उदास,
तू शरीफ, तू बदमाश,
तू चोर, तू सिपाही
तू बादशाह , तू भिखारी,
तू एक , तू अनंत
तेरे कितने कितने रंग |
हर पल, हर दिशा,
हर जगह , सब जगह,
कण कण में बस तू ही तू|
बस तू इतना रहम कर
अपने इस तराने में मुझे भी साज़ बना ले
और तरन्नुम के साथ मुझे भी उठा ले|
मैं भी वो वक़्त का एक गीत बन जाऊं 
जिसे तुने गया ये समझ पाऊँ|
बस यही है मेरी दुआ और यही है मेरी आरज़ू ,
यही कल थी, यही आज है,
और यही कल होगी हू-बहू |
अल्लाह-हू, अल्लाह-हू
अल्लाह हू|

Sunday, February 6, 2011

True Son of the soil.

Raja Veerbhadra was a good king but he was childless. He was sinking deeper into grief thinking who will inherit 'His Kingdom'.
An enlightened rishi passing through his kingdom took mercy on him and decided to help him out of his misery.


He took Veerbhadra's soul out of his body and took him to witness, his prime ministers making an alliance with the neighbouring king to overthrow him and control 'His Kingdom'.
His generals were taking bribes and selling pieces of 'His Kingdom' to foreign spies.
His own queen is donating her jewellery and possessions, getting ready for Vanashram.
Rishi explained he should not lose himself over a piece of the land. He said "what you call Your Kingdom is merely a piece of  land under your administration and not your kingdom".
Raja understood and bowed to him in gratitude. 
Rishi  blessed him and told him "if he tills his land and Mother Earth truely blesses him, then he can reconnect with the land that he loves so much".


Veerbhadra understood and started ploughing and sowing seeds in his fields and mother earth blessed him with abudance, wherever he worked on land, Earth blessed him endless bountiful produce.

His kingdom was overflowing with grains as he tilled the land every day, his kingdom grew rich, no one was hungry , poor or unfed in his territory.

So much was bursting out of the Earths womb,that he donated without measures to the neighbouring kingdoms, news spread far and wide.


One of the neighboring kingdom of Chandrikavansh was facing a severe drought for several years, king learning about Verrbhadras boon and requested him to come as a royal guest and till the land in his kingdom.
Veerbhadra happily went and performed the task, the drought was over and granaries were soon overflowing.


Elated and touched, king of Chandrika region asked Raja Veerhadra to take his youngest son Nakul with him and teach him how to reconnect with the Mother Earth. Raja's heart was truely touched , he took care of Nakul as his own son, While he tilled the land, Nakul sowed the seeds.

Over the years they both worked on the fields together and he taught him all the skills of a good administrator.When Raja Veerbhadra passed away content and peacefully in his sleep Nakul took over as the rightful king ' the true son of the soil.'





Home away from Home!

 Old Lewis was trying his best to cover himself under a pile of firewood, he was missing the comfort of a quilt and fireplace, the snow blizzard has isolated him in this forest cottage, he was trying his best to preserve his body temperature yet his consciousness was slipping away.


He prayed for warmth and more sun, where there is no snow or biting cold, soon he is the lost traveler in Sahara, Abu is without water, riding his camel cruising through the desert to find his bearings again. Sun is mercilessly hot,Abu is losing consciousness and he prays for shade, water and mercy.


He is Aliya now, a Bangladeshi girl working in her paddy field day in, day out. Endless hard work, then comes the lashing rains, Jamuna is swelling and innundating her home, she has lost her husband and son,she is drowning and looking for higher ground away from the river.


Soon she is Zao the monk in Fukuoka, Sakura season is at its peak, cherry blossom scent is intoxicating, he is walking by the mountainside, admire the beauty and perfection, overlooking the valley. Suddenly the earth shudders, massive earthquake unleashes a rockfall, he is trapped and under heavy rocks, his leg broken, he is losing consciousness and praying for something lighter covering his body.



Soon he is Lewis buried under a pile of wood praying for some warmth.

Nature loves all places equally, so she left some beauty in all places. The creator loved all places equally, so he left imprints and reminders of That Home, where temperature is never extreme, its more like a combination of autumn and spring, there are sounds of nature of waterfalls, squirrels, birds, grass swaying with the gently blowing breeze.Everything is silent and in harmony, it is green and beautiful, it has the soundless beauty of animals, birds, water, flowers, insects, fragrance of spring summer rain and winter together, the Garden of Eden.