Stillness in the Dark

Stillness in the Dark

On a wintery night,

Walking alone silently,

Hearing subtle sound of insects,

Coming from a distant,

pitch dark, unclear space.

Trying to convey,

To recognize their presence,

To hear their voice,

To resolve the unresolved.

Reminded me suddenly,

Unresolved, unclear emotions,

Hidden in the blind alley of my mind,

Trying to convey,

To recognize their presence,

To hear their voice,

To resolve the unresolved.

Sitting silently,

Breathing slowly,

Entered the blind alley of mind.

Through self-reflection.

Seeing the unclear,

Hearing the ignored,

Emotions unresolved,

Took courage to answer,

In that scary night,

Facing, if not boldly,

Piercing through the pile of emotions,

Dissolving everything,

In that Eternal Divine Silence and

Stillness born within.

Unseen has been seen,

Unheard has been heard,

Unresolved has been resolved,

Unanswered has been answered,

Seeing the Eternal Light bestowed upon,

Feeling the ever present, ever existent grace,

Entering into the realm beyond every emotion,

Silently disappeared into dazzling darkness,
Melting into that Eternal Void,

Unscared, sans fear,

Standing face-to-face with the Truth,

Dissolved into Bliss Eternal.

What is Destiny?

What is Destiny?

Many of us wonder about this word Destiny. 

The Oxford Dictionary defines it as:

"1 .the things that happen to you in your life, especially things that you cannot control" and "2. a power that people believe controls their lives"

        Irrespective of the above definitions what is that an individual thinks, that is what is most important. Because Destiny is what we think in our deepest thoughts and what we want it to get materialized. There is a very ancient Vedic Saying - "yad bhāvam tad bhavati यद्  भावं  तद् भवति " - What you think/feel so it becomes. So DEstInY - can be defined as Design Established by Inner You or Design Established by The Inner You or Design Established In You. What it indicates is that our Destiny is established by our own self and this could have been established from time immemorial, may be many lives or many incarnations, but completely based upon our own thought processes and patterns.

        The surrender to a Higher Energy or Cosmos or some 'form or formless' of Supreme is where the Design can be altered, because in true surrender, the self-thinking process is surrendered and all the activities are carried out from the realm of intuition rather than the realm of ego.

        So next time whenever we read or comeacross this word, let us take a pause and self-reflect on what we are thinking and do we really want it to get materialized in some way in our future. If not let us let go the thinking or those thought patterns and intuitionally develop harmony with the Cosmos.

What is Karma and how to burn it?

What is Karma and how to burn it?

Karma comes from a sanskrit root word 'kri' - meaning to do. Our Karma is based upon the deeds that we have decided upon. This decision has occurred in terms of thoughts often termed as sankalpas and vikalpas. 

There is a metaphor that is often used of that of a bow and arrow. The direction of  an arrow once shot from the bow cannot be changed. If it has to be changed then only wind can change it. Similarly an individual's karma is like an arrow shot by the individual itself based upon one's own sankalpas and vikalpas.

To change the direction of arrow meaning to get rid of one's karma, the help of wind has to be taken and the bow should be also taken it control. This is where we enter into the second phase of the metaphor which is slightly difficult to comprehend. In this second phase of the metaphor, the wind is prana which can be regulated by one's breath and the bow is one's own spine. Through regulation of breath and allowing it to pass along through the spine focussing consciously along the length of the spine through out the flow of incoming and outgoing of breath one can change the direction of the bow and hence can get rid of one's karma. 

The above practice in true sense as "Kriya Yoga" has to be learnt from a Guru itself and practiced with full of devotion and sincerity. 

BHĀRATĀVANI

BHĀRATĀVANI

భారతావని

రచయిత: ముద్దా రవి కిరణ్

భరతుడు మరియు రఘు రాముడు పాలించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
సీతమ్మ నడయాడిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
త్రేతా యుగమునుండి రావణ, మారీచ, సుబాహు,
తాటకిల రాక్షస సంహారమును చవి చెప్పిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
దుష్ట శిక్షణ, శిష్ట రక్షణను తెలియజెప్పి,
శాంతిని నడిపించి నిలిపింపజేసిన అవని ఇది భారతావని.

నాలుగు వేదములను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
కపిల మహర్షి సాంఖ్య యోగమును అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
జైమిని వ్యాస మహర్షుల పూర్వ, ఉత్తర మీమాంసలను
భావితరాలకు అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
గౌతమ న్యాయ శాస్త్రము, కణాద వైశేషికమును అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
పాతంజలి ఉత్కృష్ట యోగ సూత్రములను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
అత్యుత్తమ మేధా సంపత్తిని మరియు ధార్మిక యోగ విశేషాలను షడ్దర్శనాలతో ప్రపంచమునకు దర్షింపజేసిన అవని ఇది భారతావని.

వేదాంతమును శతాధిక ఉపనిషత్తుల రూపములో అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
ఉపనిషత్తుల సారాంశమును శ్రీమత్భగవద్గీతగా భవిష్యత్ మానవాళికందరికీ అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
భక్తి భావమును ఆలింగనమొనర్చుటకు శ్రీమద్భాగవతమును అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
మానవుడు ధర్మ మార్గమున నడయాడుటకు రామాయణ మహాభారతములతో పాటు పదునెనిమిది పురాణములు మరియు ఉపపురాణములను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని.

గాంధార, శల్య, ద్వారక, జనక, హస్తిన, మగధ, కాశీ, చోళ,  బొబ్బిలి, మరింకెన్నెనో రాజ్యములను తనయందు సామరస్యంగా మరియు సుభిక్షంగా చూపించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
నలంద, తక్షశిల విశ్వవిద్యాలయాలతో భాసిల్లిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
సనాతన ధర్మపు వాఙ్మయాన్ని పునరుద్ధరింపచేసి ప్రపంచ మానవాళికందరికీ మరొక్కమారు అందజేసిన జగద్గురు ఆదిశంకరాచార్యులవారు నడయాడిన అవని ఇది భారతావని.

మొగలేయులు మరియు ఆంగ్లేయుల కీచక, కిరాతక దాడులకు అట్టుడికిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
శివాజీ మహారాజ్, ఝాన్సీ లక్ష్మీబాయ్, భగత్ సింగ్, సుభాష్ చంద్రబోస్, సర్దార్ వల్లభాయ్ పటేల్, మహాత్మా గాంధీ వంటి ఎందరో ఉత్కృష్ట స్వాతంత్య్ర సమరయోధులను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
ఎన్నెన్నో దాడులను ఎదురుకొన్న, ఇతరులపై ఎన్నడూ దండెత్తని శాంతి అవని ఇది భారతావని. 

రామకృష్ణ పరమహంస, స్వామి వివేకానంద, మహావతార్ బాబాజీ, లాహిరి మహాశయా, స్వామి శ్రీ యుక్తేశ్వర్, పరమహంస యోగానంద, రమణ మహర్షి, సాయి బాబా, తుకారాం, కబీర్, గురునానక్, నాయానార్ లు, మరియు ఆళ్వార్ లాంటి మహా యోగులను, భక్తులను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
త్యాగరాజ స్వామి, ముత్తుస్వామి దీక్షితార్, శ్యామా శాస్త్రి, అన్నమాచార్య, పురందరదాసు, సదాశివ బ్రహ్మేంద్ర, రబీంద్రనాథ్ ఠాగూర్, తులసీదాస్ వంటి ఎందరో గొప్ప వాగ్గేయకారులను, కవి పుంగవులను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
భరతనాట్య, కూచిపూడి, మోహినియాట్టము, కథక్, ఒడిస్సి వంటి ఎన్నో సాంప్రదాయ నృత్యములను, కర్ణాటక, హిందుస్తానీ సాంప్రదాయ శాస్త్రీయ సంగీతమును అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;
సుశ్రుత, రాజనాథ్ సింగ్, జగదీశ్ చంద్రబోస్, సి వి రామన్, ఆర్యభట్ట, శివ అన్నాదురై, చరక, రామానుజం వంటి ఎందరో విశిష్ట శాస్త్రవేత్తలను అందించిన అవని ఇది భారతావని;

ఇట్టి అవని యందు జన్మించి ఇంతటి ఉత్కృష్ట సంస్కృతిని వారసత్వముగా పొంది నేను నడయాడుటకు భాగ్యమును ప్రసాదింపజేసిన అవని ఇది నా భారతావని. 

🙏🧘‍♂️🙏❤️🙏

Insanity

Insanity

The sane cannot sense,
the insanity in the senseless,
The senseless cannot sense,
the insanity beyond senses.

To sense the One
that is beyond senses,
one need to be insane, and
Transcend the realm of senses.

Senses sense only the tangible,
Intangible is sensed only by the Heart.

What the Heart senses, logic doesn't,
Where the Heart reaches, mind doesn't.

The sanity exists as long as the mind exists,
When the mind is transcended,
the insanity creeps in, and
a different realm is experienced.

The realm that is experienced,
beyond senses, cannot be expressed,
or explained,
No senses can experience,
No thing can experience.
It's not a thing,
It's Nothing.
Insanity of a different realm,
can only experience the Nothing.

Beloved

Beloved

There is this pain,
The pain of separation,
Separation from the Beloved,
Caused by delusion.

The Beloved is unseen, unheard,
To be perceived beyond the senses,
To be felt by the Heart,
To be seen within,
With the unseen eye.

When the unseen can be seen,
When the unheard can be heard,
When the unperceived can be perceived,
When the unfelt can be felt;
It can be seen, heard, perceived, felt
and it can happen,
Only by the Heart;
Only by the Grace;
Then it happens.

The presence of Beloved is felt,
In every nook and corner,
In every cell and atom,
In moments now, hither and thither,
Every moment, everywhere,
Within and without,
In everything and Nothing,
Just only that - My Beloved. 

Separation ceases,
Pain ceases,
Separation and pain,
Caused alone by delusion.

My Beloved, not here and there,
Not in the present, past or future,
Not in the time or place,
Beyond every defined and
undefined perception
My Beloved was and is
always with me,
Within me.

Silent Look

Silent Look

A silent introspective look,
into the mind's nook,
removed the distorted crook,
from the thoughts brook.

Amidst the thoughts whined,
pain and pleasure wiped,
the wonder struck mind,
found its existence died.

Shifting from a Mind-full state to a Mindful state

Shifting from a Mind-full state to a Mindful state

Most of us start our day with a calendar full of activities and probably would be involved in planning our day while brushing teeth or having a bath. Our mind is generally pre-occupied and is full of those tasks that we need to complete for the day. Probably there could be more activities in the calendar where we might be already feeling overwhelmed and become anxious about the extent of completion of tasks. We might be already worrying so much that sometimes we get a sick feeling and might feel panicked.

This is actually the time where we need to detach ourselves from the mind chatter and try to be realistic in scheduling. We should be ablet to fix in only those many tasks into the calendar that we can realistically complete. If we feel overwhelmed then we might not even be able to start the tasks at hand, and even if we start, we might not be able to focus 100% on the task. While carrying out the current task we might as well be thinking about another upcoming task and would not be able to do enough justice to the task at hand. Our minds get so filled with the tasks to complete that we become anxious and increase our stress levels. 

Mindfulness breathing techniques help us to detach, perform a course correction where required and re-anchor us to the reality at hand. These breathing techniques especially the triangle or box breathing will help us to replenish our brain with enough oxygen and allow us to use our pre-frontal cortex which the CEO of the brain. A regular practice of the breathing techniques will make it easy for us to shift from a mind-full state to a mindful state.

Technique

TRIANGLE BREATHING: A simple technique would be to inhale through nose for a count of 6, hold for a count of 6 and exhale through mouth for a count of 6. This is triangle breathing. We can repeat 6 times in this manner with 6-6-6 as ratio or some equivalent ratio where the count can be longer or shorter based upon individual's lung capacity and the state of mind in which the individual is at that time.

BOX BREATHING: Box breathing involves similar breathing with an additional ratio of holding the breathless state for an equal duration or count. This technique can be practiced by inhaling through nose for a count of 4, hold the breath for a count of 4, exhaling the breath through mouth for a count of 4 and hold for a count of 4 before the next inhalation happens.

CONCLUSION

Let us try to adopt and practice any of these breathing techniques regularly and arrive and stay in a peaceful, mindful state rather than being in a stressful mind-full state.