On the auspicious day of Janmashtami I am reminded of this doha of Sant Kabir Das “Bhala hua mori ghagri phooti, Main paniya bharan se chuti” which literally translated means – Its best that my pot broke, now I am free from the troubles of filling it. The pot Sant Kabir was referring to, is of your thoughts, beliefs, ideologies that shape up your sense of “I” (Ego). You think that you are a Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Christain, etc, that your God is different from others’ God since you yourself are different from others in various ways – caste, creed, status, financial position, intellectual abilities,etc. and you transact with the world with this sense of a separate identity and keep filling this pot with the same nonsense that you hold true. It is this pot that needs to be broken.

Janmashtami is celebrated by breaking the pot hanging high above the ground by forming human pyramids. To me it signifies that we place ego(The pot) on a high pedestal and this pot needs to be broken by us taking the help of all around us. Then, as in the case of the actual ritual of dahi handi, the sweet dahi inside can be enjoyed by every one.

Happy Janmashtami!

The only thing you are certain of is this moment, which if you examine closely, has memories, imagination, sensual inputs vying for your attention. What you give attention to is most critical, for you are that attention and your body and mind are mere tools to execute actions chosen by that attention. If you are feeling sad, it’s because you are giving your attention to what you don’t have, and vice versa in the case of feeling happy… You(Attention) is caught in the vicious circle of sadness/happiness, pain/pleasure…To transcend it is in your hands. How? You have to create new habits…

The best habit or the foundation of all other habits is to have the feeling of well being for everything/everyone at all times/situations. Even if the situation brings something unpleasant your way, your response should be that of wishing well which starts a cycle of positivity instead of complaining/reacting with anger/etc and starting a cycle of negativity. If you are able to develop such a well wishing mindset, your life is blissful and no one can ever disturb you since you don’t give them the power to disturb you, you hold it in your hands and respond to everything with love…

Similarly – Literacy has nothing to do with education. The former just is acquiring a skill for communicating & understanding, the latter is acquiring the maturity to respond to life…

Being literate and not reading/understanding is as good as being illiterate.

Not using your energies for the good of all is as good as being uneducated…🌻

And we have reached the Dark Side of the Moon, yet another  significant & proud milestone achieved and yet what we know even after all this exploration is truly insignificant as compared to what we can know… 

The Source of all knowledge lies within each one of us but most of us haven’t explored our own dark side to reach the Source (and most of us don’t want to). There are two ways to approach knowledge – one is exploring objects externally and finding out their origin and relation to all things around them (Which is what science relies on) and the other one is to first know the source within, thereby know everything that needs to be known(which is what spirituality relies on)…

There is a story in folklore wherein Lord Ganesha simply circumambulates his mother Goddess Parvati and wins the challenge of going round the world, whilst his brother Lord Kartikeya tries to go around the earth. The story is a metaphor for seeking the Source(Mother) within and not without…

The world is eternal yet changing and our existence is a temporary phenomena

The world exists but is an illusion

​The world doesn’t exist

Aham Brahmasmi (Individual Soul is the Universal Consciousness) 

All are truths experienced & revealed at different stages of the spiritual journey of the soul. Through intense and silent observation the veils are lifted/shattered.

Shattering of all illusions is discovering truth, they are one and the same event 

Pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin of duality and are just a reminder that there is still work to be done to realise that the pain/pleasure is of the body/mind not of the underlying awareness/consciousness which you truly are.

Observe every moment as a witness and you will see that everything including your body/mind is constantly changing and impermanent but that which is observing is permanent. That awareness is who you are, be with it and find out it’s Source, that’s Self Realisation 🌻

This is an artist’s imagination of all stars(without distinctions) meeting somewhere in the afterlife. There is no distinction before we are born or after we die – (Before the game starts)/After the game is over, the king and pawn return to the same box, then why the distinctions when we are playing the game?

I read a lovely anecdote about a race for differently abled children wherein one child falls in the middle of the race & starts crying. The other children forget the race and go over to console the crying child and pick him up and finish the race together. Touching compassion. If differently abled children are able to, why aren’t we?  

The life we are experiencing is also just a similar game/ race wherein we can stop to help the fallen. Remember it is just a game being played by eternity, for eternity, of eternity but we are capable of changing the rules of the game by developing compassion… No more distinctions Hindu – Muslim, Meitei – Kuki, Ukraine – Russia, Black – White…. us – them… These distinctions are in our minds and we can choose to forget them for living together harmoniously… 

For starting a war/riots you need many tools, strategies, resources, etc. For peace you need only compassion/love and it starts with you…

A fiery yet simple soul,

Always looking for Grace from stars &  loving her cubs with all dear heart, 

Always worried about all ills in the world(Muo Chino! Muo Putin!**#), to the extent that the worry poisoned her,

Afraid to pass on into the unknown that we must all go to.

A prayer to the Masters to guide this restless soul into light at the earliest or else”Tiger Bhagi Jase!”

The first involuntary words(in Marathi) that come out when we get hurt/are in pain is “Aai ga!” and there is an equivalent of it in every language. The first remembrance is of the Mother since that is the person whose heart will beat for you no matter what since you are but a piece of her.

It is believed that as you are born into this world, there are 5 duties/ debts to be repaid during your lifetime मातृ ऋण (Matri/Mothers Rin) · पितृ ऋण (Pitra/Fathers Rin) · देव ऋण (Dev/God/Elements/Environment Rin) · ऋषि ऋण (Rishi/Saints/Wisdom Rin) · मनुष्य ऋण (Manushya/Human/Society Rin).

“Matri Rin” they say is something that can never be repaid, possibly since it is made of unconditional love. How can you repay something that doesn’t expect repayment? The only way you can is to “pay it forward” be a Mother to the World and in doing so you are liberated. 

“You two were great friends, what happened?”

“I guess our friendship ran its course, we simply moved on with our lives…”

A dialogue from a Serial on OTT that I was watching and it got me thinking as to can friendship really run its course? It again depends on who you call friends, “Friend” after all is just a word, everything depends on what you understand as friendship and what value you assign to it in your life which in today’s facebook world is just a matter of a click or who “likes” me more…

Does just sharing common interests/situations/background,etc make one a friend? No that is an acquaintance, a friend is something special right? What is that something special that a friend has but acquaintances don’t? In my view, it is being concerned (and acting) for the well being of the friend without any expectation in return. So how many people from the list of common interests/situations/background, etc fall in this category and how many would you be willing to do anything for unconditionally?

The question really isn’t how many friends you have, it is whether you can be a friend. Don’t look for good friends, be one. Jagat Mitra is a person who wishes well for everyone and acts daily for the well being of all. It’s a one sided love affair of sorts. Be such a friend…

Khada Kabir Bazar mein

Maange sab ki Khair

Na kono se Dosti

Na Kono se Bair