Live in the moment.

Here is a saying which has been overdone these days: "Live your life in the moment".I came across a nice take on this saying,which gives it a different and beautiful dimension altogether.

People across the spectrum have had their share of people, familial or romantic ones,good and bad ones,bitter and worse ones, which have left us question the very basics of human bonding and relationships.Are they good or bad?Is they even worth the pain?DO I deserve it?
The problem can be that the person is bad.But most of the times we are reluctant to realize or to concede that some error is on our part also.By agreeing, it hurts us where it matters the most:pride;and we are too proud of ourselves.

Learning to "Live in the moment" will enable us to avoid the pain and suffering.
By that I mean, we have to learn to look at the person "in the moment".
When you look at someone in the moment,you are totally in the present.There is no past or future.There are no pains of the past, or expectations of future, from this person.Then we begin to appreciate the person for what he is and there is a "wow" every single time you see him.Every look brings in a "wow", a rush of joy,that beautiful feeling which we all long for, but which no longer exists.
That "wow" which we saw in him/her when we first laid eyes on that person;
that "wow" we felt at during the many,many first moments enjoyed in their company;
that "wow" which depressingly eludes us needs to be discovered which is possible only by learning to "Live in the moment".
Be "wow"ed every time you see the person.Be "wow"ed by seeing the GOD in them.Just be "wow"ed.
Disclaimer:"This holds true not only for romantic,but also for all kinds of relationships.Please don't try this on weirdos,serial killers,psychos.........(you know the drill)Your safety is in your hands and it matters."

There's another meaning to the "Live in the moment" mantra.
To live in the moment also means to see in the moment.
We, on the basis of our culture,background,education,etc etc, have developed a vision which is a biased interpretation of reality,of our pure sight.We continue to see the world around us through this narrow sight.Whatever we see,what all we see, is only through this narrow vision and seeing more will not help.It's the way we see,perceive stuff that should change; and not what we see.
There are two types of distorted vision here:the invisible vision and the logical vision.

Invisible vision(more suitably un-visible vision) means seeing that which is not there.It means we are in a reality, rather in an illusion built by us, and we presume it to be real.In essence we see that which is not there.It's a lie which we have built around us and we are not even aware of it and all our cognition is based on that lie.

Logical vision is the more dangerous of the two.I would like to call the educated vision.In this, we see things and analyze them logically, based on our "wisdom".Most of us ,the so called"educated" people are prone to this hazard.The problem with logic is logic.What is logic?Logic is a build up of arguments,principles,inferences starting with a idea/assumption.If the foundation is wrong, logic simply becomes an extension of our own ego/self.

If invisible vision is matrix,logical vision is a matrix inside the matrix inside the matrix.......

To live in the moment is not to live lives aimless, promiscuously, and careless.It is to live now.To be alive NOW.That's the real meaning.NOW,right now.

"Wisdom should not be confused with theoretical learning or correct beliefs, for ignorance is not intellectual error. It is spiritual blindness."
--this beautiful quote is shamelessly lifted from here

Smashaana Vairagya

I'm very much interested in Hindu philosophy and Vedas and make it a point to absorb some whenever I can.
This post is on one such topic.
Smashaana vairaagya, when loosely translated reads as graveyardly detachment.I don't even know whether graveyard can be used as adjective.

It refers to the kind of detachment where in, the mind behaves as that of one found in the dead,a.k.a it's dead.The mind lives in a different reality which has got nothing to do with the world in which the body resides.This word is also used to mock some persons, who attain or behave to have attained a spiritual awakening overnight and act as if they are the embodiment of spirituality.In reality this is nothing close to being spiritual and most of them don't stay there for long.

Human beings are programmed to be full of desire and there is nothing wrong in wanting something.The problem doesn't lie there.In fact everyone should give in to their desires and devote their energies in fulfilling them.

This may sound gibberish,but let me explain.There are two kinds of desires.The first one is "the desire to become" and the other one is "the desire to do".The problem lies when somebody desires to become something.
There is a desire to do something and you do it and you become happy.This is natural and perfectly fine.Then, there is a desire to become.In order to become something(happy),we do something and this is where the source of all the pain and suffering lies.

I do something.I will become something.
I will earn money.I will become happy(rich)
I will write a good post.I will become happy(traffic)
I will look good.I will become happy(attract people)
I will hurt him.I will become happy.
I will work hard.I will become happy.(promotion/raise)

These are all fools' recipes for disaster.
Action and desire should be separated in order to find true happiness.
Do something not to BECOME happy,but do something because you find happiness doing it.

Earn money because the process of earning money makes brings you happiness and not under the assumption that becoming rich will bring you joy.Write a good post because you enjoy writing it.Look good because looking good makes you FEEL good.Work hard because you like your work and not to impress your boss.Hurt others not because you will be happy because of it, but because you are (sadistically)happy while you are hurting others.

Action, in anticipation of something(in return) is bound to cause pain.Action in vacuum is necessary.Many are able to separate their actions from expectations.But this is accompanied by a side-effect(a dangerous side side-effect)
With the loss of expectation, comes the loss of desire to act.Once there is nothing to expect from anything or anyone, there is a loss of of an important ingredient that drives life:desire.

The hindu philosophy calls this state as Smashaana Vairaagya.(or graveyardly detachment.)
Many think they have arrived,they have found their calling,their true self.But mistake not;it is a dangerous state and sooner or later they snap out of it and get back to their old habits as a cured drug addict who gets back to his addiction.Only this time, no one can cure him again.

Hence this kind of detachment should be avoided at any cost.This(Now) is happiness.That(tomorrow) is happiness.Everything is happiness and this is as simple as it gets.

Finally, love someone because you love him/her and you love loving that person;you're happy loving that person.And not because you WILL be happy IF you love.
There is a subtle difference between them and it needs to be discovered.(quickly)

It is supremely difficult to be able to continue being actionable, and still be detached from it's results and expectations.

This is summed up by just one line of bhagavad gita:

"Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana."

"You have a right to perform your prescribed action,but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action.
Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities,and never be associated to not doing your duty."
(translation source: "Bhagavadgeetha As It Is by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada")

So simple.So relevant.

Once more

It's failure for me once more.
I have tasted failure once more
This is my doing.
Still it isn't mine.
I blame myself.
I blame myself.
These things are pulling me down.
How can a star performer in one place fails miserably in another place?
This is very frustrating.
I'm angry,pissed,depressed.
It's one of those days.

Now is a good time for a miracle.
Lord,are you hearing?
Hopelessly waiting for good times.

despo

This is what happens when you overdo "commenting"

(can't decide on the title of this post.)
I started out to comment on this post and (as they say) one thing led to another(pun intended) and I ended up writing much more than a comment.Life is funny and indeterministic.

Here it is:

There is always certain stages which happens in spiritual growth.


1.belief in god because of upbringing.(innocence)
2.hate and anger in god bcoz of failures and frustrations.(loss of innocence)
3.disbelief as a lifestyle statement, a fad.(teen years)
4.then life happens.One can't possibly explain things happening around by just logic and science.(life crisis.)
5.beginning to believe in existence of supernatural force yet not fully convinced.(awakening/initiation)
6.acknowledge there is something out there and want to discover that something(GOD?).GODDD this is difficult.Many don't find it in them to proceed further and/or abandon mid-way.(The road seldom travelled.)
7.Discover god.
(realization/bliss/heaven/orgasm/death/love??/peace......)

mother(Teresa) was in stage 6 probably and couldn't realize the next level.Her writings signify the pain and suffering in step 6.We'll never know if she went into step 7.

It(step 6) is a very long and frustrating phase.Patience doesn't help here.Patience is an understatement.Only blind faith can/will do.

In today's world we see things we can't believe and hence believing something which we can't see and feel,is like going against everything we have been programmed not to do.There is this crippling fear of (what i would like to call) 'getting conned'.

Faith is difficult and blind faith is pure agony if tried without a heavy dose of,well...blind faith.

But faith is powerful.Faith makes unreal things real.

Long before,when I started to question idol worship, and confided that in a spiritual guru,this is what he had to say.
"Do you think god exists in those idols?I don't think so",he said.I didn't get it. His viewpoint which he subsequently explained: It's the people, who, with their faith make something as trivial as a piece of stone,a picture,a person into something which it's not:-larger than life.It's their power of worship which puts power back into the idol.That time it didn't have much effect on me.But looking back,I now really believe it.If it works for someone,then why not believe it?


Modern world says it's placebo effect,it's the mind over matter.Blah blah blah......whatever.I know it by a different name.I call it faith.I call it miracle.I call it GOD.I call it love.
What's in a name?

"faith prevails when hope dies."
(not an original.)

Enemy:Hell,it's too good to be (just) a comment.I'm putting this up in my blog.

We are all hypocrites

Nowadays,I seem to getting random thoughts just like that without any effort.It must be due to my voracious reading coupled with my subconscious mind which seems to be running ahead of my conscious self.These thoughts, which I wish to call as self-realization are manifesting by themselves, without any effort by my self.

Suddenly it hit me one day that we all are hypocrites.I'm a hypocrite.
As a child I remember being obsessively passionate about things I set my sights on.I used to cry,fight,hit,plead and do whatever it took to convince or force my parents into getting them to buy stuff or do things I wanted.Whenever my persuasions failed,I used to hate them.I cried,didn't talk to them for days.I tried my best to frustrate them for what I used to call deception done by them.

Look at me now.I deceive myself everyday.I see stuff.I like it and I happily settle to the fact that I can't get it.I see fit people and promise myself to get fit and forget it the next moment.I say to myself every morning, that it'll be a good day and fail miserably every single day.Still after all these I don't carry any grudge against my self and certainly don't treat myself as I treated my parents.Who am I kidding?


I'm expecting less from myself than I expect from others and I don't seem to be too much concerned.I expect more from my parents,friends,employer,God.I have conveniently missed the most important name on the list.Myself.This realization hit me hard.
I desperately need to find it in my self to demand better off me.I can't settle for anything less.A famous saying goes,"You must be the change you want to see in the world".
I hope it's not just wishful thinking.

One needs to get out of their own skins and see themselves as a separate person and judge themselves as one judges others.

Do it NOWWWWWWW!!!(KISS #2)

ripped from here.Copyright as intended by the owner.

nice.

Nice mail I got today.

" Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl. > "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go." In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond. So hold the hand of the person who loves you rather than expecting them to hold yours... This message is too short......but carries a lot of Feelings. "

Bring me to life

"I struggle on and on to feed this hunger burning deep inside of me"

Dude: Dude,have you seen the video of [song name] by [band name].It's good.
Me: No.(WTF.Must be some lame band.Dude's gone crazy.Keeps following every single music/movie released.)
Dude: Man it's too good.You gotta see this.I'm telling you.It's cool.
Me: ok.(whatever)
(Dude gives me the songs of that album the next day.I dump it into my collection and forget it.)

About six months later.
(Returning from movie...)
Dude:The movie sucks.I told you to skip this.But you dragged me too into this.It was a waste of time.
Me: Dude,I knew it too.I didn't come for the movie.I came to see you know who.I'm mad for her ever since I saw her on that TV series.She kicks ass.
Dude:Grrrrrrr...You don't have good taste.There are prettier girls around.
Me:Forget it.Did you notice the songs that played in the background?I liked them.I have to search for them now.
Dude:Aaah...I gave those songs to you long time back.I bet you haven't bothered to look into them even once.You're a !$@!$%%(grrrr....grrrrr)

"don't try to fix me I'm not broken"

This was the conversation that went on years ago between me and my buddy.
The movie was Daredevil.(Yeah.It sucks.)
The "you know who" was Jennifer Garner.(My friend finally agreed that I do have a good taste;well..., only after Ben and Jen got married).
And, the band was Evanescence.

Just as my friend was wrong about Jennifer Garner,I was about Evanescence.That night I went home and listened to the album(fallen) all night and quite predictably I fell for it.This was just the beginning.Listening to the bands' songs became my daily routine,quite literally.Day and night my faithful Ipod drained the music into my brains,just like glucose is fed intravenously to a patient's veins.If somebody would've paid me for listening to their songs(amy, are you reading this?),I was ready to take up the job .And finally the grand-daddy of all:
I actually bought(read as in 'spending money') the album.Now, those who know me in person will understand this.I'm frugal and only spend if i'm absolutely certain of what I buy.Spending for me, is like getting into a long term commitment(now, I'm exaggerating).I think a lot.Though I love music as much as the next guy, I hardly spend money for music though I have a big collection.So to say I was blown away by evanescences' music would be an understatement.

Music is a strange thing.It's hard to put it in words, but there is something about music which strikes the right chord.One doesn't needs to be 'qualified' or lean on other's to make a choice.Maybe it's one of those areas where no one gives a shit as far as critics' opinions are concerned(are there any?).

"I tried to kill the pain but only brought more."

Back to evanescence;their music sat with me deeply.It connected with my inner self.It had the healing power which I needed.Let's just say I was going through one of those phases in life which I don't want to look back upon; and it was a rather long phase.It gave words, to stuff, I couldn't find words for;it helped me connect with myself;helped me connect to god.I'm not a fan of rock music.Still this was different.It was a godsend.Amy lee's voice is ghost-like,haunting.It's like crying out to GOD.The lyrics are beautiful too.They are full of remorse,criticism and cruelty towards god (and self).Desperately trying to reach out for him in search of mercy,help,salvation.

Off late, there is no good music coming out from them.They had some re-organization in their band.Few left,few joined.They released a new album.It was not that impressive(I thought).

" without the mask,where will you hide.can't find yourself;lost in your lie "

Many bands have come and gone.Some made it.Some failed miserably and went down without a trace and some ended up becoming one song(one album) wonder.They come up with that one song,that one album, which goes on to become a raging hit,all-time classic, and then,....that's it.They fade away into darkness never to be heard again.I badly wish this is not the case with them.

Evanescences' initial songs are good and enough for a lifetime of hearing.Still my soul yearns for more.Amy, I'm waiting.I heartily hope that your music will be anything but evanescent.
Evanescence for life.
Evanescence till death.
Music for peace.
--despo

"Breathe into me and make me real.Bring me to life."