Sans Souci

Sans Souci, our chosen homestay, was simply magical, a transporting back in time....... and it has so much character, that it just deserves it's own exclusive write up space, so day 2 of Coonoor road trip to Sans Souci.

That's Sans Souci as seen from the tea gardens up (rather down) front.

It's (to the year), a 100 year old bungalow, and has changed hands six times in it's hundred year old history, including being home to the catholic bishop of Ootacamund in the 1960s. It yet retains its old time aura...... the pre independence, colonial times feel in true essence. (Must give credit there to Shibani, the current owner of the place too). The exterior, the furniture, the flooring, the books, the artifacts, the cutlery....even tea is still served in a tea pot. 

My experience with a tea pot is only from 'Beauty and the Beast' and I almost expected it to start singing.

The full length porch, which made for coffee time, wine time, cards time, writing time, chatting time, drawing time, reading time, eating time......the gamut of being :)

This was our bedroom

The other side of our room.  The book shelf had an amazing collection...not that I could read much, but like Diksha said, just to smell those old books :)

Another bedroom

No exaggeration, saying we just chilled on the porch

And off the porch...

I must mention, it's early morning on the porch, and I see this wild rabbit zipping across the lawn, and I'm almost wondering if I missed seeing the clock in his hand, and within seconds I see two huge dogs in full chase, and I'm waiting with bated breath. After five minutes, I see the dogs, disappointment writ large on their faces pass back through..brought back the smile :)

Each room has its own fire place, and not to miss the chimney sweeping paraphernalia, it was straight out of Mary Poppins to me 

A quaint little carom room, that's cozy and pretty. We did a late night of cards and wine here one evening, Diksha's first with rummy, and I learnt blackjack :)

This was with Rani who gave us the most delectably delicious food

Here's the coup......a few old pictures from Sans Souci which I was so excited to discover there. They are all from the forties, when the Fritch family from, I think Switzerland, lived there.

Ariadne, the younger of the sisters you see in the picture with the car, actually came back in 2001 to visit the house and that's when she left copies of these pictures there.

And Grandpa Fritch ran a nursery..... you can see it in the prettiness of the house, right?

'Sans Souci' literally means 'no worries'...what a wonderful name.

Road Trip to Coonoor

It was a dream trip, conceptualized on a whim, iffy till the last moment, and consciously kept at a no itinerary space. 

The view from Sans Souci

The No Itinerary was like a mantra to the trip.......it simply takes away any kind of expectation, and puts you in this nice space of 'just being'.

Coonoor can just envelope you in its tranquility and beauty..... just being one with the mountains and the clouds....and Sans Souci, where we chose to stay, was this quaint old house from times gone by, and has pretty much been retained as is, including all it's furniture.......giving the whole experience a feeling of timelessness.  

That's the frontal view of the house. And as we go in, the excitement just keeps mounting, and I hear Diksha say 'It'll take us two days to just explore this house ma'.

Let me start with day 1. 

We got off to an early start, and it was an interesting drive as it crosses four different kinds of terrain. Bangalore to Mysore is this crazy busy highway, where entire focus is almost just traffic, but that pretty much gets done in under three hours, breakfast included. We did Maddur Wada at Maddur, but I guess that was more experience than taste, so won't talk much for the wada. 

Mysore to Bandipur, was mixed bag. First a great road stretch and then an awful road stretch as it's under patchy repair for a few kilometers, and not nice stress on car and driver (me)

Then you get to the Bandipur Tiger reserve, and that's an interesting drive through, more the feel and smell of jungle than any wildlife really. All you get to see on a sweltering summer afternoon is lots of deer, and boar and lots and lots of monkeys and langurs. And that's where you also cross into Tamilnadu. Its called Bandipur on the Karnataka side and Madumalai Tiger Reserve on the TN side.

Monkeys in Bandipur

Then the ghats. That was lots of excitement as it's after all the Nilgiris and part of the Western Ghats of India....about 2250 m above sea level, so a really steep climb with loads of hair pin bends at crazy angles and we even got to see a bad accident where this car got totally over turned, which just added more focus to our own driving. While driving up was full on focus, it hit when I got to Ooty and felt my arms so sore and knees literally buckle. The stress and strain of a first timer I guess :)

          

We did lunch at Ooty, and then another hour to Coonoor, and a further hour to Sans Souci.

A village on the way to Coonoor

Finding Sans Souci was a crazy challenge as no two people seem to pronounce it the same way, and the only landmarks are gravel roads and tea estates :)

That was our gravel road, and it goes on over a kilometer to reach the home.

Diksha of course found some doggy friends at a neighboring farm. That's her with the little boy Surya and the doggies Shanthi and Rosy

We reached the home stay at around 4 in the evening, and then we just chilled and took in the place :)

Diksha wanted this pic because she felt it was like ammamma's paintings :)

As we were driving through the blistering summer heat, I'm telling Diksha 'gosh, it'll be so nice to turn on the ac and crash, and she's like 'you don't seriously expect ac's in coonoor, do you?', and imagine our surprise when we get there and find that...'forget ac's, they don't even have fans'. 

But that's Coonoor, we actually used a razai for the night !

Anticipation Enhances The Now

I read a post today...one that spoke of a Paradox.  It said 'Eternity is in the moment......Cut off the path that led us here and cut off the road ahead, stay deep in the moment ...that's where eternity is.... it's where we are truly living'. 

Profound stuff. And I completely completely agree.

I spent the day totally like that. In each moment.

Stepped out in the morning with a long checklist for the day, and went about it meticulously, doing it wholeheartedly and ticking off. (that's why I love checklists)

The twist? All of today was about tomorrow. I was planning and preparing for a road trip.

Every single item on the checklist was for tomorrow, right from last minute shopping (which annoyingly seems always needed before a trip, as it's something I vehemently, wholeheartedly dislike and so never gets done), the picking up of favorite road eats (from random different places, because you're in an indulgent mood), getting the car done, coolent and tyre pressure and all (especially the stepney, which we never otherwise do), the visit to the salon ( I guess feeling good makes you also want to look good), and so on.

I listed only to show how it was all about tomorrow.... but then, all totally in the now. I loved the day.

Anticipation is not about the future...it's about now. Enjoy the anticipation...not as in waiting for the future. Paradox again !?!

Kar Gayi Chull

Some little things just slowly creep in as rituals.....a song after a movie review is becoming one :)

But I promise, only if there's a song worth sharing, ( a natural check...if I rewatch, then I share....then again I get to rewatch :). This one is for the pure energy of it....the music, the dance, the weed, the beer, the games, the chemistry, the joy. And it's so naturally and casually done...you almost feel like you're there.

Going the Distance

From Seth

The distance from 'can' to 'will' keeps getting larger.

You can connect, lead, see, speak, create, encourage, challenge and contribute.

Will you?

The confusion kicks in when we become overwhelmed by all the things we can do, but can’t find the time or the courage to actually commit and follow through.

In the face of all that choice, we often confuse can’t and won’t. One lets us off the hook, the other is a vivid reminder of our power to say yes if we choose.

Kapoor & Sons

Firstly what led me to this movie.....

A friend had called and said, 'there's so much reality in that film, it's pretty fascinating and scary how close to the truth they come, and so unassumingly and easily ..... we're not used to seeing reality, the drama without the melodrama, in normal Hindi cinema.'

          

And two episodes were quoted; one about 'how she's a good mother and how she even does wrong by one son to help another, because she thinks the younger son can manage and older son needs the help'. (and I was left wondering how that makes a good mother) .

And second was this conversation between the two brothers, 'one saying "bro, the two mattresses that have been separated, you realize what that means? mom and dad are using two separate rooms !!" and the younger one saying..."chill bro, if you live with dad for twenty five years, you want to use another room." 

It had my curiosity piqued.

The family is the dada (Rishi Kapoor), the father (Rajat Kapoor), the mother (Ratna Patak Shah), Fawad Khan as the elder son and Siddharth Malhotra as the younger.

The two brothers, one living in New York and one in London, (one an aspiring writer and the other a published writer), visit their family home in Coonoor, when their dada has a heart attack......only to realize that their parents marriage is on the verge of collapse, the family is in a deep financial crisis, and it's full on family drama as each story unfolds and the brothers stories get added into the fold. There's a lot of underlying non acceptance and bitterness, squabbles and fights..... and I could have so easily used the word 'dysfunctional'. But then is it really....or is it just way more common than we're willing to admit.

And sure....each of those situations and emotions seems overly dramatic, but then it's only because its entire lifetimes issues crammed into two hours and twenty minutes.

Then the energy, the bonding, the hopes, the possibilities all exist to give you a high energy space.

Real kudos to the director, writer, editor and all others involved; they've done an amazing job in giving each of the main characters equally strong space in the film.  And where normally films have a conflict built and a happy resolution following, this one leaves things in natural flow.

Ratna Patak as a jealous and tired housewife,  her strong expectations from her 'perfect' older son, and how she faces the issues there.... beautifully emoted.

Rajat Kapoor as always.......quiet, dignified, serious, intelligent. I think I've had a long time crush on him.

Fawad khan as the perfect elder child, responsible and controlled, is the simmering volcano. Tired under all the expectations and pressure of having to live a lie....and you expect only controlled outbursts, but you realize each one has their own threshold.

Siddharth as a easy flowing, fun loving guy..... yet this deep anxiety within, and it surfaces on short fuse...but he's yet so loveable.

Alia Bhatt in her teeny hep attire is smart, slick and adorable, total eye candy, and brings a lot of zing onto the screen...and it's still not out of place even in laid back Coonoor, as she's a Mumbai pori.

And yes, not to forget the porn loving grandpa, who while enjoying mandakini on the ipad, has this last desire of getting a happy family group photograph. He was a riot...at times overdone...but yet a lot of laughs.

It's an emotional roller coaster, a term I love to use. The base is solid, but the surface is all the excitement.....there's tears, there's joy, there's strong chemistry, even between the brothers who at points seem to feel raw hatred, but it's an interesting dynamic, shared so easily over a joint. (the openness with which they did weed surprised the hypocrite in me)

Like I read somewhere..it's about the chaos of relationships, yet with an underlying stability.

I loved the spontaneity, the lack of pretense and the flow ......an overall wonderfully made film.

Breaking Your Barriers of Rigidity

Adapted from one of the lectures of Sadhguru's:

It is your rigidity that prevents your growth, your opening into consciousness. You become rigid in different dimensions....the physical, the mental, the emotional. Physical you realize even as you try to do your yoga, but it takes a little more awareness for you to know the rigidity in your mind and emotions.

Somebody who is very rigid in his thoughts and emotions believes he is perfect because he does not allow room for any other way of looking, thinking, or feeling. When you meet such a man, you think he is pig-headed, but he thinks he is perfect. 

Look at your own life and see how flexible you were at the age of 10 or 11, both physically and mentally. At the age of 20, your flexibility is considerably less, and by the age of 30, most of it has gone. As you grow, it's not just the physical rigidity, but mental rigidity that sets in severely. Life is just a regression for most people. They are not growing; they are going backwards. They don’t grow even the few assets they come with. Every advantage that comes to most people ends up as a curse. Money, influence, comfort and intelligence come as blessings, but become curses for most people. You are not using your intelligence to reach the peak of your consciousness or to become peaceful and loving.

Similarly, there can be rigidity in your energy. For someone whose energy is very fluid, energy will start moving and transforming the very first day of the simplest kriya. Whereas, for another person, even after practicing for a long time, nothing seems to happen. This simply depends on how malleable the energies are. The rigidity in all these dimensions is not really separate; they are interconnected. The rigidity in one dimension manifests itself into others.

You have kept your energies suppressed to such an extent, and the mind has become so oppressive, that it suppresses life to the point where nothing moves except what is needed to support the ego. Your energies are moving only to the extent that is convenient for your ego – a little more energy and the ego will burst.

The ego knows it very well. That is why it has kept it suppressed. If you don’t have any energy, then again the ego will become very weak and it doesn’t like that. So it just allows the amount of energy which supports and feeds it well. If the energy becomes too much, the ego will be shattered.

If kundalini begins to rise, everything will be shattered and nothing will be left. You will be just a force merging with everything around you.

Practice Mindfulness When Conflict Occurs

Adapted from “Calming Your Brain During Conflict,” by Diane Musho Hamilton

Conflict wreaks havoc on our brains: the amygdala sounds an alarm and releases a cascade of chemicals in the body. But practicing mindfulness can override the automatic responses of our nervous system.

When your body jumps into fight-or-flight mode, notice that you’ve been provoked. Focus on whatever sensations arise in your body; feel them naturally, just as they are, not trying to control or change them. Take deep, consistent breaths: paying attention to our body reestablishes equilibrium faster, restoring our ability to think, listen, and relate.

Doing all this takes practice, but eventually we can retrain ourselves to respond rationally to conflict rather than simply reacting.

Listen Amaya

The proverbial 'small film with a large heart'.

A simple, yet poignant story of a single mother and daughter, with a beautiful relationship, and the upheaval it faces when the daughter realizes that her mother is in a relationship. 

It's low budget, so not opulent, but elegant and graceful.... and what carries it through is the powerful portrayals by Deepti Naval and Farook Sheikh (a favourite pair since days of Chashme Badoor, in fact he even calls her Chamko somewhere along.). And Swara Bhaskar as Amaya was pretty convincing too. 

There are so many lovely facets to the movie. 'Book a Coffee' is a quaint and soulful library cum coffee shop run by Deepti Naval, a middle aged widow, as interesting and charming as the coffee shop. Amaya is her twenty two year old free spirited, outspoken and bold daughter, and they share a wonderful and open mother daughter relationship.

After having lost her husband, who she dearly loved, Leela refuses to become a wall flower and out of that desire is born Book a Coffee, which her daughter also helps run. Into this protected space, comes in Jayant a retired but passionate photographer. 

Leela falls in love again.

Given how modern and open minded Amaya is, Leela seems to presume she will accept Jayant without an issue, and that's the crux of the story.

Only personal experiences can test ones own 'progressive' thinking....its where you are put on the block and you only then know whether you have the mettle to figure things out, and the humility and love enough to think for yourself  and do what you think right.

I also really liked the easy relationship between Leela and Jayanth, how they can get lost in each others company just playing chinese checkers ( can't help but recall.....it used to be a favorite...... I've spent hours and hours playing chinese checkers with my mother in law :)

Other characters are beautifully woven into the film to protect the space and story. 

Listen Amaya is a contemporary, sensitive film about relationships, family dynamics, conditioning, clarity and priorities, and above all ......listening.

Isha Foundation - Project Green Hands

Project Green Hands is the environmental initiative of Isha Foundation that works on increasing green cover in Tamil Nadu. 

The deforestation in Tamil Nadu is apparently so rampant, that four perennial rivers in the state have gone completely dry. There's a recent UNICEF study which says that, within another ten years, 60% of the land in Tamil Nadu will not be fit for agriculture. This may likely be true for more states than just TamilNadu.

It seems so true when it's said that this generation behaves like it's the last generation on the planet.

And then, it's so heartening to see the kind of work that the NGO sector does, be it Isha Foundation's environment initiative for increasing green cover or what SELCO is doing for energy intervention and poverty alleviation, and all the others who do so much great work. 

The apathy and irresponsibility of the powers that be is almost impossible to believe and digest, but then it's a harsh reality. 

Launched on World Environment Day, June 5th 2004, as a grass roots ecological initiative, the project has till date planted more than 24 million saplings by involving more than 1.5 million volunteers and mobilizing schools and communities across the state. They have an audacious and brilliant objective of planting 114 million trees and increasing green cover in the state to the required 33%. 

"Trees and Humans are in an intimate relationship, What they exhale, we inhale, What we exhale, they inhale. This is a constant relationship that nobody can afford to break or live without"

Conversations with God 2

This is the second book of the Conversations with God trilogy by Neale Donald Walsch. I really liked what he had to say about Education, not that it's something startlingly new.... but it's well articulated, and then 'repetition does not spoil the prayer' :)

                                    

Here are some excerpts, and remember this is written as a conversation between God and Neale:

'You are teaching your children what to think instead of how to think'.

'Classes in critical thinking, problem solving and logic are considered by many to be threatening. They do not want such classes in the curriculum. As well they might, if they want to protect their way of life. Because children who are allowed to develop their own critical thinking processes are very much likely to abandon their parents morals, standards and entire way of life.

We are lying to the children. Pick any history book and see. Your histories are written by people who want their children to see the world from a particular point of view. Any attempt to expand historical accounts with a larger view of the facts is sneered at, and called 'revisionist'. You will not tell the truth about your past to your children, lest they see you for what you really are.

They will anyways disagree; you just won't allow too much of it in your homes or your classrooms. So they have to take it to the streets. Wave signs, tear up cards, burn bras, burn flags; do whatever they can to get your attention. They are screaming saying 'there must be a better way', yet you do not hear them.

That's how you educate your children. Most of you will say 'it's the young people and their crazy, wacko, liberal ideas who are taking the country and the world down, sending it to hell. Destroying our values oriented culture and replacing it with a do-whatever-you-want-to-do, whatever-feels-good morality which threatens our very way of life.

The young people are destroying your way of life. The young people have always done that. Your job is to encourage it, not discourage it.

It's not the young who are destroying the rain forest. they are asking you to stop it.

It's not the young who are depleting the ozone layer. they are asking you to stop it.

It's not the young who are exploiting the poor. they are asking you to stop it.

It's not the young who are taxing you to death and going to war. they are asking you to stop it.

It's not the young who are engaging in politics of deception and manipulation. they are asking you to stop it.

It's not the young who are sexually repressed, ashamed and embarrassed about their own bodies. they are asking you to stop it. (The list goes on)

But when the cries and pleas to change the world is not heard or heeded, when they see their cause is lost, they are not stupid, when they can't beat you, they will join you.

Your curriculum should have courses like this:

Understanding Power

Peaceful Conflict Resolution

Engaging Creativity

Celebrating Self, Valuing Others

Joyous Sexual Expression

Diversities and Similarities

Ethical Economics

Visibility and Transparency

Parents who do not want children questioning their values are not parents who love their children, but rather, who love themselves through their children.

You have not allowed your schools to teach that love is all there is. You have not allowed your schools to speak of a love which is unconditional.

Hell, we won't even allow our religions to speak of that.'

Nandi's Day at the Service Station

Leaving Nandi (our car) at the service station brought a story to mind.

             

                   Nandi, on his first road trip

There was nothing the matter with the car, and this I realized when the guy at the service station asked for complaints. I had none.......seven years and it was good as new. Just that it had been a while and I thought it could do with it's regular overhaul. 

A picture at the Fiat Service Center...As always a sucker for nostalgia

On the surface, it seems like a parallel to how we, as people, are expected to go for regular medical checkups. But then, one significant difference hit me. When we go for a medical check up, what we would typically come back with, is maybe a list of parameters that are off the norm. We've seen enough cases of people who go for a regular check up and end up knowing they have a major ailment, at times needing surgery as remedy. I'm not questioning the veracity of that ( though we have enough reason to do that as well), but the whole approach. 

When the car goes for servicing, it gets a nice overhaul........ a mechanism to maintain and prevent issues and breakdowns. Do we have an equivalent of this?

That's where the dots connected.

The other day someone asked me why I do so many random courses....does it have a use, does it have a purpose, they asked. Well, it mostly doesn't, atleast not in terms of using it in career and such. 

It's my way of 'sharpening my axe' (remember the story of the woodcutter). All of these courses.... the teachers, have learnt something, and are offering us that learning.  I find that if we can attend with an open mind, we surely come back with that something new learnt....that much more enriched.....even if at times in the form of a reiteration of something already known. It can shift the mindset, shift the energy and at time even change trajectory. If not something so basic, it can surely shift your approach and attitude that degree or two. Each a new learning.

The question is not 'do I need it'...it's more like.... 'will I grow from it'.

Thanks Nandi, for seven years of driving me around, being part of so many wonderful road trips, and now for enabling yet another lesson.

Retrocausality

While this appears an extremely complex concept at the moment, I think it's simplistically and beautifully brought out in one of my all time favorite books, 'There's No Place Like Faraway' by Richard Bach.

It's a ten minute read, almost like a children's book, maybe as deep as the much better known 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

We've heard of the Space Time continuum from spiritual thinkers (vedanta for sure), from philosophers , movies and books. 

This time round, what was even more fascinating was hearing it in a discussion among hardcore scientists. A discussion on  The Nature of Fundamental Reality, with the panel being experts from Mathematics, Quantum Mechanics, and Computational Physics, from the most esteemed institutes in the US.....and the even bigger surprise was the discussion being moderated by Deepak Chopra.  An in itself clear indicative of the blending of or rather the breakdown of walls between Science and Spirituality.

Retrocausality, simply put, is an 'occurence in the present' impacting an event or occurrence  'in the past'. It seems like a practical and rational non doable. But that's because we look at Time and Space as uni dimensional and linear. But it's now even scientifically getting accepted that Space Time is a continuum, and it works as quantum and not linear. If you want more, watch the discussion.

I actually loved how the discussion began with Bernardo asking if Mathematics was the foundation of reality, and how Edward talks of it with this metaphor ' If Tolstoy didn't exist Anna Karenina wouldn't exist', yet if Pythogoras didn't exist, the Pythogoras theorem would still exist. And to that extent mathematics is completely objective, yet it exists only in mental space.

It's the deepest form of abstraction, which is entirely mental. Yet not personal. So it exists in the mental, in the consciousness which is underlying all consciousness....in the collective consciousness. A implicit assumption being that the mind extends beyond the personal. The personal is the door to reach that consciousness.  And then you take that door, and realize the truth is not outside...... it's inside. Mind blowing huh? (pun intended)

The Bare Necessities

Jungle Book is in the air, and it carries a lot of fond memories and nostalgia for sure. It was almost an everyday event for a few years of Dhruva's and Diksha's little times. 

In fact when Diksha came back from watching the movie, she said she still loved it, and also that she experienced more nostalgia than anything else. (One of her favorite fur toys was this panther called Baggy, named after Bageera :)

Here's one favorite part:

The Final Day of the Isha Yoga Program

One participant said it really well "We keep receiving these forwards on what's app and emails saying 'Live in the moment' 'It's all about being positive' 'Smile and be happy'.....  now I know How"

I also love how Sadhguru exemplifies what he teaches....the energy and life he brings into each moment.

                                          The place I did the course

Snippets from today's session: 'it's about living life, experiencing life....in joy and exuberance; like being in love, doesn't matter what, where, with who......are you capable of feeling that...that zest for life.

He talks of being in that state of joyousness and bliss. Does not mean you don't experience the ups and downs of life. You do, you go into pain, experience it and come back. You go into grief, experience it and come back. If you are not in that state of consciousness you could get lost in the pain, or stay completely away from it. Live it, Live life....Be in Aware Consciousness'

He chose Buddha's teachings to explain some fundamental concepts....of Life, Karma, Mind, Subconscious, Collective Conscious and such.

He said 'there are a lot of enlightened beings, before Buddha and after Buddha, but it was Buddha who expressed it most logically and rationally, he marketed it well :). In fact Buddha and Patanjali, they have explained everything there is to explain. There is nothing new left for anyone to explain. I can search in the corners of my consciousness to find something new, and I'll find it's already been said by them. So let me use Buddha's explanation to help you understand'. (was like back to Vipassana)

Also, here are some reactions to the Shambavi Maha Mudra, that some of the participants volunteered to share:

"every sensation felt heightened, red seemed more red, sweet seemed more sweet, it was ecstatic"

"I felt like a high, like on psychedelics, and so high on energy that I actually went home and went for a run"

" Honestly, I didn't feel anything... not the first time, not the second....but I feel the need to continue doing it, I can feel the beginning of something fundamental changing within me"

" I felt like the rest of the world disappeared, and I expanded to fill the whole space"

"I felt like I moved out of myself and touched another space. And while I had to go home and right away go grocery shopping with my wife, I now feel that even when my life is messed up, I have another space to go to"

Also, about the course itself, a lot of people came up and said  it was a 'life changing' experience.

It is.....it is a wonderful course. You understand why he is a realized soul. And you do, because it does open up inner dimensions you didn't know existed, it can change your life's trajectory.

I'd say, do the course if you can........feel, and spread the love and joy that life is !!

The Cat Rescue

Diksha's commitment and perseverance when it comes to animals doesn't cease to amaze me.

This cat was stuck on a third floor vent for over two days. I'd called the security guys, but they said they couldn't do anything as it was too high and had no access. Some others in the apartment tried getting him down, and had given up. 

When Diksha saw him stuck (which was on day two, as she wasn't home on day one), she just didn't give up. Two hours I saw her just sitting there on the ground floor and looking up....... and I'm like, 'how do you think you're helping', and she's like, 'I can't just leave him there ma, he'll die'.  I gave her all the moral support I could, and all the ideas I could, (all of which had already been tried out) and left.

By lunch I get a message from her saying the cat was down :)

Shambhavi Maha Mudra

Sadhguru can be really profound and irreverent, all at one time. At times gentle and patient, at times abrupt and blunt. He says, living, real living is to live in joyousness and exuberance........... "If you can't have a love affair with life, it will rape you". "Bliss and Joy are not the goal, they are the path....find the path and see where it will take you"

Yesterday was a 6 am to 6 pm session with Isha Yoga

I had wondered how that would go, twelve hours at a stretch....but then it came with a bundle of surprises. Some fun and games to start with, then the saatvic food which was amazing, some exposure to the kind of wonderful outreach programs done by the organization, and finally the actual initiation into the Shambhavi Mahamudra ( a kriya, an internal process said to be the most potent of the 108 methods of Vigyana Bhairav Tantra; an act of concentrating on the inner third eye of Shiva, the Ajna Chakra )

The first two hours was physical games, like frisbee, dodge ball, kho kho and stuff. We were allowed to bring friends and family, so diksha and a friend of hers also came along, and we all had a lot of fun.

The food was amazing; breakfast was a drink made from 21 millets and jaggery and coconut, and it was one of those super nutritious but real tasty kind of things. One glass and no hunger till the afternoon. And lunch was a five course meal, with three deserts, all from uncooked, high pranic fruits and vegetables. Needless to say, really tasty again.

Courtesy Google, as we weren't allowed our mobiles in

The outreach programs I'll write about separately, as they're doing some really really interesting and wonderful work in terms of environment, health and education. 

The initiation into the Shambhavi I think is a very individual and internal experience, so I'll suffice it to say that it was one of the most powerful experiences I've had to date.

Ida, Pingala and Sushumna

'Intuition and Logical Thought'

Right side brain and Left side brain, The Masculine and the Feminine, The Objective and the Subjective ..........

It's kind of amazing, but I've heard about this, in depth, from two completely different approaches, one spiritual and one scientific, all within twenty four hours.

One, from the Isha Yoga course which approaches it through Energy Pathways, and

Two, from a Spiritual Technologies Summit, which actually has a smart phone App to enable higher use of Intuition.

Both clearly agree that the key to 'experiencing' life is in finding the balance; but that, as mankind, we are moving more and more into Logical space, and further and further away from Intuition.

First from what I learnt at Isha Yoga:

                                             

He talks of three fundamental 'Nadis'; the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna, which are the energy pathways. Ida and Pingala are equivalent to the left side and right side of the brain, just that these Nadis are not part of the nervous system, but are the Energy Pathways...... they are not seen, but can be 'felt'. And Sushumna is the Nadi that balances both.

Ida and Pingala are the basic duality of existence, the Shiva and Shakti, or the masculine and feminine ( this is not to be confused with gender). They are qualities in nature. Like the objective and subjective, intuition and logic, art and science...you get the drift.

The key is to finding the balance, and that's when Sushumna is awakened. Most people stay in either Ida or Pingala all their lives, and their central space, Sushumna remains dormant.

Once energies enter into Sushumna, you are said to attain Vairagya. Vairag means 'no color' and Raga means 'colour', so together it in essence means, you become transparent. You then reflect what's around you. If what is around you is green, you turn green. If whats around you is red, you turn red. You yourself remain unprejudiced and undisturbed. Wherever you are, you become a part of that, but nothing sticks to you. And it's in this state that you will dare to explore other dimensions of life, even as you live here.

Right now, you are reasonably balanced, but if for some reason the outside situation gets upset, you will also get upset in reaction to that because that is the nature of Ida and Pingala. It is reactive to what is outside. But once the energies enter into Sushumna, you attain to a new kind of balance, an inner balance where whatever happens outside, there is a certain space within you which never gets disturbed, which is never in any kind of turmoil, which cannot be touched by the outside situations. 

Once your energies enter into Sushumna, you will dare to scale the peaks of consciousness.'

Shinrin Yoku

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. —Robert Louis Stevenson

        

Nature-based therapy is nothing new, at least in the East. But the Japanese have now developed this into a critical part of the Japanese health and wellness system.

The term Shinrin Yoku, is not really ancient, it was developed in the 1980's by the Director of the Japanese Forestry Agency, initially as a means to market and make popular the forests. But studies have now shown that a thirty minute trek in the forest had a significant impact in terms of decreased negative feelings, stress, anger, fatigue, anxiety, confusion and such, and it actually results in improved cognitive skills. 

Yakushima was chosen because it is home to Japan’s most heralded forests. The area contains some of Japan’s most pristine forests, including those of select cedar trees that are over 1,000 years old. Miyazaki reported that a level of physical activity (40 minutes of walking) in the cedar forest equivalent to that done indoors in a laboratory was associated with improved mood and feelings of vigor. This in itself is hardly a revelation, but he backed up the subjective reports by the findings of lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in subjects after forest walks compared with those who took laboratory walks. It was the first hint that a walk in a forest might not be the same as a walk in a different environmental setting.

This brought back to me something I've always said, but I guess with ratification now.......that when in the countryside I just feel more in my own element, that direct connect, not only with nature or the outside, but actually with myself. 

There is a harmony and alignment in forests which just seeps into you. Through our daily lives, there are so many little things and at times big things that sap your energy. We manage, but it's mostly like running on a treadmill...unless you make a conscious choice.

It helps to identify and connect with sources that replenish.

One way..... go find some trees :)

Responsibility = Ability to Respond

Ask and you shall Receive 

Got proved yet again today. 

A couple days back a friends post had me thinking about 'Responsibility'. It was about the paradoxical concept of how 'Taking Responsibility grows Freedom'.

It completely resonated, not as paradox, but as a given.

Yet it had left questions in my mind on where the boundaries for this responsibility were, and how they overlap.

And right this evening, at the Isha Yoga course, this was the concept discussed. 

Responsibility s.t.r.e.t.c.h.e.d. Responsibility as equated to 'Ability to Respond'. It's what  you could (should) 'Feel' for everything. Like something you wear as an attitude.

Responsibility does not mean holding responsible or putting blame ........it basically means you care. And it does not mean you need to act and do for everything. Actionability has several dependencies.... situation, access, time, distance, capability, tools......and such.

Can you just 'feel'.

'Responsibility is what you are using to draw boundaries. Limited responsibility is the source of all evil on this planet. Why do we restrict our feeling of responsibility to just ourselves and our people....people who are attached to us. Excesses of any kind comes out of this. Why limit it.... you are restricting and suffocating yourself by limiting it.

If you want to be an unlimited human being, those boundaries will need to break.

You don't have unlimited capability. The action can get limited by capability, but the living needs to be in unlimited responsibility.

The sense of belonging and ease and joy you feel for the walls of your home, they come because you limit your responsibility within. If you can feel that outside the walls as well it would break down a lot of the boundaries. Can you not help the whole atmosphere by just taking responsibility and feeling at home anywhere. A joyless face is the worst crime on the planet. Can you create happiness wherever you are by just being joyous.'

In fact, he goes to the extent of saying that if you can drop these barriers and stretch that responsibility, people around you will become worshipful of you, it will unknowingly happen. He says that's what people like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Mahavira did. Just took responsibility for everything.

"And this is what enables total Freedom.....and Freedom is the highest goal "

Isha Yoga - Inner Engineering

Yesterday was my first day at the 'Isha Yoga - Inner Engineering' program.

It's banner read 'Welcome to the Silent Revolution of Self Realization'

The program is conducted by the Isha Foundation, the organization founded by Jaggi Vasudev, better known as Sadhguru.

For those who've never heard of him; Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, philanthropist and spiritual guru. While the foundation center is in Coimbatore, it offers the traditional Hatha yoga program around the world. The Foundation is also involved in various very interesting social and community development activities, currently in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh.

“Transformation means nothing of the old should remain; something absolutely new should happen.” - Sadhguru

          

          

          

Some context:

I attended a session of Sadhguru's in Hyderabad a few years ago.  I was amazed to find that he had the entire hall of over a thousand participants completely mesmerized, some even in stages of trance and intense emotion. Such is his energy being. 

What he spoke resonated really well with me and ever since, I've been wanting to visit his ashram at Coimbatore to understand and learn, as also to 'feel' the energy of the place, of which I've heard much.  That has yet not come to be.

Then, a couple months back I was pleasantly surprised to find the Isha Foundation center in Bangalore open right in the lane where I live. I strolled in the other day, and well, here I am attending their program.

The philosophy behind the Inner Engineering Program:

Inner Engineering is offered as an intensive program for personal growth. The program and its environment establish the possibility to explore the higher dimensions of life and offer tools to engineer oneself through the inner science of yoga.

Inner Engineering can be thought of as a synthesis of holistic sciences.

It consists of simple but powerful processes from yogic science to purify the system and increase health and inner wellbeing. The program includes guided meditations and transmission of the sacred Shambhavi Mahamudra, which, once learnt, can be practiced regularly at home.

Yoga transforms and liberates human beings so that they can reach this unbounded state. Humans, unlike animals, are not merely existing. They are becoming. To evolve as a human being is to become aware of one's limitations; to strive, with intense passion, towards the transcendence for which we all have the potential.

Spirituality aside, I also love his sense of humor, that quiet ripple of laughter that seems to run through his whole body, and it comes up at almost anything, even the most serious of spaces. It's wonderful. His answer to one question:

q: What kind of a job is it being a Spiritual Guru and Yogi? Do you enjoy it?

a: 'Being a yogi is great, life is wonderful; but being a guru....that's very frustrating, because I can keep saying the same thing over and over and over again and in so many different ways, but people just don't seem to get it.'

The Fundamental Mismatch Error

One from Seth:

"It's me, not you."

vs.

"It's you, not me."

What happens when you're unable to serve a customer well, or engage with an employee, or work with a partner?

One instinct is to blame the other person, that your art doesn't match their expectations, and they ought to change, or leave.

And the other is to put the blame on oneself, to state that, "it's up to me to change to make them happy."

Either might be true.

For some people, that's hard to swallow, but it's true. 

If you're not getting what you seek from the work you do, it could be because your instinct is to go too far in one direction, a belief that doesn't help you very much.

Blame too many other people and you become a lonely diva, bitter and alone.

Blame yourself too often and you become a wishy-washy panderer to the masses.

Mismatches happen. The opportunity is in dealing with them in a way that leads you (and the other) to the place you want to go.