Who's to know...

Who's to know the number of tears that live ever so quietly behind a certain smile

Who's to know how much of emotion each little droplet carries

Who's to know that a certain pair of eyes could shed no more tears, yet they flowed, they flowed into the quiet, still night, into the warm, peaceful dawn

Who's to know that while each tear cleansed her soul, it took a big part too

Who's to know that maybe, just maybe it was time

The sand of time went one way, then the next, amid it all she sat, still, afraid to even move

Who's to know that weariness would compel her to shift

And, as the sand of time danced to a tune they knew only too well, she weaved a veil of tears...

Who's to know

Somewhere magical

A new dawn makes a beautiful, silent awakening

A precious, light sunbeam caresses earth; birds chirp gloriously, as nature bestows us with her silence, peace and beauty

Somewhere there are silent brooks running into streams, running into rivers, running into oceans

Somewhere, mountains stand sturdy, strong, bursting with life from tress and animals

Somewhere, gorgeous ocean waves break on the shore, only to go back and return anew

Somewhere, deep, deep forests are giving birth to new life, bidding goodbyes to a few

Everywhere, nature is active, and still, she is still, stationery, silent, peaceful, blissful, Godly, pure, chaste and ever so beautiful

What a precious blessing with more than a million magical moments...

Stardust and magic

I am not here after all

Maybe I perch myself at the edge of an ocean that's calm most times, wild some times, as my fingers play gentle keys on a grand piano

Maybe I am at the summit of a quiet peak, eyes closed, feeling sweet mist brush my cheek, envelope my very being

Maybe I am at a place where timelessness is all that matters

Maybe I am in a field full of roses and daffodils, watching butterflies flit from one flower to another

Maybe I am in the stillness of nature, listening to silence sing a soft tune, watching leaves and flowers dance to a light breeze, while nature makes sweet music to the heartbeat of the universe

Maybe I see a thousand fireflies dance to a tune from paradise

Starting today, I will start everyday with a million magical moments

Wish on a star

A beautiful starlit night sky brighten earth

Illuminating her quite like a pathway showered wit delights after two shooting stars clash

Only to create beauty that transcends mans sensibilities
A divine spectacle so rare, magic so pure, truth so real

But, each twinkling star has a story

One born from the crying eyes of a lovelorn soul
Someone's heart broken, someone's heart whole
This precious finds her way out, lingers on the cheek for a while, and then, transforms herself into a rare star

She makes her way to the quiet night sky
Only to reveal herself in the dark of the night
Was she a tear of sorrow or a tear of joy?
Her origin is of consequence, yet, in a way, of no consequence

She is up there twinkling her heart out
This tear survived the path of fire with flames that attacked her vulnerability and gentleness
Threatening to annihilate her
But, she walked on, only to emerge, pure, precious, beautiful, healed

A tear to a twinkling star
Born in someone's eyes
Abandoned on a path of flames
And finally, lives now through the beauty of a star

She is forgiveness, forgiveness is her...

The song unsung

The corner seemed good for a little while
She looked at the shards of glass before her
Each one so different, still the same
A mere part of a once larger object

They glistened in the now fading light
Reflecting the dying rays of a sinking sun
Soon they'd be lying the moonlight
A gust of wind and the pieces moved

She was looked at different pieces
Different pieces that behaved in quite the same way
They lay crushed
She willed the wind to sweep them away permanently

She was weary of looking at those broken bits
She shut her eyes
Shut those contorted pieces out of sight... for just a little while
Tear traces told a story

She looked within, petted her heart
Sang to her tired soul
Saw herself, bruised, battered
She had questions, she got no answers

And then...

She stood up, walked forth
The shards of glass cut, bruised
She went on, giving nothing away
She turned over her shoulder, only just, saw the trail of pain

She looked ahead, moved forth
The pain dissipated into nothingness
She walked along the path coated with broken glass
Each step, a step in forgiveness, a step in love

And this is when her pain transcended hurt
 It now healed, quite like a soothing balm that only calmed, cured
The trail of tears now transformed into a pathway of peace and sanctity
The beautiful path that now lay dotted with bright colours, brighter dreams


The birth of a fresh, new beginning...

Forgive... in a moment

Fleeting images, fleeting experiences

Are they truly fleeting?

She closed her eyes, they were there

She opened them, they were there

Precious moments, experiences too short

Sometimes time is in a hurry

And still, in so many ways time stands still

Like now, when beautiful memories play in her heart, her spirit, her soul

She wanted her own 'memory box'

A magical box where she'd store all her beautiful memories

And then she'd re-live them one moment at a time

She'd make those moments last just a little longer this time

Time, ah time... and she closes her eyes

It takes a moment to fall in love

A moment to say goodbye

A moment to wish moments were longer

But, a lifetime to re-live moments...

Forgiveness though immortalises moments and time eternally

Dusk turns into dawn, dawn turns into dusk

New sunrises, new sunsets bring with them days anew

A new day to love, a new day to forgive

Just when she thinks her moment has gone by

She finds it has found its sanctified place through forgiving

She didn’t need to look for a rainbow, she was already sitting on one

The divinity of beautiful, precious moments transcend time and space... and their truth, holiness and immortality begins in forgiveness and lives in love...

The Notebook - did i tell you

Eternity

What is life, its love

What is love, it's the dedication and will to stand up and say, 'I don't love you, I am in love with you. And, if it means that I have just one day to spend my life with you, I will have lived a thousand lifetimes in eternal, spotless, pure love."

And, when you close your eyes, mine shall close too

And when you pass through this world, my spirit shall accompany you

And we shall have our endless dance in a place called eternity

Where our love transcends time, space and boundaries

For now, I shall hold you

Lay your head on my chest

Listen to my breath breathe you

You are me, just as I am you

Eternally... 

Amore

It's in the dissimilarities you find similarities

In separation you find togetherness

In sorrow you find joy

In entrapment you find freedom

In pain you find comfort...

And in the midst of it all, over, above, through and through

As high as the bright blue sky

As deep as the emerald green ocean

You experience love in its truest, purest form

You are love, just as I am love

We are love

From the heart of a 16-year-old

Life is about coming's and going's, but the beauty of it all are the memories. For me, all memories are good, even the one's that pain, because if they weren't as good, they wouldn't be my memories, would they? Friend's, our little angels on earth, are some of the most treasured people we're gifted.

Exactly a month ago, a little girl sat next to me at work. I wished her a good morning and after the initial introductions and small talk, got on with "emails for the day". Little did I know that during the course of the month, the rest of the team and I would be close to an adorable little 16-year-old girl whose morning chatter about life in general would be the beginning of all our days. Of course, lunch was a picnic with a mix of food, but what all of us will miss the most is a look at life through a 16-year-old's eyes, a view and belief that we must try and recapture. Here's what her going away email said to us all:

• Sara :) you're just the cutest. I love how romantic and adorable you are, and how sweet and helpful. The sweet things you say, the lovely things you wear and the most wonderful optimistic strongest outlook to love - you're gorgeous, don't forget it :* 
• Ela :) you're also such a sweetheart, you're lively and engaging and interesting, and Ela is just the nicest name. :* you spoke to me the first, and i wrote/ helped you with some of your articles- such an experience. :D 
• Leena :) you're too considerate and you have the funniest stories to tell. talking to you makes me smile :) 
• Roshni :) you called me 'the new girl' the first time you saw me. love your humour, sarcasm and sense of freedom and fun. Blackberry Love Forever :* 
• Sharmishta :) you're so quiet and cute and dedicated to what you do- you're too nice. :) 

Love you'll. thanks for being so much and making a month WORKING instead of watching an 11am movie, full of laughter and fun. i've made new friends and heard new stories and met new people and i love you'll for that :* gonna miss you guys, tons. keep in touch.

Love forever,Avanti

I shall read and reread this note often, because this shows me life through the eyes of innocence... an innocence that I hope shall live on forever.

Sweet little Avanti,All of us miss you tremendously too, and there are but a few words that truly do justice to the joy and happiness you've brought to our lives.

Lots of love and blessings forever,

All of us

xxxxx 

The Rainbow of Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it." ~ Mark Twain

A very good morning everyone. :) Every new morning, whether dull or bright is a blessing; and today, I received two additional blessings via email. The first one was a lovely soul's status update, it said and asked at the same time, "I saw a rainbow! When was the last time you saw one?" I replied saying, "I can see one as I type this; life's gorgeous rainbow is visible anywhere we choose to see it." Kartika's (the beautiful soul who typed the update) beautiful revelation helped me see my rainbow this morning. In the end, no matter what we go through (the good and the not so good), we need believe that the rainbow is here, right here, right now.

Miracle number two: I received a beautiful email from one of my best friends on forgiveness. It talked about forgiveness in her true form, about being able to love another human being as a person, as a soul, irrespective of his/her past. Someone's past should not stop us from accepting that person for who they've become in the present. Given a chance, they can become some of our best friends. The lesson here is forgive, just forgive because this is how God wills us to live our lives.

Think about it, God forgives us our indiscretions daily; can you imagine how miserable we'd be if the Almighty kept an account of our shortcomings and reminded us of them? In the same way, we must forgive anyone and everyone who may have harmed us in any way. You know what, life has some of her greatest lessons and most precious messages in tough situations. In fact, if someone is intentionally trying to harm you or bring you down, you will find a lesson and a message even in that situation. It's the uncomfortable situations that help us enhance our spiritual lives and define our character.

Of course, we're human and when we experience a situation such as the above, our obvious action is a reaction; however, we must try and practice restraint. Experience the situation, look at it for what it really is, feel the emotions, embrace them and pray that we're able to forgive, truly forgive people. Forgiveness may not come at that very moment, but it will in the future. Forgiveness and love go hand-in-hand and if we truly love life, we will be able to forgive, of that I'm certain.

Kia Scherr, is a beautiful living example. In an earlier post I told you about how 26/11 claimed the lives of her husband and daughter. Today, Kia co-founded One Life Alliance, a spiritual organisation whose very foundations lie in love and forgiveness. Kia is a picture of peace, calm and forgiveness and she has planned a spiritual event on the 26th of this month at The Trident, Mumbai to honour everyone who lost their lives. (I will give you details about this in a separate post). She embodies love and forgiveness. 

Just last evening, I was having a conversation with another friend. We were discussing a few characters who tried to sabotage our careers when we were only starting out. Of course, it affected us then terribly, we were lost in the woods for some time, but in the end we were led to a path chosen by God. We didn't find our way out, we're too mortal for that; we just placed our faith, trust and belief in the Almighty, allowed him to hold our hands and we followed. As we reminisced, we realised that in spite of the pain and grief we went through then, we learned, and that is our takeaway. Are we angry with the people who did what they did? No, not one bit; we were sad then, but now that sadness is replaced with forgiveness. In fact, we thank them, for if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have learned what we did. As we talked about a time gone by, the only things we took were the lessons and a few good times through the tough ones.

When God asks us to forgive and forget, I believe he hopes that we're genuinely able to forgive with love (and that means truly wishing everyone well) and forget the negative emotions. However, he wants us to keep the positive, keep the goodwill, spread love, just like he continues to do. We too mortal, too human to resort to judging; no, we must embrace everyone for all they are and all they're not. In the end, we see in another person what we see in ourselves.

Then, there are some experiences that are crippling and each of us may see many deaths through the trauma we feel. But rejoice, for each dead part is replaced by a new us. We must remember, the pain of loss escapes no one, but, the birth of a new us does. So, it's up to us really, will we prevent our spiritual progression only because we hold on to anger? We experience pain, loss, hurt and then in time allow ourselves to heal and move on. The more we hold on to this, the more we hold on to grudges against people and the further we are from our spiritual destination.

Forgiveness is only as easy or as difficult as we want it to be. When someone hurts, cheats or slanders you in any way, remember they are not defining you, they are just defining themselves. If you choose to react and get back at them, then you allow them to define you. Forgive, just forgive and understand the lesson in a tough situation.

It has been said that the continuation of species is due to man being forgiving. He, indeed, is a wise and excellent person who has conquered his wrath and shows forgiveness even when insulted, oppressed, and angered by a strong person. Forgiveness is virtue and a sacrifice.

I see in you what I see in me. I see God, love, hope, transformation in you because I see that in myself. God the very embodiment of forgiveness; forgiveness the very embodiment of love; love the very embodiment of life.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone with a lot of beautiful rainbows everywhere you look. :)

ॐ Aum ॐ

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

A very good morning everyone. :) Aum, ॐ, Ohm, different spellings, different scripts, but one beautiful universal mantra. Aum, the first intonation (Aum is not a word, but a divine sound) I say everyone morning, followed by a thank you to God and of course, my ritual silence. Aum, what a beautiful, beautiful, powerful, positive sound and vibration.

Aum is a sound, a vibration, the very heartbeat of the universe, but above all this, Aum is the absolute. Aum, is a symbol that represents Brahman, omnipresent, omnipotent, the absolute. Aum is all this and more. The Sutras try and explain Aum beautifully (I say 'try' because it's impossible to put the Absolute into words; no words and no image can do it full just and therefore scripture puts a symbol to Aum). The Sutras say: "The repetition of Aum should be made with an understanding of its meaning."

However, if you really want to try and understand Aum, Amit Ray's explanation from his book, 'Om Chanting and Meditation', tells it beautifully. He says, "Om is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol. It is the entire cosmos, whatever we can see, touch, hear and feel. Moreover, it is all that is within our perception and all that is beyond our perception. It is the core of our very existence. If you think of Om only as a sound, a technique or a symbol of the Divine, you will miss it altogether. Om is the mysterious cosmic energy that is the substratum of all the things and all the beings of the entire universe. It is an eternal song of the Divine. It is continuously resounding in silence on the background of everything that exists."

As you say 'Aum', from the very depth of your soul, you will feel a beautiful cosmic vibration resonate through your body.

Try it: relax, close your eyes, breathe normally and say 'Aum'; try and stretch the mmmmmmmmmmmmmm for as long as your breath allows you and after that, the relax for a bit. Repeat the mantra several times and then, allow yourself to exist in a state of being for a little while. You will feel beautiful cosmic waves surge through you, literally. There are various ways you can chant; some follow the inhale-exhale method, while others may try and match their breaths to their chanting. I use the method I just explained. When chanting, adopt a method your soul is most comfortable with. Try and stretch the mmmmmmmmmmm for as long as you can. The length of the mmmmmmmmmm is inconsequential, it's the chanting that's really important. As long as your chanting comes from the depths of your soul, you WILL feel a heavenly energy move through your very being while your chant and as you rest in your state of being just after you chant.

This beautiful mantra allows us instant peace. Chant and experience. While chanting is fabulous, it's imperative that we try and understand this mantra in its absolute form. Yes, it's an intonation and symbol that represents the Absolute, but do you know that it's also a vibration that is in keeping with our seven levels of consciousness (fours main levels and three transitional ones)!

Let's try and understand the Aum mantra in a deeper way, so that our next chanting will be holistic in the very sense of the word. Aum has four main parts and three transitional parts; the first sound - 'Oooooooooooo', the second sound - 'uuuuuuuuuuuuu', the third sound - 'mmmmmmmmmm' and then the silence that follows, are the main parts.

The 'Oooooooooooo' sound refers to the gross world, the physical world that we touch and feel with our external senses, the waking state of consciousness. Before we get to the second level, we have a transition level called 'Unmani' - this is the transition between waking and dreaming. The 'uuuuuuuuuuuuu' refers to the subtle realm, the world within, the dreaming state of consciousness, and this is followed by the transition level called 'Aladani' - this is the transition stage between dreaming and deep sleep. The 'mmmmmmmmmm' refers to the casual plane out of which the gross and subtle emerge, the state of deep sleep consciousness. This state is followed by the transition of Samadhi - this is a state that's beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep, this level is a level of self-absorption, a level that's closest to the real us. And then we have the silence, the absolute reality, that is the substratum (foundation) and very basis of our entire being, our true self. This silence is also the witness consciousness who observes the other three states of consciousness.

Indeed, when we chant 'Aum' chant in a way where you are aware of these levels of consciousness and allow yourself to let go of these levels through your chanting. While it's lovely to start your day chanting Aum, you can even chant silently to yourself during the day, you will experience a great sense of peace and oneness with God and yourself.

After all, Aum, is a call to God and we can call on him anytime. In response, he tells us to find him within, in ourselves. Once we find ourselves, our true selves, we find God. The journey we must embark on is an internal one. :)

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

Winds of Change

A very good morning everyone. The beautiful festival of lights, Diwali, have just passed by, and as a new day dawns on sunny Mumbai, this morning feels different, it feels new. 

Amid chit-chat with my mum, dad, Rajiv (brother) and Namrata (my sister-in-law who is now a sister) ~ about one last dinner over the past weekend weekend ~ Nam and were contemplating our attire - sarees or churidar? In fact, I was sure then that I would wear a saree; a beautiful pink one with delicate sequence work.

Now, I simply must stick to my resolutions with such conviction. And you know what; I will… thanks to Aaron Gray, a 13 year old boy in the UK, whose name is already on the organ donor list. Aaron’s own life-saving surgery at just three years of age and organ transplant (thanks to another little child saviour), helped him live. His beaming smile and sparkling eyes personify life and the very sacredness of it.

We are all here today, but, we can never be too sure of what tomorrow holds... and we shouldn’t. I believe our good Lord has given us just the information we need and hopes that we understand his teachings through them. My resolution is to give more of myself to this world. Aaron is a shining example and someone who touches is and urges us to move, move to do something, anything we can, in our own small way to help someone in need.

We live in troubled times, but, this is why we need to give ourselves to others even more. In fact, no matter how much we may do, there is always more that we can contribute. My nana always said, "Darling, never count or measure the good deeds you do. God wants us to live our lives doing only good, so do all you can, ad help everyone you can. Who knows, even a little smile can brighten up someone's day, restore someone's faith and give someone renewed hope. And this is what we must strive to do." Think about it, if God sat and measured all the good deeds he does for us, he'd have a never-ending, ever-increasing list. And no matter, what we do, how we choose to live our lives, he is here, with us and living in us. He sees himself in us, and he wants us to find him in our hearts and in everyone else's hearts too. After all, he's made us in his image.

I've decided that one of the first things I am going to do this year is pledge my organs. I am here today and they serve me well, I may not be here tomorrow, but I want them to serve someone else even better than they’ve served me. Organ donation is not about living through someone else, it’s about helping someone else live and discover a life of their own – a healthy life, a life that God willed for them.

I have no questions for God, only answers, answers that he already knows, answers that he helps us understand and realise in time. Every little millisecond is an experience of life; every little breath is proof of physical life in us. How lovely it is to help someone experience and feel the same thing. For every 100 sufferers, there is less than one organ donor! So many people lose their lives due to the lack of organ supply… and that’s when we wonder, if only, if only X, Y, Z who passed away, had donated! If only…

Little Aaron Gray is a living example of respecting the sacredness of life and honouring it by pledging his organs. I thank him for helping me realise that I must pledge mine too… not to live through someone else, but to help someone else live.

It’s easy – make a commitment and keep it. You need to call your local hospital and express your desire to donate. They will be more than happy to guide you towards doing so. Who knows, our pledge could return someone’s smile, could rebuild someone’s faith, could restore someone’s hope and could give someone a renewed will to live… for himself/herself and for others too.

Oh to enjoy the breeze under the shade of a beautiful tree

Gentle ocean waves kissing our ankles

The twinkling stars with stories to demonstrate

A rising sun of a hopeful new dawn

A quiet moon that promises precious dreams to cherish over a lifetime

A new day to spread love and joy…

Let’s help everyone experience life and live it… as she should be lived.

All of us love positive change in our world, how about us starting with ourselves. We’re here today, gone tomorrow. For now, let’s use our todays towards helping someone have a better tomorrow.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. J 

P.S: The following link will give you an insight into organ donation. However, please check with your local medical facility for details: http://www.lorihartwell.com/GlobalOrganDOantionPolicies.pdf

Breathe

"You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air. The organ that serves for this is the lungs that lie around the heart, so that the air passing through them thereby envelopes the heart. Thus, breathing is a natural way to the heart. And so, having collected your mind within you, lead it into the channel of breathing, through which air reaches the heart, and together with this inhaled air, allow your mind to descend into the heart and remain there." ~ Nicephorus the Solitary

A very good evening everyone. :) It’s a beautiful day today. I thought about the above quote a few minutes after I completed my morning meditation. I've been practicing Vipassana for two years now, and like most meditation techniques, this school of meditation too focuses on concentrating on one's breath.

The breath - breathe in, breath out. As we close our eyes, and help our mind focus on our breath, we become aware of the length of breath, its continuity, its simplicity. As we become more aware of our own breath, we become more aware of our very being. Meditation requires discipline and it's natural if our mind wanders sometimes. If it does, rein it in and start concentrating on your breath all over again.

Most people believe that meditation equals mind control, but, meditation is really about mind-discipline. It's about helping our mind co-operate with our heart. In effect, it's about our heart and mind living together. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if our hearts and minds made decisions together? Think of how beautiful life will be, for us, and everyone we meet.

Our physical life lies in each breath we take. It is this very breath, this silent friend who has the key to our spiritual well-being too. Why the breath, you may wonder? When we focus and concentrate on our breath, we introduce ourselves to our own mortality at a level that’s deeper than this physical one. By following our breath, getting to know its duration, we meet our inner selves. We’re more aware of our body sensations. This awareness leads to acceptance, acceptance leads to belief that this too shall pass… after all everything in this physical world is transitionary, acceptance leads to a fulfilled life, a fulfilled life will take us back to our peaceful mind, and there’s our complete circle.


Buddha's last words to his followers were: "Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in this world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

Regular practice helps us get to know our spirits and in effect we have a better understanding of life, all its happenings, and reasons for certain things happening etc. But above all this, there is a great sense of peace and acceptance; peace at knowing our souls and acceptance, that this is how things are meant to be. It may be good, it may be bad, but, whatever it is, it too shall pass. And when it does, we will find that acceptance is now easy, because this too shall pass.

As I write this, I am aware of my breath, I know that my physical life depends on me breathing, in and out. Life on Earth is a purpose all of us have to fulfill, a destiny we need to complete and rightfully it depends on our breath; our breathing to live and us observing that very breath to help our mind and heart function cohesively.

With every breath, let’s promise the Almighty, the universe and ourselves that we will respect and value our priceless breaths, get to know our true selves through them and honour our physical lives… because it is this physical life that helps us fulfill our spiritual purpose.

In the silence of our hearts, we hear ourselves breathe; the very breath who holds the key to who all of us truly are.

Have a fabulously blessed evening everyone. J 

Let's unclench fists and smile

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~ Anne Frank

A very good morning everyone. Anne Frank's quote is playing on loop in my head, against a very disturbing image. On my drive to work this morning, I saw a painfully thin man who was all but dragging himself forward. It was obvious that he hadn't eaten for days and his pain was palpable. On reflex, I shut my eyes and clenched my fists saying, "Oh my God." I passed by and then wondered to myself, "Is this all I am going to do when I see a hungry person?" Did shutting my eyes and clenching my fists help him in any way? 

I believe, no matter how much we give back to society, there is place for more; and, this man is an example. I begin my mornings with quiet contemplation and I sit thinking about that man now, wondering how far he has gotten, if he has any place to go to, when he is going to have his next meal, does he have family? I say a silent prayer for his soul and hope that he is able to find a saviour in this physical world.

You know what's telling? All of us have the ability to be someone's saviour... in some way or the other. Most of us wait, wait to help, wait to do social work, wait to contribute, wait to give back to society. How lovely it would be if we quit waiting, and helped.

The time to help society in whatever way we can is now. None of us have to go looking for causes to support, they're all here, right before our eyes, in the form of starving men, women and children, exploited people and animals etc. All living beings, man, woman, child and animal has the basic right to live... and if we're in any position to help them in any way that we can, we simply must.

We could donate to a cause that rehabilitates, counsels and supports those in distress, we can volunteer at one of the homes, hospitals etc., we can celebrate birthdays by sponsoring a meal for one of the homes, celebrate the joy of festivals by giving back to society, to those most in need. Yes, this requires a commitment, a time commitment and a promise to humanity and our very own saviour who has put us in a position to help others. But, this is one commitment that all of us simply must keep.

Another promise we can begin right away is by promising our saviour and ourselves that we will make life easier for whoever we come in contact with today. Family, friends, colleagues, bosses, even strangers. This is a promise we can fulfill right away because we can start now. It's easy, just look at the person and/or people around you and smile. See how lovely they feel. You know what, you've just sent out a beautiful positive wave into the universe. This wave is so full of goodness, purity and strength that it will go around and make a lot of others joyous. The person or people you just smiled at, will do the same with you and with people they meet and in effect we will have a beautiful chain of continuing smiles. 

A smile goes a long, long way in cheering someone up, making someone feel good and/or even giving people hope that no matter what ails this world, there is always time for a smile. Wasn't that ever so easy? :) Now that we've started the 'smile-chain', it's time we took a step out of our comfort zones and spread the smile-chain elsewhere as well. How beautiful this world will be if we spread these lovely smiles. :)

And while we're spreading smiles, we can volunteer for one or several causes that so need as much love, affection and attention. The time is now. As I think about that man I saw this morning (the inspiration for this post), I pray for him and send out a lot of love and spiritual embraces. I believe the beautiful universal waves will carry them to him. I must also thank him for a telling lesson he taught me, the time to make a contribution to society is now. He touched my soul so deeply that I renewed my promise of help and giving to God and the universe... and if this post has moved you to do the same, then he has touched you too.

Together, let's thank God for him and the priceless lesson he unknowingly taught us.

Dear God, we pray for the soul of the man who taught us that the time to give is now

We pray that he finds his peace and respite in you

We hope that you send him a saviour here on Earth and ease his pain

We renew our promise to you and vow to help and contribute to society in any way we can

We pray for all souls here on Earth, please help everyone to find their strength in you

We pray that we continue to make positive change in whatever way we can, whenever we can

Dear God, this is one of our many prayers to you

It's time to turn the clenched fists to linked hands, and of course, continue the smile-chain.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

Forgiveness and Love

"There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love." ~ Bryant N. McGill

A very good morning everyone. :) Last evening, I had the pleasure of meeting with Kia Scherr, co-founder of One Life Alliance, a beautiful community that encourages and honours the oneness and sacredness of life. One Life Alliance is a non-profit spiritual organisation that was founded last year, to honour and respect all those who lost their lives during the 26/11 (2008) terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Kia herself lost her dearest husband and daughter at The Trident.

So many of us talk about the beauty of forgiveness, Kia is a shining example of living it. One of the main factors that ails our race is our inability to forgive, let go and move on. Most, spend time focusing on the pain and questioning it. It's all right to do that, in fact, feeling pain and questioning it is necessary, but, in time that pain and questioning must progress to acceptance and that very pain must turn into a helping hand. If we focus on the pain and hurt for time immortal, we breed hate, and slowly, ever so slowly, a painful situation changes us... for the worse.

Kia is a personification of a painful situation changing her for the better through the forgiveness and love she embodies. Yes, she was crushed, broken and found it hard (sometimes even impossible to pick-up the pieces), but, she decided that she would honour her husband and daughter's memory by acknowledging and respecting the 'sacredness of life'. Kia said, "A part of me died with my husband ad daughter that day. However, I've reached out to so many people through One Life Alliance, that I am now more alive in a way."

Her soft eyes reflect peace through her loss. Her focus is now setting up One Life Alliance in Mumbai, a city whose very spirit was attacked two years ago.

Forgiveness, how many of us really understand what the word means? Forgiveness is often confused with condoning a perpetrators actions. Far from it; Kia rightfully said, "Forgiveness is not about condoning what happened; it's about accepting what happened and then making a change for the better." Indeed, forgiveness is not about condoning or forgetting, it's about, being able to move-on, in spite of remembering what hurt us so terribly. It's an act that transforms pain into positive change. Forgiveness, like love, transcends time and space.

Love and forgiveness embody the universe. We're here because our good Lord loves us, love us so very much that he's given us a chance to enforce positive change. He's given us the ability to love selflessly, give endlessly and share ceaselessly. There is no greater joy than loving without motive and giving without expecting. Try it, your soul will give you a confirmation. 

It's time all us took a deeper look at ourselves. Is there anything that is troubling you? If yes, then be sure that there is a lesson in that confusion. Just believe and trust in the good Lord and know that in its time, everything will fall into place. Sometimes, things may not always work out the way we want them to, but you can be sure that they work out the way the good Lord wants them to... and it is this that makes it right. The sacredness of life is what our good Lord wants us to experience.

Life on earth began with love and it's this love and forgiveness that is keeping it going for so long, in spite of the turmoil our world in in today.

http://www.onelifealliance.org/ Come let's honour the sacredness of life.

As I get ready to begin my day, let's join our souls in a silent prayer:

Dear Lord, thank you for a new day

Another chance for me to love you and everyone I meet

Strengthen my resolve to do according to your will

Help me to forgive and understand

Help me to change at least one person's life for the better today

Help me to respect the beautiful sacredness of life

I pray that my smile brightens someone's day

I pray that I serve you and do according to your will in all my dealings today

Thank you my Lord, thank you for giving me another chance to do all this and more

As we end this prayer, let's open our hearts and send out a wave of love, joy and care to the universe. Let's pray that this wave reaches everyone on earth, especially those most in need of a healing hug.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

Rediscovering Silence

"In the attitude of silence, the soul finds a path in the clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive draws itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after the truth."

~ Mahatma Gandhi

A very good afternoon everyone. :) It's been ever so long since I blogged, and it's good to be back. The last three weeks have been spent writing books, reading holy scripture and meeting blessed souls. I begin today's post by contemplating Mahatma Gandhi's saying above. 'Silence', what a beautiful state to experience. 'Silence', most try to fill it with words, noise, sound, activity, things etc. But 'silence', pure silence, is ever so deep, ever so embracing and encompassing that no matter how we try and fill it, there will be space for more.

Why are we so terrified of 'silence' that we simply must fill it with something? Are we afraid of our own state of being? What are we filling our silence with? Noise and clutter that keep us away from our true selves, our real pure nature, our very souls.

'Pure silence' reveals personal, spiritual voids and allows us to experience spiritual life as it is. It is in silence that we meet our selves and realise our true nature. Silence helps us realise that we're constantly running away from our true purpose. Most prefer ignoring these instances, as compared to facing them and enforcing spiritual change. Enforcing, yes in today's rush of a life, spiritual change needs to be enforced on oneself.

Contemporary physical life brings on such an assault on one's senses. It's ever so easy to get carried away and live for oneself... and there lies our folly. Acceptance of our silence and realisation of what we're about and how we're meant to be is the path to true deliverance. We must understand that not all internal voids are unnecessary, in fact, it is the void that brings us close to knowing our true nature. It is in solace, in silence, in aloneness that we meet our spiritual selves.

Not all of us may like what we see on our internal journey, however, being aware of our dislike of our own traits, help us make spiritual amends. Our race has a lot of questions regarding our situation in life, career etc. All the questions we ask have answers, and all those answers lie in response to just one basic question: "Who am I?"

All of us have our answer to this, it's time we withdrew ever so often and helped ourselves discover this answer, one step at a time. A part of this answer stays constant and always will, and a part of it may change depending on life's path. Our good Lord wants us to acknowledge and understand the 'constant' in this answer, he will take care of the rest.

The 'constant' helps us realise that we're all souls on a spiritual mission on Earth. Each of us have our own missions to fulfill (that's the variant in each of our paths), and all our missions are founded in love and truth (this is the constant). Life is about living spiritually and using our physical presence to bring about spiritual change... for ourselves and the rest of humanity.

I've discovered, I am here. The good Lord has put me here to help me fulfill my spiritual purpose and in effect help another fulfill theirs too. My life is about living it more for someone else than for myself. We've all been tremendously blessed by the good Lord, to be where we are, to realise our true purpose. It's time now to open our hearts, spread our wings and help another soul understand how beautiful silence is ad how the journey of self-discovery is the one journey each of our souls thirst for.

I am here for you, just as I know that you are here for me. Come let's discover a path that awaits our arrival, let's rediscover silence.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)

The Art of 'Being'

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind

Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts

Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves

In the infinite ocean of samsara

Rest in natural great peace

~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

A very good evening everyone. As a hot summer's day comes to an end, and the quiet evening envelopes my being, this paragraph above calls for quiet contemplation. I was reading an article by Sogyal Rinpoche last evening and he used the above paragraph to emphasise the importance of 'just being'. This state of 'being' is an art in today's world, because most of us are in a constant rush to get somewhere. I understand, that in-between a career and other responsibilities, the state of 'being' gets more and more difficult to practice. However, just give yourself 30 minutes daily, just 30 minutes to 'be', just be - no distractions whatsoever. This is an integral journey towards inner-peace and all journey's start with tiny steps.

Most wonder what they should do while they're in this state of 'being'. Do the most important thing ever - nothing. Yes, nothing. The state of 'being' allows your mind to breathe, rest, empty itself of all negative thoughts and be in its natural undisturbed, unaltered form. When I am in my state of 'being', I experience a great sense of serenity and oneness with God and myself. I close my eyes and imagine a great wave washing my soul, taking with it any seeds of negative thoughts that threaten my well-being. This process of emptying is a purifying one because once empty, I choose to fill my soul with God's message of love; love for all beings, animals, nature, the world - everything that our good God has so graciously blessed us with.

I've learnt that to truly appreciate and love God, we must be on a constant quest to know our souls. It is through our own souls that we know God. This emptying and filling process is one that each of us must do on a daily basis. There is so much of God's love and goodness that no matter how much we believe we've filled ourselves, there will be place for more. I like to begin my mornings with this process. After I wish God, my guardian angels and life a very good morning and thank them for a new day, a new blessing - I close my eyes, imagine that cleansing wave cleaning my soul and once empty, I breathe in all of God's love and goodness. In fact, I find myself doing this during the day sometimes, especially when I feel like a negative thought may be threatening to sow its seeds in my soul. We're all human and sometimes it's natural for the seeds of doubt to threaten our peace, but God has blessed us with the power to take those seeds out at the very roots.

Quiet contemplation and the state of 'being' involves just you being with your true-self and God. Just sit there in his presence; feel him, experience him, love him through yourself. These journey's are difficult, especially when we just start them, but once we're on our way, there really is no turning back. It's time to stop running away from ourselves and, it's time to stop running away from God.

If you really want to know how you see yourself, all you need do is look at someone else. What do you see in him/her? How do you feel when you look at him/her? The great masters tell us, that we see in others only what we see in ourselves. If you see beauty in everything, then that's how you see yourself; you are so close to God. You see God within. You may argue that not everyone is necessarily pleasant; however, remember, all of us are born with inherent goodness and purity. It's situations and people that become the cause of change. Some of us realise this and some don't. We must help the people that don't realise this. So yes, see beauty in everyone and everything, because everyone, everyone is born pure.

The state of 'being' helps us reacquaint ourselves, with ourselves. As we sit in quiet contemplation, we realise that God is within us. Once we break down our barriers (negative, impure thoughts) that we built between our pure selves and our God, we'll experience bliss, a great sense of peace, an amazing sense of oneness with God and the universe.

Contemplation and the state of 'being' is a journey and like all journey's, this too will have its share of difficulties. But remember, God and the universe wants us to continue on this journey and understand that besides 'being', it requires application and discipline in our daily lives. Our true self and our God awaits us with loving open arms, let's begin and let's continue once we begin... we've kept them waiting long enough already.

Solace in Silence tells you more on 'The Art of Being'.

Have a fabulously blessed evening everyone. :)          

God is One

"On an altar of prejudice we crucify our own; yet the blood of all children is the colour of God." 

~ Don Williams Jr

A beautiful morning to everyone. I apologise for starting with a rather grave quote today, however, let's try and understand the gravity of these words and turn that understanding into positive learning. Today, 30th September, 2010, India prepares for a court verdict that will change the course of history forever. The Ayodhya debate will get its verdict and as the Supreme Court prepares to pass judgment at 3:30 pm IST, India waits with bated breath.

This story rewinds to 1992, when the Babri Mosque in Ayodha, Uttar Pradesh was demolished by a group of 150,000 fundamentalists. Their grouse - a temple built to commemorate Lord Rama's birthplace was pulled-down and the mosque was constructed in its place. Historically, this mosque was built in 1527 by Babur, the first Moghul emperor. Now, there are four versions regarding this site. We have the Hindu version, a Jain version, a Muslim version and a British version! I am not going to get into details of each version but I want to try and understand why, why do we intentionally hurt God in the way we do.

As I was thinking about God this morning, it hurt to see what we've reduced God to. We address him differently, we worship differently, we call out to him differently and he's absolutely okay with that. All holy scriptures are based on love - love, truth, goodness, caring, sharing, giving, helping, kindness etc. Why, why then do so many kill in the name of God? In his name!

God is the very embodiment of love and peace. He allowed us our religions, and all religions, all of them have one common message - love. God believes in equality and all religions are equal, who then are we to decide for one another on what's right and what's wrong religiously?

Our race is ever-so involved with deciding for one another on behalf of God, that most trouble-makers lose the purpose of their cause. If anyone claims God as their purpose violence and religious wars, I'd like to tell them to begin with the truth. Let's be honest with ourselves, look within and begin by understanding God, get to know him, get to know him through yourself. As you begin your journey, you will realise that God is praying that you don't associate any sort of violence for him and with him. Understand that, believe that and it begins with you, once you understand that, you can then pass-on God's message to another. 

God never perpetrated violence; in fact he is the exact opposite of it. God (no matter we call him - God, Jesus, Rama, Allah, Yahweh or anything else) is peace-loving who wants us to live our lives for one another. We're all connected by the very purpose of our cause - our cause towards the very center of our beings, our souls, our truth and finding God through that truth. Everything in life should begin and end with God and that God teaches us love, peace, understanding, humility, caring, sharing and so much more. God wants us to discard our swords and join our hands in prayer and peace and call out to him.

He is calling us all now, all of us as members of his kingdom, all his children - yes, he has made us differently, but he has made us well. Who are we to question the difference when God planned for us anyway?

As we begin this morning, let's all close our eyes, join our hearts and hands spiritually and pray; pray that no matter what, peace prevails in this world (which is one of God's gifts to us), that each of us get more understanding of one another's beliefs, that our hearts reach out to one each other, that we begin each day by promising God to live it in his eyes, by changing at least one person's life for the better daily, and by truly, truly understanding God. God, we love you and we thank you for this life, but we need you here and now. We know that with all of us eternally and we hope that pray that all the people who've drawn swords, discard them and join hands in prayer instead.

Prayer - one of our most precious gifts, understanding - one of our most needed traits and love - one of our most beautiful blessings. This is God's message, this is God's wish for us, this is our purpose to our lives. Our paths to ourselves may differ, but we have one common goal - love. A love so true, so precious, so pure, so complete, so eternal, that experiencing it brings tears to our very mortal eyes. These tears are tears of humility and gratefulness because God loves us all so much, so very much.

Have a fabulously blessed and peaceful day everyone. :)

Faith, Faith in our God

The eternal looked upon me for a moment with his eyes of power, and annihilated me in his being, and became manifest to me in his essence. I saw I existed through him. 

~ Rumi

A fabulously beautiful morning everyone. I feel like there's a beautiful ocean gushing through me this morning. Each wave is sweeping through my being, cleansing me, emptying my soul of any negative thoughts (doubt, worry, distrust, assumption, over-analysis etc.) and leaving me with quiet peace that comes only from God. God, our creator, teacher, saviour, best-friend. As I think about the quote above by Rumi, I realise how easily we let God down.

Think about it - most of us believe in ourselves, believe in our friends, family, pets... why then is it so difficult for us to believe in God, trust in him and believe that everything coming our way has a lesson for our soul. As I close my eyes and feel the seed of doubt wash away, I let my soul rest in God' presence. Yesterday, the seed of doubt threatened to find its place in my heart based on an assumption - this negative emotion disturbed my peace and while I recognised the cause of my spiritual discomfort, my soul had a wrestling match within. I was determined to let good win and when it became too much for me to handle, I left it all to God. I spoke to him and told him that I loved him and that I left everything to him. I believe in his plan for me and I was following his lead. I went to bed and woke up at peace this morning.

As I greeted God, life and my guardian angel a very good morning, beautiful peace encompassed my being and my faith in the good Lord has been re-enforced. This is the magic of God, the beautiful mystery of his very presence, the sanctity of his love for us, his beautiful gifts in the form of our guardian angels, family, friends and people we meet who influence our lives in one way or another. God wants us and hopes that we believe without seeing and this is what we must do. As the calm ocean in me continues to cleanse my soul, I feel nothing but grateful for experiencing God's love.

So many look externally for love, peace and happiness, but all you need to do is look internally. You'll experience God right there, in you. And if you simply must look outside, then look over your shoulder and you'll see your beautiful guardian angel flitting its wings, look at your family and friends who will always be there, look at a stranger across the street and smile... and when he/she returns your smile, you realise how beautiful that smile is, a smile - a quiet sign of acknowledgement and very often a quite sign of God.

I am thrilled that God washed away the evil seeds of doubt. You see sometimes, what starts as a small doubt grows into something that we can't even imagine. What's worse is that if a doubt is based on an assumption (most often than not it is), then the reason for doubt itself is a fallacy. Doubt feeds on doubt and before we even know it, it grows into something we fail to control. This ugly growth then consumes our being, our very soul and we live life trying to protect and/or change situations based on a doubt that was born from assumption in the first place! This sort of life is a lie and any lie is harmful for our soul and spirit. 

So instead of letting this grow and take hold of our lives, why don't we get rid of it at the root? It's simple talk to God, believe in him, request him to work through you and he will. Remember, God made us all in his likeness - whether, it's Bhagwan Shri Krishna, Shri Ramji, Saraswati, Jesus... they were all human whose purity and goodness transcended this world. The teachings, the written word is based more on life than religion. And if you find reading holy scripture too tedious, just call on God in anyway you can and any way you want. He is listening to you - all he really wants you to do is call on him in faith - believe in him and leave the rest up to him.

I like life to beautiful bouquet of red roses - it has lovely soft petals, the straight hard stalks and thorns. The lovely soft petals represent the happy, good time, the straight stalks represent paths that we choose and the thorns represent some of life's hardest but most important lessons; we may get pricked, bleed but it's through those droplets of blood that we learn our lessons. We're all here to fulfill our own karmas and help others fulfill theirs too. God wants us to follow his word, spread it and sow the seeds to faith - first in ourselves and then in everyone else. Faith, we often make it seem like the hardest thing, but it really is the easiest thing to do. Faith in our creator who put us here in the first place - because of whom we experience love, peace, joy, pain and a lot of other emotions; because of whom we experience a new day (no matter how that day may unfold), because of whom we are able to enjoy the chirping of a bird, the flitting of a butterfly, the roar of a lion, the feel of raindrops and so very much more. Our creator, our God, has given us so much, so come let's all believe him in faith. Let's all sow our seeds of faith today... let's begin with ourselves and them helps everyone else who may have a problem sowing the seeds. We know God through ourselves because this is where God is, God is with all of us, at all times. 

God is waiting for his beautiful garden to bloom even more than it already is... let's sow our seeds of faith in God and water them with belief and love.

Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)