Power of Mind and Prayer

It is a long discussed topic: Power of Mind, and prayer is an equally debated one too. Where phenomenons of unexplainable nature occur, either mind or God is quoted as the reason. There are the extreme cases of mind power like reincarnations wherein a 5year old kid remembers her husband and family from her previous birth. And others like dreams coming true years later. There have been lot of instances where our mind reaches out beyond the logical parameters, be it something simple as vague feelings (or gut instincts) or be it visions of future.

But what do these instances signify? Is our mind more than just a collection of neurons, blood vessels and glias? How does our mind manages to grasp glimpses of time not yet happening? Is brain a mass of flesh not bound by time and space and therefore can, if exercised, be made to look beyond these spacial boundaries? Even if all these questions are answered there comes the frustratingly new questions like what the heck is will power? Is it some sort of hidden strength that our brain/manages to build in us? True in times of duress we have our adrenaline kicking in but it is more than a bloody harmone or enzyme that makes me choose between what is right and what is easy!

I personally have had quiet a number of instances wherein I wished for something from the very bottom of my heart and have it happen. Be it something as simple as have someoen to help me carry my lugages over the staircase or something as big as wanting to go and stay in particular place for a certain period of time (and have no opportunity if that happening). Do I call it power of my mind or will power or is there something beyond understanding on work here? I would prefer to believe that the greater power is at work. That way I can always bring my troubles to someone's court and leave it lying there. I wouldnt have to carry it around. What say? :)

But in all sincerity, the power of mind and prayer cannot be understood. If we accept that mind does have such extraordinary kind of power then prayer is a means of disciplining the mind. It gives you certain codes to follow, gives an authority on whom ultimate trust can be placed and also (most importantly of all) it gives understanding on love and surrender. Prayer is tool with which the mind/brain is sharpened to achieve the power of mind, call it will power or Greater power, whatever it may be. And once harnessed this power has no boundary no limitation, neither in space nor in time. May be then Magic may not be so far away! :)

The Golden Buddha

I have felt that we are all more aware of our real self when we were children. There is old saying in my place that when a child smiles in its sleep, its because God is playing with it then. Thus as a child we are more in tune with what is real and what makes us "us". The following story, i came across in chicken soup for the soul, is a thought on the pieces of this ultimate puzzle.

The Golden Buddha

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. In the fall of 1988 my wife Georgia and I were invited to give a presentation on self-esteem and peak performance at a conference in Hong Kong. Since we had never been to the Far East before, we decided to extend our trip and visit Thailand.

When we arrived in Bangkok, we decided to take a tour of the city's most famous Buddhist temples. Along with our interpreter and driver, Georgia and I visited numerous Buddhist temples that day, but after a while they all began to blur in our memories.

However, there was one temple that left an indelible impression in our hearts and minds. It is called the Temple of the Golden Buddha. The temple itself is very small, probably no larger than thirty feet by thirty feet. But as we entered, we were stunned by the presence of a ten-and-a half-foot tall, solid-gold Buddha. It weighs over two-and-a-half tons and is valued at approximately one hundred and ninety-six million dollars! It was quite an awesome sight—the kindly gentle, yet imposing solid-gold Buddha smiling down at us.

As we immersed ourselves in the normal sightseeing tasks (taking pictures while oohing and ahhing over the statue), I walked over to a glass case that contained a large piece of clay about eight inches thick and twelve inches wide. Next to the glass case was a typewritten page describing the history of this magnificent piece of art.

Back in 1957 a group of monks from a monastery had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to a new location. The monastery was to be relocated to make room for the development of a highway through Bangkok. When the crane began to lift the giant idol, the weight of it was so tremendous that it began to crack. What's more, rain began to fall. The head monk, who was concerned about damage to the sacred Buddha, decided to lower the statue back to the ground and cover it with a large canvas tarp-to protect it from the rain.

Later that evening the head monk went to check on the Buddha. He shined his flashlight under the tarp to see if the Buddha was staying dry. As the light reached the crack, he noticed a little gleam shining back and thought it strange. As he took a closer look at this gleam of light, he wondered if there might be something underneath the clay. He went to fetch a chisel and hammer from the monastery and began to chip away at the clay. As he knocked off shards of lay, the little gleam grew brighter and bigger. Many hours of labor went by before the monk stood face to face with the extraordinary solid-gold Buddha.

Historians believe that several hundred years before the head monk's discovery, the Burmese army was about to invade Thailand (then called Siam). The Siamese monks, realizing that their country would soon be attacked, covered their precious golden Buddha with an outer covering of clay in order to keep their treasure from being looted by the Burmese. Unfortunately, it appears that the Burmese slaughtered all the Siamese monks, and the well-kept secret of the golden Buddha remained intact until that fateful day in 1957.

As we flew home on Cathay Pacific Airlines I began to think to myself, "We are all like the clay Buddha covered with a shell of hardness created out of fear, and yet underneath each of us is a 'golden Buddha' a 'golden Christ' or a 'golden essence,' which is our real self. Somewhere along the way, between the ages of two and nine, we begin to cover up our 'golden essence,' our natural self. Much like the monk with the hammer and the chisel, our task now is to discover our true essence once again."

Jack Canfield - courtesy Chicken Soup for the Soul

RChinmayee

This blog is for my niece R Chinmayee. One day while chatting with my sister I left the system unattended for sometime, I came back and found that my four year old niece had somehow managed to open Google search and type in her name (with initial !!) and hit on the search button. Though I am sure that she wouldnt understand the meaning of getting a result to the search for your name, I want my niece to get atleast one for hers and her s alone!! :)

She is the best niece u can ever get..!! i mean how many nieces would just sit on ur lap and listen for hours together the boring stories u tell and still come back for the same thing again the next day. the way she comes to me saying 'Dhanu Chithi', is something i will cherish for my whole life..!! she will cry with u if u r sad and laugh with u in ur joy whether she knows or not the subject in question..!!

Love u Chinnu pattu!!

Ideas/Perception

Dearest Meena,

I want to write this in continuation to the talk we had over phone about the way we are. Religion among other things, is only a way to discipline your mind. A society that has been formed with Religion as its base is only half complete in its ideas & perception and therefore any values, systems or principle that we may form base on what is right or wrong with the knowledge given to us by the society is only incomplete.

In our society it is believed that for any person to be spiritually advanced, celibacy is an absolute necessity. True, in a way it is but not because of the all entrained notion that Sex is wrong but because of the simple fact that a family is binding. If you are going for a binding as marriage you r dividing your mind between GOD, family and money because if you have family you will need money because no man or woman who has given birth to a child will want to see it suffer due to hunger. See without even a bond of a family on us we respond to the cries of a child, a mother or for that matter any human/living creature.

There is one big dilemma. Atleast for me it is and I can find solution for it in only one way. Responding to a pain for others for any one/ any living creature, be it a tree or worm or your own child is probably what makes a person a yogi whereas response to the 'selfish love' is what probably is called binding.

If we are able to get out of the 'selfish love' then all that would matter will the ability to love another being and when you have that ability you will be beyond any binding created by any such relationship; then we needn't worry whether we are in marriage or live-in relationship or gay. It just wouldn't matter.

Recently I was reading about a community called Naturist. For the first few instances when I was reading about them I thought they were some kind of "Nature Lovers", you know "save mother Earth" types. But when I got beyond the first paragraph I realized that Naturist was another name for the most commonly known community "Nudist". The moment I realised that I was repelled. Untill then I didnt have a problem with their views, infact I was thinkin to myself that their ideas of being natural is nice but the moment I realised what it means apart from being vegiee, I was feeling afronted.

But a minute's thought made me realise how stupid I was to feel wrong about it. After all dont we have yogis in our culture who go around naked "the most famous Nainga yogis". what about Mahavira, isnt his teaching about renouncing bonds.. and he went naked symbolically showing that clothes were also beginning of bonds. How different are these nudist from them? They are most comfortable with their body, they know that cloths are only binding and they dont want it so they go without it.It made me realise how much we are bound by teh social perceptions, when such perceptions are far from complete or even right in many aspects.

I am not saying that every person who walks around us nude is great yogi but naturist have a set discipline. And am also not saying that to more understanding, to be able love more we have to walk around naked (god forbid our parents will kill us.. nor r v in such state of complete freedom).. am only thinking y are we not able to accept the other person's view. We may not practice them but we can atleast find it in us accept the differences... y is it so difficult??

Love
Dhana

Dearest Dhanu,
Doesn’t it seem just like yesterday we met and now today its like we are two souls who are struggling to make a mark in the world..Well universe.. And yes as it is souls needn’t struggle! May be though but it’s the way the life goes.
So many lessons learnt; some with interest most without but yes we do (both) enjoy life – may be not the freaky kind but still enjoy the way life is , admiring the elegance , the grace , the vigour , the fall and the struggle .
Yes but lessons we learn or wish to learn our way which at times is not possible. Now don’t ask what am I finally trying to say? It s just that I am now mad! Yes mad at everything, mad at the lessons given, mad at taking the tests, mad at myself!
It was yesterday like I remember my last day at school (as a matter of fact I sometimes presume I am still at school “mom please pack my lunch 4 school! He... May be yet again for the school of life!) ok ok .. am stopping guess am boring u a lot …
Yes da I feel I am now turning a bore, big time, not sure why.. Things don’t seem to flow right... Some turbulence like the tsunami or may be a tornado …its all jammed within.. Clogging my thoughts, my very being. Sometimes I wonder what is it that I want, What is it that I yearn for , and most often I yearn for love , I yearn for care, I yearn for loving someone , caring for someone . I am very thankful to the father above – god, for blessing me with wonderful creators- my parents, a lovely sibling , greatest best friends , one of them is you, and yes all the more a cosy shelter , good food , cared for when ill , smiled at … thought of …
You know even when the whole world doesn’t care or treat me right be it for anything , I am shunned at , I am mocked whatever I still have a few caring hearts like friends and a family who love me and cuddle me when I am not right …I am happy I am blessed .. Sure …
Then what pains me?? This question I have asked many times myself is this , what pains me , what drains me , my mind why though does it get confused , unhappy , turbulent just like being left in a quick sand .
I may not have got some answers but I tried , I feel the moment I hear or see some agony , a pain may be hunger , ill treatment , harassment or such evils we could evade something beyond the natures hands I feel that piercing pain pricking me . it is that which I have a pain for , then at other times it is like I have a feel about the misses in life( yeah I do know that when one keeps thinking about the misses then it does make one lose the reality)but some misses do matter……
Certain things I ll talk later….
So now bye … cos @ office….

Ouchs coz of Daddy's Hunting spree..!!

I was just thinking about decisions I have made through my life. Quite some hard ones, some easy ones, some right ones. I have followed my heart calling where I could, and in some have let fate dictate... I have lied and have told truth (with words, pen-paper (keyboard), and thoughts). I know am not a bad person nor am I good... I am one of those million and millions who fall in the grey area. I only hope I am lighter grey than many.

So all in all, God aint gonna make things easy and in spite of all my shoutings and screamings and beggings (protests too) HE has given what HE conveniently thinks as my lot. And I in all my crazy (wo)manly pride and ego decided to see if I can try and change even a tiwny-whiny bit of it.... sigh!!!

It is a hard world not that I expect it to be any easy on me not when even a mother isnt easy on her baby while abandoning it. So it is not surprising that I feel very much like:"Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake, Luck ain't even lucky baby, Got to make your own breaks"

True there have been some tough luck, but believe me none as bad as Dad's adrenaline... Hunting adrenaline...!! I know you are wondering meenu, "what the heck is this girl protesting about now?" or may be something like "Here she goes again (in circles that too..sigh! sigh!)...?!!". Well !... I have no options! I am at crossroads again and forced to think about options. Yeah, last time I made big deal about God, fate and my frustrations was during my job hunting.... this time it looks like my dad is gonna embark on someother hunting ... 3 guesses as to what it is...? Bloody hell girl! I know u know but cant u pretend not knowing for two times atleast.....

Anyways, yeah its about marriage and dad wants to sit on his high horse, let out the hunting dogs and go on a chase to sniff out the rabbit( or is it fox?). One thing I have learnt with all my musings and 'discussions' with dad, is that it's not that I dont want to be married but am more afraid of getting married. For now am youthful with enough friends and people around me, I dont need company, also I feel that marriage is somewhat binding and am really not ready for any commitments. Dad's standard response is something like "what do u mean u r not ready? what is there to be ready for?". I heave a huge sigh (discussing with Dad is tough job) and end up feeling like am talking to a 5 year old.

I mean, Come on, what is not there? With marriage am just binding myself to a guy I hardly know and have get to face his whole family. I am not ready for that commitment. When can I make dad understand that? How to tell him that its equally important for a girl to be ready in her mind for marriage? Not for now I guess. Only trouble is everybody around me seem to be going looking for dolis and sarees. (Doli and saree for those whom parents arrange and register office for whom parents dont).

I guess I can understand Dad's concerns too. The man retired 6 years back and is still forced to feel responsibility hanging down his neck. He has to start to living his retirement life sometime. Okay, Okay!! I am stopping, I know I am being unfair to Dad. He is looking out only for my own good (since I seem to be hell bent on looking in the opposite direction).

But here is the gist of the story. Dad has climbed on his horse and is galloping away while am still trying my best to even stay seated on it. All hopes on my Guardian angel now..!! :)

(This was written a long time back almost some 11 to 12 months back and was not published. Today I am publishing all the completed draft, hence lot of clog backs (suppressed emotions?)coming in.)

Mourning & Death

I have long wanted to write about something, but didn't the get the chance to or should I be more specific and say I haven't written about it for lack of knowledge? understanding? experience? or mere words? i don't know... but all i know is i want to write about something that has fascinated me and held my imagination for long because of its mystery.. of the pain involved... of lot of other things...


Death & Mourning !

Its something that affects eveyones life either one sees somebody's death or experiences it oneself. We can not talk about experiencing part for no one can say how it will be except for feeling that "I'd rather experience it directly than see somebody die"


What is it that makes it so painful..?? We all know that a person born has to die but all of us struggle with the death of our near and dear.Is it the fact that we might never see them again atleast in the same form thats causing the pain or is it the fact that person is travelling in to something unknown alone ... are we scared for the person???

But of course many say that it is just a purely selfish emotions. You are only crying for yourself. Feeling sorry for yourself for having lost someone. But is that true. If it is true, then why is there an intense physical pain (like the heart is trying to wring the blood out and not pump) while mourning. And why are there instances of dead ones trying to reassure the living dear ones.

Yes! Mourning just as death will always be a mystery.