What is life if not sensed with the tenderness of the heart?
What is life if not sacrificed at the altar of love?
What is life if not moved from the depth of the soul?
What is life if not loved beyond the shackles of time?
What is life if not consumed sublime by the arrow of the heart?
What is love if not coached into nature of life by the nurture of love?
What is life if not cleansed through tears of yearning?
What is love if not set aglow through the embers of passion?
What is life if not basked in the warmth of love?
What is life if not pining in the patience?
As love conquers you, it blesses you in the knowing.
Make not a mockery of love.
Serenade love and allow it to speak truth.
Love surfaces from the depth of emotions
To mend you and this world a better place.
True love is eternal,
Free as bird in flights of oblivion,
Travelling in the abandon
Of the wilderness of the spirit
Yet bonded in the boundless infinity.
Endless love is a gift of grace.
Acknowledge this treasure,
Blending two souls in one
As a life loved is well-lived. It is such a rare sight!
What a blessing it truly is… A love like that!
Realizing the many miracles of life is also in knowing a love that can move your soul. We can consider ourselves lucky to have been touched by a love like that!
An Inspiring yet charmingly unassuming coastal wonder
Magnetic aura of majestic matrumandir
An act of meditative deliberation
Of grace in effort and goodwill
Simple living deeper consciousness
A gathering of like-minded
Artists who can create unhindered
By material worries
Bridging gaps
Of Humanity consciousness
With no ownership rights
Of land and living
In the cycle of evolution
Equality and brotherhood
Free will and intention
Go hand in hand.
Giving back to society
In useful ways
Volunteering and supporting
For others and self
Mutually coexisting
A green habitat for future living
Peaceful life in peaceful means.
Creativity thrives in every realisation
of the eternal soul freedom
The need to unshackle the boundedness
Anf move beyond bane of belonging
Knowing energy abounds in conscious living
Moving towards infinite unity of the heart in purpose
Powered by practice in perseverance.
My trip to Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu could never be complete and fulfilling without receiving the gift of being in Auroville the universal town. And what’s mystical is that it leaves you with a sense of nonchalant wonder and awe of everything about it every time .And like the pleasure of a puzzle that begins to fit in bits and pieces, I sense the rapture of its plenitude in quietude as its silence and bustle both speaks to my heart.
The name Auroville is derived from Sri Aurobindo, or Arvind Ghosh, a revolutionary, visionary, philosopher and sage who is very well known in India and whose revolutionary endeavours against the British regime predate those of Gandhi.
Auroville is in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu, India with some parts in the Union Territory of Puducherry in South India. It is an experimental township in the making dedicated to the ideal of human unity based on the vision of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa and designed by architect Roger Anger.
Mirra Alfassa, known to her followers as’ The Mother’, was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. Her full name at birth was Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa. She came to Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual retreat on 29 March 1914 in Pondicherry, India.
The ideals of Auroville are beautiful. Here is the charter, as drafted by ‘The Mother:’
Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But, to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the divine consciousness.
Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity.
The Dream of Divinity
Auroville is said to be a manifestation of the Mothers dream … of Divine Will of the Universal Consciousness.
Envisioning a dream of such magnitude is empowering humankind with purpose and direction. Actualizing a dream is a lifetime commitment on the path of conscious awakening.
To live and coexist without disturbing the sentiments of a mini congregation of the world in representation calls for fortitude from its citizens and its council.
In deep respect for The Mothers universal dream and the Aurovilleans collaborative endeavour and in the enterprise of creating a peaceful and integrated habitat for human unity.
Am grateful for the beautiful times spent here at Auroville ….and hoping to be back sooner than later.
A wonderful new year has dawned filled with so much positive intentions and possibilities.
Lets all take the step to bettering ourselves in all that which we can improve…sensing peace and prosperity along the way and create circles of compassion and care where we are and enrich lives in and around us.
Life is truly beautiful when we choose to see it so !
The Bark of a Tree … tells the tale of fortitude and strength in the grounding .
Your scars are patterns life has drawn on you while you held ground .
Be proud of who you are . You are Amazing !
Savvy Raj
Image Credits
Title: Dignity of Being: An Artwork By Savvy Raj
Every life deserves the Dignity of being a freedom to be respected as they are, a freedom to be able to express, freedom to be valued and feel safe and secure, as every other human being .
Whose Job is it anyway?
When a family lives together… What actually makes a home a home?
Who contribute to it in making it the way it is and whose involvement is what … Defining these is never easy as each family has its equations set in its own way but a thought does arise on the disparity of gender induced roles in our society as far role-playing is concerned.
A few questions worth answering to yourself when you are considering responsibilities of family.
How much are you valued for the work you do?
How much do you value the work you are doing?
What kind of life do you see yourself living?
How are you actually living?
Do you have children and how much are they dependent on you?
Do you desire to give your family your time?
Do you feel your partner is taking your inputs for granted?
Do you communicate with one another easily?
What are your ideas and attitudes about sharing family responsibilities?
Do you believe in sharing of household work?
(Relevant especially if you are living in countries where labour is expensive).
The question of who does what may be unique to each household between genders but the conditioning of the man being expected to provide and protect through earnings from employment and the woman being expected by nature to nurture and nourish and feed and fulfill the continuous needs of the family has been handed traditionally across cultures.
This was all ok as long as the woman started stepping into the corporate world and took on positions which slowly began to be demanding in commitment and effort and in time and travel.
Recently I came across a very relevant post by Lisa Gallagher https://www.bebee.com/producer/@lisa-gallagher/a-different-type-of-leadership. And her thought provoking post aroused many sentiments in the reader’s mind. One of the topics she brings forth is the guilt factor amongst women on both sides of the fence as well as many other relevant questions.
Quoting from her article …”Many women who stay home with their children become the Chef, the ultimate life coach, great debaters, negotiators, learn to function on less than 4 hours of sleep for quite some time, financial planners, taxi cab drivers, volunteers for many events that come up throughout the years on behalf of their children or for other causes they involve their children in, party planners, travel agents, and mighty maids! Some of these same women go to bed feeling as though they still aren’t contributing enough. I think in part, some women feel guilty because no-one tells them how worthy they are. No one shares with them how appreciated they are.
Women who stay at home are just as vital as women who go out to work. Never underscore the importance of your role. If you are at home raising children, you are a leader with many roles. Remind yourself to repeat that over and over if you feel under appreciated. Never feel guilty for choosing to be at home with your children who you brought into this world with love’.
The guilt factor stepped in gradually amongst women who had a choice to make as well as in those who had no choices they could make. Speaking of the educated woman who having had equal rights in education and having suitable qualifications in hand as well as innate creative strength, it was downright frustrating for such women to base their career moves depending on family equations and emotions. Engagement in that which is your passion makes the road easier and hence many women perhaps leave out the professional field and prefer to step into the alternative options of less paid or part-time jobs are driven by their innate passion. In the process, they end up multitasking and over working and overstrained.
Laura Gagliardone in her well-researched article on Gender Equality Projections encapsulates ‘Unpaid work is essential to well-being. However, it limits women’s ability to participate equally with men in the labour market and reduces the time available to them for self-care, human capital investment, socialising with other people, political participation and relaxation. The provision of household and care services, viewed as ‘the natural duty of women’, is commonly taken for granted …’
Years of complacency over the roles of work makes people’s attitudes of each other and their jobs difficult to change. But whenever there is a realisation at any age that life is meant to live lovingly and not just to exist it is time to introspect a little deeper.
Cogitations for generations have generated a multiplicity of attitudes towards whose work is it anyway.Is the one out at work to escape the routines of the home and family and is the one at home to be tied up by routines that never allows for independence perhaps also considering that they could be the ones working daily without monetary rewards.
The answers to this question boggle every household where stakes are high without the security of finances and often there is also a taking each other for granted due to lack of interest over the years or options to change the equation.
Here is a true story in a gist of a charwoman
The case of a house help a ‘maid’ in India Working in eight houses along with mine Washing utensils and cleaning rooms Waking at early dawn Walking for an hour or more Each day to and fro … From early morning to the dusk of eve and returning home To an alcoholic husband, without a job A brood of kids with hardly an age gap All of them undernourished and impoverished The woman nonchalantly shoulders the burden Her body famished in the daily grind She has no time to rest but To hear and bear the torture Of abuse and apathy As well as rantings and ravings Of a hopeless husband in sympathy Yet she braves on a smile on her often bruised face Learning to carry on…without a support or care Strengthened in the process The spirit in her takes it all in her stride She saves the food she is offered Where she works, to feed her ever hungry children A child herself as she was married young But the indomitable spirit of life and living garnered in the challenges That life has thrown her way from birth Priceless beyond compare Life goes on for her Her life is a mere existence in making through each day and night…
What gender equality are we talking about? What is different between the woman on the road and the woman sitting in a plush house but without financial or emotional security Really not much One is undercover disguised and forbidden to share due to societal pressures One is out in the open vulnerable and bare. Bounded by duty imposed without a right But both silenced in the humdrum of life and living.
Savvy Raj
To see one another through beyond the strife,
Let’s care to empower the inner spirit in every little way we can.
Uniting all in the strength of the interconnects that run common in this thread of life .
Savvy Raj
Member CID UNESCO
About the Author:
Ms Savvy Raj is a Member of the International Dance Council UNESCO the official worldwide organisation for all forms of dance. As a Dance Educator and Corporate Wellness Trainer, she conducts workshops in Social Dances, Holistic Well-Being as well as Personal Effectiveness.She is a certified adult trainer who uses the creative medium of dance towards bringing empathetic consciousness in her students. Using International Social dance forms and a variety of improvisational techniques as well as creative movement exercises she brings forth the humane connect in it all. Working towards the development of an individual through dance applications and nurturing in the learners an enthusiasm to see and live life positively and empathetically.
Savvy is also certified Graphologist who pursues this as a hobby in her spare time along with a passion for writing, painting, poetry, drawing, sketching and designing.
Creativity is abundant in the flow of life In moulding it to give form in the formless In blending in its essence to shape as you please In connecting the dots to structure it meaningfully
Every artist charts his path With the blessed touch of a mystical muse The muse appears uncalled and unforeseen But exits suddenly as it came …
Then when spaces prevail in the togetherness And the artist seeks on with a clouded vision What appears seems beyond comprehension Every moment begets its own challenge
When thoughts seem too scattered When emotions need time to settle When silence tends to stifle When every endeavour hits rock bottom
Trust in the knowing The muse will touch you In the oddest moment As it knows not time To give your thoughts a new pattern Although the path is of your own making.
Savvy
Every creative endeavour is an undefinable journey of peaks and pitfalls , of highs and lows. The artist can find themselves at crossroads questioning their very existence and therefrom find new paths to forge ahead in creativity. The challenge is to take it all in your stride knowing ‘to create is a responsibility’ and hence the apparent strifes prepare you in the process towards your purpose of being .
Flow is a matter of faith and trust when you know ‘All is in a state of flow’ Self belief takes shape in the form of a Muse and leads you on to a state of creative flow once more .
“It said, ‘Well Marianne, it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon.
“Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.
“And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey.
“Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.’”
Mollestad told host Rosemary Barton that when he read the line “stretch out your hand”, Ihlen had stretched out her hand.
An ever evolving knowledge
An evergreen life
An honest friendship
An everlasting prosperity
An ageless youth
A healthy body
An ever curious mind
An ever-loving spouse
A righteous child
A life brimming with laurels
A truthful word
An unhindered giving of charity
An abundance of true wealth
An uncorrupt leader
A spotless life
An ever revering bow in faith
A blessing of wise friends
A devotee’s prayer from the heart.
“Above verses are excerpts from Abhirami Padhigam that I have translated from Tamil to English.”
Savvy Raj
Here is a share of a story of faith and prayer.
Abhirami Pattar (born Subramaniya Iyer) (late 18th century – early 19th century) was a semi-legendary Hindu saint from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is famed as the author of a collection of hymns called Abhirami Anthadhi which is widely regarded as one of the foremost works of modern Tamil literatureSubramaniya Iyer was born to Amirthalinga Iyer in the village of Thirukadaiyur. Thirukkadaiyur has one of the elegant Brahmin quarters near the temple called as agraharams established by the Maratha ruler Serfoji I, a great admirer of Brahmin poets and bards, in the early part of the 18th century. The village was famous for its Shiva temple, called Amritaghateswarar-Abirami Temple, Thirukkadaiyur. Right from his childhood, Subramaniya Iyer was drawn to the temple and the Goddess.As he grew, Iyer developed a fanatical devotion to the goddess Abhirami. He would sit in a corner of the temple meditating upon the Goddess and singing her praises. As time passed, he was forever immersed in meditation upon the Goddess that he began to observe the supposed likeliness of the Goddess in the persona of the women around him and often showered them with flowers. According to sources, soon, a particular section of the populace began to regard him as a madman.
The story goes that one day, Raja Serfoji, the Maratha Raja of Thanjavur who ruled over the land, visited the temple to pay homage to Shiva. On noticing the peculiar behaviour of Iyer who was in deep meditation, he inquired the other priests about the individual. One of them remarked that he was a madman while another rejected this categorization explaining to the king that Iyer was only an ardent devotee of the Abhirami. Seeking to know the truth himself, Serfoji approached Subramaniya Iyer and asked him what day of the month it was i.e. whether it was a full-moon day or a new moon day. Iyer answered mistakenly that it was a Pournami (full moon day) who could see nothing else but the shining luminant form of the Goddess in his meditation. While in reality, the night was an Amavasya (new moon day).
After Subramanya Iyer’s meditation on Devi, other priest’s in the temple informed about the incident and the way he answered king. later Iyer realising his mistake, he supposedly lit a huge fire and erected a platform over it supported by a hundred ropes. He sat upon the platform and prayed to Devi. He cut off one rope after another in succession on completion of each verse of his prayer. These hymns form the Abhirami Anthadhi. On the verge of completing the 79th hymn, the goddess manifested herself before him and threw her thadanga (diamond earring ornament), over the sky such that it shined with bright light upon the horizon. Sri Abirami Devi bestowed him saying “Dear son, I changed your mad answer as truth”, overcome with ecstasy, Subramaniya Iyer composed 22 more verses in praise of her.
The king who witnessed it, bestowed upon the latter the title of “Abirami Pattar” or “One who worships Goddess Abhirami or The Priest of Goddess Abhirami” and supposedly awarded his successors the privilege of using the title “Bharathi”.
There is more science in art than we ever will know and there is more art in science than we can ever sense.Yes, everyone is entitled to a difference of opinion and that at times may prove to be a costly mistake. However we are not into mistakes at the moment but about the art of science that acknowledges the metaphysical aspects of being seeing, knowing and sensing in the living among others.
Yes, science is evidence and proof based. It is logical and conclusive which makes it irrefutable but that is where it is stumped in reflectivity of the limitations that does not acknowledge the potential of infinite possibilities. Inroads in science although has travelled much in time has yet to prove a great many things about life and existence.
Although it is known to be a fact that the University of Bern did reject Einstein’s initial application for a doctorate in 1907, the above letter may have been verified for authenticity and questioned on many accounts after it became viral on social media. The letter for Einstein may have had its moments of the disappointment of how the world has perceived his vision at that moment. But time and space dimensions changed the entire picture for him and the world at large and what he said became relevant for its theory for those interested in the subject, its impact opened up new dimensions of thought.
Art takes a holistic view of the nature of life and is inclusive and expansive in nature. And this fundamental difference becomes the point of distinction which makes a huge difference in the art of seeing beyond the looking.
The acceptance of the manifold possibility that art brings could be the very reason for its expansive potential in world affairs and resolutions whether it is a matter of peace or war. Having said so, solutions are not in either art or science alone but is in the emergence of a stream of consciousness in awareness of a meeting point of art and science, the melting pot in convergence to transcendence. A space that is inclusive of the ‘ Artistically scientific’ in temperament and ‘Scientifically artful’ in structure. And we have travelled on far, as we stand today from the looks of it, the realisation is knocking already. It is just a matter of speculative probability on what swings the door open and how aesthetically we do it.
In every quest towards our being, the exploration at some point delves deeper into our own self. The inner self, speaks to us all the time at times complementing and other times contrasting with our outer self This can lead to altering states of awareness. Like our outer persona that is projected in this world our inner self is capable of wide range and facets of expression and although it is not defined by our disposition attitude or culture, it can express itself whenever it chooses.Our so-called subconscious other self and destruction amongst may other things can be an intuitive support, the forbearing friend from within our being.
Human beings are not one-dimensional in nature. To the inner self ‘the concepts of ‘bad’ and ‘good’ as usually interpreted are not defined by society’s culture and belief and destruction are the universal life truths evident in every decision we make , it arises from an inanate natural instinct for survival.The outer projections of the self is through an intricately webbed network of a balancing act between the emotional and mental states and its physical manifestations. So while the inner and outer self can be completely at odds with each other yet they feed each other and perhaps are evolving as they learn from one another.
Likewise every life exists on a physical plane as well as in a metphysical plane and perhaps amongst many other dimensions yet unknown, where the interconnects run deeper than we can fathom. Although life in every living being can seem an extremely individualistic in effort and approach and may seem justified as unique to its being, life thrives in the connectedness. This understanding is amplified whenever there is emergence of equanimity in thoughts and deeds in action and response than reaction. The arising patterns is seen then as a dance in every clarity in the consciousness. The ultimate truth is, we’re all one and interconnected in everything in sublimity .
Life with all its complexities and contrasts creates a necessity to chalk out ways to make young impressionable minds better equipped to handle its exigencies. Holistic education is so much about grounding in connectedness as much as it is about intuitive understanding that, harmony in the mind-body connection is a way of life and living.
An education in empathic behaviour becomes paramount in a materialistic world.A lot of misconception about empathy needs clarification.
Empathy is seeing with another, listening to another acknowledging them as they are, in a non-judgemental space and being with another sensing the feelings and caring to reach out with support through words action and deeds …
Empathy can be sensed in a touch a nod or a smile or in the simplicity of silence too doing nothing but just being there …
Empathy is a sharing, a feeling, a bonding, a being, a seeing, a sensing a trusting and believing in hope, in faith, in life and grace .
Empathy is about caring , as a way of being.Empathy is not always about bearing the suffering and sensing another’s pain or being in a state of sorrow or pain . There can arise great empathy when dancing together or in a classroom environment where the teacher feels one with the students frame of mind and speaks to address that … or hearing or performing a song or play together with unbridled sense of bonding and enthusiasm. This empathy can be reflected time and time again in striving to consciously stay aware of the mutually creative fulfilment it brings to our lives . Positive benefits of empathy can become a mirror to gradually inducing greater empathic behaviour in our lives towards ourselves and others .
When there is an empathy in action it is mirrored in our own minds to create, generate loving and caring thoughts as a response to the action .
Every empathic thought finds its way into expression thoughts words or deeds creatively. With increasing empathic thought and action there is unknowingly a connectedness valuing the interdependence in this web of life and living as a way of being.
SavvyRaj
About the Author:
Ms Savvy Raj is a Member of the International Dance Council UNESCO the official world wide organization for all forms of dance. As a Dance Educator and Corporate Wellness Trainer she conducts workshop in Social Dances, Holistic Well Being as well as Personal Effectiveness.She is a certified adult trainer who uses the creative medium of dance towards bringing empathetic consciousness in her students. Using International Social dance forms and a variety of improvisational techniques as well as creative movement exercises she brings forth the human connect in it all. Working towards the development of an individual through dance applications and nurturing in the learners an enthusiasm to see and live life positively and empathetically.
Savvy is also certified Graphologist who pursues this as a hobby in her spare time along with a passion for writing, painting, poetry, drawing, sketching and designing.
Image Credits: ‘Empathy Matters ‘Artwork by Savvy Raj
The Bark of a Tree … tells the tale of fortitude and strength in the grounding .
An artist’s vision.
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