To be a student of Change We need to learn about life from it We need to acknowledge its flow As part of life, in every now. To know there will be interruptions And understand them as intentional Synchrony at play. To self arrange the chaos that is sensed. So in these very changes As we keep, acknowledging life As part of the same flow We begin to be one with change In conscious awareness And trust life to flow For Change is the only constant.
When the odds stack high, . When our visions are not far enough, When the road ahead seems blocked, When we are at our wits’ end When we are at cross with destiny It shakes hand with us. As it has planned ahead A reciprocal arrangement That opens a new path, A new vision appears. Nothing ends, A new beginning starts. Hope is here to stay.
When you arrive at being comfortable At ease no matter the seeking and the knowing At peace no matter the circumstances In equanimity in the wisdom of the interconnects You are awakening yourself… To the profoundness of you. In the subtlety of consciousness Resides the truth of it all.
A leap of faith Is what makes life a life. Take the chances That you choose to let go. Be intentional So that life doesn’t slip away Take the chance May be they turn out The best decision of your life.
They say opportunity does not knock twice.. So take a leap of faith.
So when you hear the calling of your heart & soul…
Sharing a thought provoking forward that came my way…
I was 9.
There was pensive silence at home when days after the happy news of my dads promotion in a nationalised bank he received orders of transfer as a branch manager to a small village in Rajasthan. We were then in Ahmedabad and this also happened to be the time he was building a house next to our ancestral home.
I had seen him struggle with numbers, adding, subtracting, circling staff loans and FDs he would break and putting a question mark against a few empty spaces in the total.
A house is usually a one time in one life effort so everyone goes all out and makes that one room more than what can be afforded and still finds one room less than what was needed. Javed Akhtar puts it beautifully बम्बई में बस एक ही गम हैं, हरेकके पास एक कमरा कम हे.
The joint family home housed 14 of us from age 5 to 95 years.
Today I watch both the houses abandoned and nature taking over the garden my mother used to tend for hours every day. The Jamun, the Drumstick a few Ashok, Neem and Peepal have survived but all beauty is both transient and fragile and the law of entropy powerful. The lovely flowers of myriad colours are all gone. I wonder what happened to the peacock family that came everyday and ate from my moms hand. The Bulbul, the sparrows, the parrots, spotted flycatchers, Cuckoos, a huge troop of monkeys that once in a month would upset the order of the place.
Once people leave, a home becomes a house. Initially I didn’t feel like selling and now I don’t feel like going. Time has taken away ten of its fourteen occupants.
I walk around our neighbourhood and see similar fate of so many homes once full of life now replaced or lying still.
Why do we stretch and stress to build houses? In most cases our kids won’t need it or worse fight over it. What is this human folly of attempting permanent ownership in a leased life with an uncertain tenure given by a landlord whose terms are non-negotiable and there is no court of appeal.
One day all we have built with love and EMIs will either be demolished, fought over, sold or lie in ruins.
Every time I fill a form that asks for ‘permanent address’ I smile at human folly.
There is a Zen story that an old monk walked into a Kings palace demanding he wanted to spend the night in this Inn and the guards told him, “What Inn, can’t you see its a palace?”. The monk said “I came here a few decades back someone was staying there, a few years later someone else took the throne from him, then someone else. Any place where the occupant keeps changing is an Inn.”
George Carlin says “house is just a place where you keep your stuff as you go out and get more stuff”.
As houses get bigger families get smaller. When the house has occupants, we desire privacy and when the nest empties we crave for company.
Birds and Animals must be laughing at us humans that give up living in order to build their dream home and in the end depart the Inn they mistook as a permanent residence.
Sharing an interesting read that came my way today… Life is to thrive
One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried loudly for hours, while the farmer tried to find something to do to get him out.
Finally, the farmer decided that the donkey was old and the well was already dry and needed to be covered anyway; that it really wasn’t worth pulling the donkey out of the well..
He invited all his neighbors to come help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to throw dirt into the well.
The donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly loud. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he quieted down after a few shovelfuls of dirt.
The farmer finally looked down into the well and was amazed at what he saw… with each shovelful of dirt, the donkey was doing something incredible: It was shaking off the dirt and stepping on top of the dirt.
Very soon everyone saw surprised how the donkey reached the mouth of the well, went over the edge and trotted out…
Life is going to throw dirt at you, all kinds of dirt… the trick to getting out of the hole is to shake it off and use it to step up. Each of our problems is a step up. We can get out of the deepest holes if we don’t give up…
Use the land they throw you to get ahead!!!
Remember the 5 rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hate.
Free your Mind of distractions.
Simplify your life.
Give more and expect less.
Love more and… shake the dirt, because in this life you have to be a solution, not the problem.
Just a while ago, yesterday, few days ago, a week a few months or can’t remember the last time you were really angry?
There are many causes of anger and often, the root is in irritation, frustration neglect or abuse or even unfairness.
Often anger comes and goes…
But when you are unable To let go of habitual anger It’s a path of distress That leads to self destruction Anger poisons the mind & body Leading to rage when out of control. Yet, its part of being human.
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. Buddha
When anger has an emotional attachment and it gets difficult to let go easily. Mindfulness then is the path to emotional freedom.
Seneca the ancient Roman philosopher had a very relevant remedy for anger… He said, the greatest remedy for anger is delay.
How you choose to channel your thoughts And effectively manage anger Is what makes all the difference.
How do you express anger? Are you assertive or aggressive? This is what matters more More importantly when angry Can you say what’s on your mind Can you even speak in a clear way? Or are you emotions clouding you?
Perhaps you are suppressing anger Then chances are it may surge And unexpectedly so. So instead, can you channelize your anger? For then you control your anger Before it controls you.
When you deeply believe
You are bound to manifest
In the deepest intentions
Such is the way of creation
And the power of belief
On memories & thoughts:
Your memories are your thoughts that arise
They are a vision a feelings of things that were…
But in the power of belief they begin to have power over you. Your emotions come into play.
On Awareness of thoughts
But in your depth of awareness you realise thoughts come and go, then you also realise that you are above your thoughts and therein you begin to sense your limitless self.
Being you and being true to yourself is the simplest path towards your purpose.
And yet often being you at times can be challenging.
For life can demand much from you and you need to go beyond and bend backwards and forwards to surf through life’s unexpected turns.
But by being true to yourself you are at least sure to have your heart and head in check and balance, where your inner conscience meets your consciousness.
Great leaders know… It’s about listening, observing identifying and then empowering & developing middle managers to be great leaders of tommorow.
It’s about rewarding people for the right reasons. And understanding what gets people to work together.
And then creating and sustainable atmosphere for them to work well together.
It’s about finding time to understand the context of what is. And being able to not only envision the big picture but also project it with authenticity and powerfully so.
For in the many small moments of the day there appears many random tests for a leader.
Leadership is not about making everyone like each other. But about making them understand that it takes all of them to be a consistent and collaborative team players.
And most of all getting every one knowing why they are there and clarifying in simple words what the organization is trying to do.
There is a beautiful saying that goes…’ It’s not about having a team of stars But about having a star team’
Savvy Raj 
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