Accepting without questioning
Accept Something Blindly
Because they know better.
Today, I was singing in a choir. The conductor was really experienced with a highly sensitive ear.
Among the cacophony of 40 voices, some male and some female, he would immediately sense which one person is singing out of tune.
I was amazed as natural.
Then he would tell us to sing a Bob Dylan song in a particular way. I would say why singing like this, why singing according to a rule, according to a note.
I never accept things or instructions as they are. Always questioning, always objecting.
But today, a switch flicked in me.
If a person so highly experienced and with a sensitive ear then why to question his authority on music, on what he knows best.
If he is telling me to sing in a particular way then why not to simply follow! Why all the fuss!
Questioning mind is good but obstinate mind is not.
Flexibility is a virtue.
Mind is meaning-making machine. There is no inherent purpose of life or existence, I guess.
Meaning of life and purpose of life these questions occupy a lot of space in mind every once a while. One gets tensed, even tired with these questions swirling in the mind all the time.
But gradually, there is a transition:
There is some meaning&purpose of life to There should be some to There might be some to There is no meaning of life.
Gradually, it is realised that mind makes meaning. Mind comes up with purpose of one’s life.
Suppose, for an hour there are zero thoughts in your mind, absolutely nil, what is your meaning&purpose of your life then?
Currently reading: The Myth of Normal by đź“š
Words need to be more meaningful than silence
Words need to be more meaningful than silence.
Although, it is nearly impossible. But still people try and so are I.
If words are not more meaningful, then it doesn’t make sense to speak or write, it is just a waste of time, a pass of time.
Right?
Why speak or write at all?
If you are communicating something, conveying something then it’s fine. It makes sense for transactional purposes.
But there is hardly any need to express with words when you can be *felt. Silently.
Silence never causes confusion. Only words do.
There is hardly any need to use more words to drive my point home.
The article ends here.
Even When You Are Going Through a Storm, the Show Must go on
The last couple of weeks have been full of ups and downs for me. I got to meet my parents and one of my best friends after two months.
Then after a few days, I had to face collateral damage and side effects of an Indian marriage.
My mother fell ill, my wife had to be hospitalised.
Then, this thought came to my mind — regardless of what is going on in your life, there should be, or must be, at least one thing in your life which is constant.
No matter what you are going through or how much busy you are, you never leave doing that thing!
It could be anything like painting, running, exercising, playing any sport, writing, yoga, or just conscious breathing for 5 minutes.
Just do it daily!
Can I divide my mind and hence rule it?
The Rich and the Poor,
The Black and the White.
The Feminists and the Opposites,
The Elite and the Oppressed,
The Happy and the Depressed.
I wonder, can I apply this strategy to my brain as well?
How about dividing my brain and ruling it?
Like inciting one half of the brain against the other and watch them fight. And I just observe.
But it doesn’t stop the chaos inside the mind, does it?
What is applicable for the outer world, is it applicable to the inner world too?
Though both are incredibly complex, but behave in much the same way,
However, there indeed is something that separates night from day.
So, what will soothe this brain?
What will heal it?
How can ‘I’ rule ‘it’?
The ultimate mystery,
Answers? Not easy.
What works for you won’t work for me.
To resist the plan of existence is Struggle
My friend told me that people with so-and-so planet in their house face more struggles in life. I was left wondering. I thought, maybe. But then what’s struggle according to them might be a cakewalk for me and vice versa.
We fret about pretty insignificant and rubbish things every so often. And then we call it struggle!
Very strange, isn’t it?
Then I wondered what would be my definition of struggle.
So, the following thought came to mind:
That existence has a plan for me. It’s impossible to understand it in advance. When it’s happening to us, we are just at our wits ends as to why THIS is happening to me! Fast-forward a few years and looking back it starts to make sense. Nonetheless, we resist existence’s plan when it’s manifesting through us. This is what we call struggle.
Don’t you think that’s struggle?
But then sometimes, life brings and leaves us at a crossroad.
Then we are left wondering what the hell to do now! How do I decide that will make and keep me happy?
When I am in such a position, I leave it unto existence to show me a light/sign. I look at the stars, the moon, and the planets and ask them what’s their master plan. I will try to let go of my plans and follow theirs.
What’s your definition of struggle?
Blue Clouds Disguising themselves as Sky
Clouds, blue clouds disguising themselves as sky.
If we extrapolate this and match to its equivalent analogy of thoughts and consciousness?
Thoughts are like clouds in the sky of consciousness, right?
Like the blue clouds above, thoughts can also disguise themselves as consciousness or a self, right?
So many blue clouds merged and flowing into one another gives the impression a blue sky, likewise, so many thoughts flowing one after the another gives the impression of a self.
Notice someday on a silent night when you are not getting sleep. When racing, intrusive thoughts won’t leave you alone. Just notice very slowly the procession and succession of thoughts.
And you will notice that the ending of one thought quite often overlaps with the starting of next thought.
Rarely is there a gap between two thoughts. That gap, momentary gap is bliss. Because in that gap consciousness reveals itself.
The gap you feel when you laugh wholeheartedly, while making love, bungee-jumping or any adventure sports, and so on…
Thought is very deceptive like a chamleon.
It might lead us to think that the thought of bliss is bliss.
Let me give you an example.
When you get high you might be tempted to say that i experienced bliss. When in fact the experience itself is a conditioned and colored and ‘clothed’ thought.
In the end, your bliss experience is also a thought.
Bliss is not an experience. However, we have to use some word that goes well with the word ‘bliss’. So we use the word ‘experience’ or ‘feel’.
But eventually, it is just a thought. And thought can never be ‘bliss’ or ‘consciousness’. Just like cloud can never be the sky no matter how blue the cloud is.
It is all an illusion. A very real illusion.
What say?
A bicycle rests by the rail, Where LĂ©man’s water flows, a dark trail. In Geneva’s chill, the quiet night holds, A bicycle’s pause, as the Christmas story unfolds.
Wintery days are gloomy here in Europe. Feel like tired but mentally I am fine. Everything is going well I am grateful to existence.
Lot of work to do but I don’t feel overwhelmed.
People still do peopling but it don’t hurt.
Just feel like sitting at one place and resting curled up in my blanket.
Leading a whole life is better than living a happy life. What do you think?
Leading a full and balanced life will automatically lead to a happy life, isn’t it?