Of Vibrations, Victories and Changing the World

A new post in the series - Satyam Shivam Sundaram

A series featuring inspiring words from various sources, words that speak of timeless truths, words that remind me of the deeper and hidden truth behind surface events and phenomena, words that shine light when all seems dark, words that are just what I need - for this moment and for all times to come.

Source

The world is full of innumerable problems. Anywhere we turn, we see suffering, wars, destruction, disease, disasters, environmental threats, natural resource depletion. So many things that often overwhelm us because we don't know what we, individually can do about any of these.

People love to quote - Be the change you wish to see in the world. But what does it really mean? Surely each one of us can do a little something to make the world a better place. For instance, as I said in my previous post, even by becoming more mindful of our consumption patterns we can add our tiny little bit for the good of the environment.

But is there something more we can do, in addition to changing our outer actions or behaviour? Something on a deeper, more fundamental level? On the level of human nature itself? On the level of our own nature? 

The other day while doing some research I was drawn to the following passage from Volume 5 of the Collected Works of the Mother. The power of the vibration of goodwill, the power of an absolutely sincere effort to gain a victory on some little imperfection of our nature, the power of this seemingly small but incredibly difficult work we must do if we want to really make a meaningful difference in the world around us.

Can one help the world with a vibration of goodwill?

With good wishes one can change many things, only it must be an extremely pure and unmixed goodwill. It is quite obvious that a thought, a perfectly pure and true prayer, if it is sent forth into the world, does its work. But where is this perfectly pure and true thought when it passes into the human brain? There are degradations.

If through an effort of inner consciousness and knowledge, you can truly overcome in yourself a desire, that is to say, dissolve and abolish it, and if through inner goodwill, through consciousness, light, knowledge, you are able to dissolve the desire, you will be, first of all in yourself personally, a hundred times happier than if you had satisfied this desire, and then it will have a marvellous effect. It will have a repercussion in the world of which you have no idea. It will spread forth. For the vibrations you have created will continue to spread. These things grow larger like the snowball.

The victory you win in your character, however small it be, is one which can be gained in the whole world. And it is this I meant just now: all things which are done outwardly without changing the inner nature—hospitals,schools,etc.—are done through vanity, for the feeling of being great, whilst these small unnoticed things overcome in oneself gain an infinitely greater victory, though the effects are hidden. Every movement in you which is false and opposed to the truth is a negation of the divine life.

Your small efforts have considerable results which you don’t even have the satisfaction of knowing, but which are true and have precisely an impersonal and general effect. If you really want to do something good, the best thing you can do is to win your small victories in all sincerity, one after another, and thus you will do for the world the maximum you are able to. 

Will our victory act for the whole world?

It will not change the whole world. For your victory is too small for the whole world. Millions of such victories are needed. It is a very small victory if compared with the whole. But it gets mingled with other things.... It could be said that it is like bringing into the world the capacity of doing a thing.

But for this to act effectively, at times centuries are necessary; it is a question of proportion. You can try it out (and it is much more difficult) even with those around you. You must be absolutely sincere, not do it with the idea of getting a result, but because you want to gain a victory. If you gain it, it will necessarily have an effect on those around you.

But if a bargaining element is mixed up in it, if you do this thing because you want to get that other: “I want to overcome my defects, but that person must also overcome his”, then that doesn’t work. It is a merchant’s attitude: “I give this, but I shall take that.” That spoils everything. There is neither sincerity nor purity. It is bargaining. Nothing must be mixed with your sincerity, your aspiration, your motive. You do things for love of the Divine, for truth, for perfection, without any other motive, any other idea. And that brings results.

CWM, Vol. 5, pp. 19-20

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To see previous post in the series, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, click here.
To see all posts in the series, click here.

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Linking this with ABC Wednesday: V, V is for Vibration, Victory 

Hello, It's a Miracle!

"Hello Miracle, my old friend. So good to see you! Long time, where had you been hiding?"

"Hello there! I suppose I could say I was just hibernating, taking it easy, you know! How have you been? I see you look quite hale and hearty, nicely blossoming."

"Yes, it has been a good year so far. I have enjoyed the nice rains we got and also plenty of Sun helped me regain some of my vigour. But you have had a difficult time in the last couple of years, no? We missed you around here."

"It's nice to hear that you have been well. And I missed myself too, if I may say so! Yes, it has been a difficult time for me lately. But that's mostly because of that not-so-smart fellow who kept overfeeding me despite my ill-health, and didn't even bother to check what I actually needed. And those people who hired him, I mean the couple who own this property, sometimes I think they are also not very smart despite all their education and stuff. They got me to their home, parked me here in this corner and probably just forgot about me. What kind of people do that, hun? I wasn't getting proper attention, and as you know I am not really that demanding. I was barely managing to survive, but that was thanks to my inner strength and hardiness. I tell you, when times get tough, that's when you realize your own will to survive and keep going. I managed to do that, and look now, I am finally recovering after all this time and even beginning to blossom a little."

"That's great! I am very happy for you. And I am so proud of you. You know, I was missing your company. I used to look longingly toward your corner and really hoped that one day the 'Miracle' will happen! Isn't that a nice turn of the phrase, eh? And look now, it has. You have opened up and we all can enjoy this beautiful vision of the blue-purple blooms in our corner."

"Thank you so much, dear! It means a lot to hear this from my fellow beings, my neighbours and friends."

"And I must tell you this. It is not for no reason that you have been given this name 'Miracle'. Just by the way you have shared your experience right now, you have helped me learn an important lesson in life, and work further towards my Perfection: to rely on one's inner willpower, to be able to dig into that hidden reservoir of inner strength and pull oneself up and renew oneself. But tell me frankly, was it easy to do?"

"Oh no! It wasn't easy, but then what choice did I have? It would have been much easier to give up. But something in me resisted and wasn't ready to give up. And I thank all the gods for that! This part kept going somehow, kept the flame of life burning within, kept digging for greater strength, greater willpower and eventually created an opening of some sort which was enough to receive that Higher Light or Force or whatever one may call it. And voila! It worked. I could slowly heal my wounds, and eventually as you say, renew myself. I suppose it is a Miracle, in a way. Otherwise if it were up to these fellows, I would have probably been dead by now!"

"Now come on...they aren't all that bad. The rest of us have been doing okay, no? They do take care of us and also of things around here, for the most part. I agree, sometimes they get lazy or neglectful and things go a bit out of control or somewhat unruly, here and there. But they do come around and do what is necessary."

"You are right, they do. I was being a bit judgmental, I think. Maybe this new-found beauty of mine is going to my head! I must watch out for it. It is true that when I look around and see you all doing well and hale and hearty, I feel happy and content to be in your company. And I suppose I shouldn't hold on to these silly grudges, especially when I am standing near something that is so much more Psychologically Perfect than me. I salute you, my friend, for your aspiration for that inner perfection. Perhaps it was also because of this sense of wellness around me that made me survive all along and keep at it...there is much to be said about the environment in which one lives."

"You really have become very wise, maybe it is your experience that has made you so."

"Wise? Who, me? O no, I am just sharing what little I have learned  from my experience. My two cents' worth, as they say."

"Your two paisas' worth, my friend! Remember, these people now live in India, so let us get our currency right!"

"Right you are!"

(Laughter).

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The above conversation happened between two plants in a corner of my garden. The Ironwood (also known as Delek Air tree, Anjan; botanical name: Memecylon umbellatum) and Frangipani (also known as Plumeria, Temple tree, Champa) were chatting and enjoying each other's company one late afternoon when I happened to pass by. Hiding behind some over-grown bamboo trees I overheard this conversation and found it so enlightening. I hope my readers will also find it so.

Ironwood or Anjan is given the spiritual significance of Miracle by the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. 

Frangipani is given the spiritual significance of Psychological Perfection.

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

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Linking this post with Write Tribe, Wednesday Prompt: My two cents' worth

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Linking this post with ABC Wednesday H: H is for Hello, Healing 

Renew and Refresh

A new post in the series - When a Picture Leads

This picture speaks to me of Renewal. Refreshing. Rekindling of hope.

This picture was taken by me in Auroville a few months after the mighty destructive cyclone Thane hit Pondicherry and Auroville area on December 30, 2011. According to some estimates, about 40% of the trees in Auroville were uprooted or destroyed because of the devastation. (And if you know anything about Auroville, you must know something about its thick green cover, its massive trees and vegetation and its red earth. And you perhaps also know about the 40 years of hard work and great effort put in by the dedicated Aurovillians and local villagers to convert what was once a barren land into a green paradise.) After the cyclone, it took several days to clear up the roads and streets of this international township, and power was restored only after two weeks to the whole area in and around Auroville. My own little garden at home (near Auroville) suffered some loss because of the cyclone.

But I am not interested today in that memory of loss and destruction, or that memory of nature's fury and chaos.

I want to think of the new beginnings instead. I want to think of new life that comes after death, new growth after destruction. That is the story this picture tells.

I clearly remember the day when I took this picture. I had gone to Auroville Visitor Center with my husband, and my niece who was visiting us from Delhi. We were planning to do some shopping and have lunch at the cafe there. I saw this tree stump in the parking lot itself, and was pleasantly surprised to see the new tender green leaves sprouting at the base and the top. What a sight of hope, new life!

While a reminder of what this tree once was was still there nearby in the form of an uprooted trunk of another big tree, the new growth was a proof positive that life doesn't stop. It only takes a little pause now and then, to recuperate its strength, to rejuvenate itself with fresh energy and soon it bounces back. Full of vigour, full of new energy, full of hope and new beginnings. That's what I remember feeling when I witnessed this sight.

The timing was also important because my niece was visiting with an objective to study Economics with me for a few weeks as part of her preparation for her senior secondary examinations (12th grade). She was feeling a bit doubtful about this subject and needed a little boost, a sort of a push to regain her confidence and will to study well for her forthcoming examinations.

She is an intelligent young woman, but it is just that her kind of intelligence is not always recognized or valued by the kind of examination and grading pattern we have in the mainstream Indian schooling system, especially at the level of "board" examinations. And the system is such that if a student doesn't score well in these public examinations, her further education including admission to a good college may become very difficult.

She knew she needed to do well, at least reasonably well, in the examinations, but just needed some gentle push and some one-on-one guidance for at least a little period of time. And of course I was extremely happy when she chose to come and stay with me and thought that I could be the person to give her what she needed.

I can't say what, if any, help I was for her at that time. But all I can say is that the visit provided me an opportunity to bond with my lovely young niece and renew myself with that youthful energy. I also got an opportunity to recognize and realize what an important asset a healthy sense of self-confidence is, especially for the youth preparing themselves for the big world out there.

A renewal of this confidence in oneself, in one's capabilities and unique intelligence is necessary from time to time. For all of us. We all go through times when a refresher dose of hope and optimism is required. This rekindling of hope, this constant renewal is what gives us the persistent strength to go on pursuing our dreams, walking toward the unknown-to-us future.

That, I believe, is life. A journey, a seeking, a promise of renewal. Sort of like a promise of re-doing, a rebirth almost. In renewing and refreshing ourselves we rediscover ourselves. And perhaps that's how we also re-dedicate ourselves to our goals, dreams and aspirations.

The more we can open ourselves to the Light and Force, the eternal source of all that hope and energy and optimism, the more alive and living we begin to feel. Ready to begin anew.


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For the previous post in the series, click here.
For all the posts in this series, click here.

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Linking this post with Write Tribe Wednesday Prompt - Memory triggered by a photograph.

Light is All You Need

A new post in the series - Reminders to self

Note: This could be seen as a sequel to my earlier post on Why Should I Write, in which I share some writing advice from Sri Aurobindo, advice that speaks to me personally at this point in my writing and in my life. The words below may be seen as a response to another one of my questions - How Should I Write.

When all feels dark, kind of lost

Thoughts are all better-off tossed

Ideas don't work, no fix in sight

All you need is one little Light.

Light in the heart, Light in mind

Go seek, and ye' shall find

Light in action, and inaction,

Stillness of one moment's fraction.

In this Light when all feels changed

Remember to shine it on those estranged

Feelings, thoughts, words repressed

Lest they rally to make a protest.

A moment speaks, a truth revealed

Only that rigid mind won’t yield

Slave of habits, oppressor of a kind

Don’t force it, slowly make it refined.

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Linking this post with Write Tribe - 100 words on Saturday 2014 #16: The prompt was to imagine a conversation with a favourite author on writing. 

I realized that any questions I could think of had already been answered as seen in the excerpt shared above from Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo, Volume 27, p. 599. The light of his guidance however inspired me to pen down the 100 word-poem to further dispel the darkness of my doubts.

Image source: 1: mine; 2: Google

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To see previous post in this series, click here.
To see all posts in the series, click here.

Nataraja Love

A special post for Mahashivaratri

I clearly remember the first time I walked into what is now the living room of our home. We had come to see the house for the very first time, and weren't even sure if we would consider buying it because it had initially seemed out of our budget. But the moment I walked into this empty room with a thick teakwood shelf all along one wall of the room floating just about three feet below the ceiling, I knew. I knew that if this room ever became mine, what or rather who would occupy the central place on that beautifully polished shelf. 

I could see in my mind's eye a beautiful Bronze Nataraja, the One that expresses "the rapture of the cosmic dance with the profundities behind of the unmoved eternal and infinite bliss." **

Two and a half years later, that vision came true. 

I found that Nataraja, my Nataraja, in this old shop in Kumbakonam. Obviously, He came home with me, and now sits majestically in His spot. Nobody else could have occupied that place. No one. It was always His Home, it was patiently waiting for the Lord. 

The Lord was waiting too. The Lord always waits...we are the ones who aren't ready to call Him or receive Him. 

Today, on this Mahashivaratri, I pray to Lord Shiva to bless me with a greater inner readiness, an intenser aspiration and a wider receptivity. 

Calling Him to come to my inner, truer home...

** The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Volume 20, p. 282

Image: mine

A Fragrant Lesson in Patience

I admit it. Patience is not something that comes easily to me. No, I should be more honest. I am quite impatient. But I value very much the quality of patience and would like to become more patient. Ever since moving into this house two and a half years ago, I have found a very nice and delicate way to develop and practice this virtue of patience. It is a personal practice or lesson for me, delivered in the the way I like it - small, beautiful, and self-taught. And as an added bonus, it makes my fingertips smell so fragrant afterwards.

All I do is go out in my garden and gather the little and tender flowers that are showered upon the ground by the good and gracious Parijat/Harsingar/Night Jasmine tree. Every morning this few-years-old sacred tree (so thankful to the previous owners of the house who planted it), the Divine Tree which is also known as Tree of Sorrow or Wish-granting Tree*, offers to the Earth below its most precious gift in the form of beautiful and delicate flowers. And I, a child of this Mother Earth, wanting to grow in my aspiration to become more patient, gather some of these flowers and bring them in my home.

Now starts my little lesson in patience - to slowly arrange these tiny and fragrant flowers so that each flower stands white-creamy side up and on its tiny orange foot. Of course, the first impulse is to gather these flowers in my palm and just immerse myself for a few seconds in their divine fragrance. Having done that, the blossoms which are somewhat soiled by the wet earth need to be tenderly cleaned making sure that neither their small white-creamy petals nor their tiny orange centers are broken. As they are drying out for a bit, I decide upon the appropriate vase or container or bowl in which I want to do the arrangement.

Then starts the most favourite task of picking up and arranging these tiny flowers, one by one, white side up, orange side down. My most preferred way is to float these flowers in water. Sometimes for the sake of contrast, I might also alternate and put in a few blossoms upside down, but that is very rare. There is something so beautiful about the way the tiny orange center shines through the middle of the white-creamy petals.

The flowers stay nice for two to three days, and interestingly even as they begin to wither away they just take on a darker creamy shade and don't really look so bad. At least to my eyes they don't! And when you are ready to give the old flowers and the used water back to the Mother Earth (by way of either putting them in a compost bin or doing what I prefer, which includes simply sprinkling the flowers and the water under some plant or bush in the ground or in a pot), you come across this beautiful yellow-orangish coloured water which has taken in itself the vibrant, fiery colour from the flowers.

The orange or saffron center of this sacred flower represents the fire in the heart, the source of all our energy, the fire that purifies, the fire of aspiration, will, and perseverance. It is believed that the dye produced from the central part of Parijat flowers was used to colour the robes of monks and ascetics in olden times. And in our times too, we find that the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram gave to this sacred Parijat flower a most appropriate spiritual significance - Aspiration (Innumerable, obstinate, repeating itself tirelessly).



At times when I don't have much patience and don't feel like doing my lessons either (though on these occasions I pretend to myself that I don't have much time, but really, it is the patience that I lack or the aspiration or will to practice my lesson in patience!) but I still feel like arranging these flowers, the result might look something like this. Or some variant of it.

Spread out in an old brass thali with only a few drops of water sprinkled over them, 
just enough to keep them fresh for a day

And when I have just a little patience or want my practice session to be really really small, I gather only a small bunch of flowers so that I can do only a small arrangement. Something like this.

I can't tell you how happy I was to find this tiny shallow vase at the Matri store on my last visit to the Delhi Branch of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It is just perfect for small parijat arrangements to be offered to a small round Krishna in copper.

I am quite certain such a lesson may not work for most people, and I myself haven't really made a conscious effort to examine whether a constant practice of such lesson has helped me in any small measure or will help me if I continue with this over the next many years.

But what I do know, or rather what I do feel, is that the very act of gathering these tiny flowers one by one from the ground and spending the next half hour or so cleaning and arranging them makes me forget whatever pressing demands there may be on my time. And in those few minutes there is no hurry, no rush-rush to finish up the task at hand and move on to other things. There is simply a quiet joy of doing something delicately beautiful. Being with the sacred flowers. Being with the task. Just being.



* There are many legends and cultural significances associated with this special tree and these special flowers. For a quick read, see here.

Photo credits: 1 - Suhas Mehra, all others - Yours truly.

I Want to Escape...

May be curl myself up in the lap of this Big Tree...

Photo by Kevin Schafer, From the book Life and Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell

Sourced from here

Or may be get lost for a while in this forest...

Source

Do you want to escape sometime? Escape from all that keeps you or brings you back into the mundane every-day-ness of life? 

The wise tell me that I should learn to see the Miraculous in Ordinary, to experience the Magical in Mundane, to feel the Divine in Routine. But until I am able to do so,  at times I do feel the terrible weight and pressure of all that is ordinary, mundane and routine. What should I do then? How do I get away? Where do I turn to? Books. Music. Films. Nature. My Garden. What?

Or maybe Silence. Yes, that's what I need. Not just the outer silence, but silence within. The Real Thing. The Healing Silence. The Silence that descends from above and sinks deep inside. That possibly resides in the deep inside but most of the time is covered up with the noise and chatter from different directions. But whenever it is revealed, it reminds us of its Quiet and Healing Force. The Silence in which all the noises of the mind are quietened. The Silence which can renew and rejuvenate what is old and tired, which can make one more open and receptive to the Light and Force.

Yes, that's what I REALLY need. 

But such a Silence would not be an escape. It would be a feeling of Liberation, and even if it lasts for a few seconds it could transform something within and leave its lasting impact.   

This is my prayer for the day, my aspiration. 

But am I willing to make an effort for experiencing such Quietude? Do I have the will to work toward it? The wise again tell me - Only when we sincerely seek, we find. Only when we ardently work, we receive. 

O god! Maybe I should just go back to my curling up....Doesn't this look inviting? 

Photo by Martin

Fly Away

A new post in the series: 

A Poem and A Song - X:  A Series to Celebrate Art in All Forms 

It is actually quite amazing when you find the same thought being expressed through a picture, a poem, a song, or even a gesture. 

Perhaps it happens because the thought has sunk deep into you, at least for the time being, and you just view a certain picture, read a certain poem and hear a certain song as expressions of that singular thought.

Or perhaps they really are conveying the same thought, but in different shades and hues. 

And it just so happens that when that very thought captured your attention, certain pictures, poems and songs also appeared before you allowing you to delve deeper into the thought and let it reveal its deeper essence to you.

Regardless of how it happens, it is always a moment to relish and cherish the beauty. The beauty of the picture, the song, the poem. The beauty of the experience. The beauty of the moment.

Blue Mountain Mist; Photo by Brandon Downing

The Blue Bird

I am the bird of God in His blue;

Divinely high and clear

I sing the notes of the sweet and the true

For the god's and the seraph's ear.

I rise like a fire from the mortal's earth

Into a griefless sky

And drop in the suffering soil of his birth

Fire-seeds of ecstasy.

My pinions soar beyond Time and Space

Into unfading Light;

I bring the bliss of the Eternal's face

And the boon of the Spirit's sight.

I measure the worlds with my ruby eyes;

I have perched on Wisdom's tree

Thronged with the blossoms of Paradise

By the streams of Eternity.

Nothing is hid from my burning heart;

My mind is shoreless and still;

My song is rapture's mystic art,

My flight immortal will.

~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems

Such is the flight of the soul to meet its Beloved; the aspiration of the human to unite with the Divine; the flight of the liberated soul, that spark of the Divine here in manifestation but free from all bondage and soaring high to meet its Source, singing songs of rapturous joy as it brings to the Earth below the Light and Bliss from the realms of the Infinite and Eternal.

But what of the bird that is still caged, still in bondage? What song does a caged bird sing? A song of pain and sadness, a song of longing -- for freedom and flight, a song of sweet memories and future dreams. But memories and dreams can be cages too. They often are.

Maybe a caged bird needs a song of Aspiration, Hope and Faith.

As this year slowly comes to a close, perhaps it is a good time to work toward breaking a few more inner prisons and hope for greater freedom.


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Previous posts in the series A Poem and A Song:

Which is Sweeter?           Life, a Song of Love and Memories     Diwali with a Modern Indian Poet and a Legendary Indian Musician          Of Temples, Poetry and Life      Remembering the Mother                     On the Road       Who is that Presence?          Only You        Reckless Lovers

From Darkness to Light

A new post in the series - Satyam Shivam Sundaram

A series featuring inspiring words from various sources, words that speak of  timeless truths, words that remind me of the deeper and hidden truth behind surface events and phenomena, words that shine light when all seems dark, words that are just what I need - 

for this moment and for all times to come.

Light at Vardharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

Photo by Suhas Mehra

Read and contemplated upon a beautiful aphorism from Sri Aurobindo yesterday. 

This is my prayer and invocation for this special day of Diwali.

May this Festival of Lights bestow upon the humanity a vision to see a bit more deeply, a bit more highly, a bit more widely. 

"When I look back on my past life, I see that if I had not

failed and suffered, I would have lost my life’s supreme

blessings; yet at the time of the suffering and failure,

I was vexed with the sense of calamity. Because we

cannot see anything but the one fact under our noses,

therefore we indulge in all these snifflings and clamours.

Be silent, ye foolish hearts! Slay the ego, learn to see and

feel vastly and universally."

~ Sri Aurobindo, Thoughts and Aphorisms

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Previous posts in this series:

Do Not Imitate        Beauty, Not a Stone on the Beach      So, What are You Working on?     

Inner Truth of a Flower         On Sensitivity and Appreciation of Beauty   

"No Construction Without Destruction"

Light an Incense

Deepavali spirit continues...with the series, Reminders to self

Photo source

Concentrate on a newly lit incense stick. It becomes deeply fascinating and delightful to notice that amidst the initial wanderings of what could be called its “visible fragrance”, there soon emerges a purposeful voyage for its light and fragrance. What is it that this humble burning incense trying to tell us? To focus, concentrate and aim high, to constantly aspire for the highest.

Even when the “visible fragrance” disperses itself the movement seems purposeful, conscious and fully self-aware that it will soon find its upward-bound direction. And even in its dispersal the incense is spreading fragrance, purifying every nook and corner of the space – inner and outer.

Why is it so difficult to sustain a consciousness that is gathered and focused like the fragrant incense that is always aspiring upward? Why do the mind and heart keep wavering, and in all possible directions without a centering focus? Why do innumerable thoughts keep flooding the surface mind? How to stop this wandering?

Diwali at my home, 2012

Light the Inner Incense, the incense stick seems to say. Let those wanderings help uncover and reveal all that is dark, all that needs to be purified. Remember that only in the slow burning of the outer form the inner true purpose is lived out, the humble stick shows by example. Let the gradual unveiling of the outer layers help uncover and reveal the real reason for existence - to aspire toward Light, to spread Sweet Fragrance all around.

The Whole Seed Within

There’s a moon in my body, but I can’t see it!

A moon and a sun. 

A drum never touched by hands, beating, and I can’t hear it!

As long as a human being worries about when he will die, 

and what he has that is his, 

all of his works are zero.

When affection for the I-creature and what it owns is dead, 

then the work of the Teacher is over.

The purpose of labor is to learn; 

when you know it, the labor is over. 

The apple blossom exists to create fruit; when that comes, the petals fall.

The musk is inside the deer, but the deer does not look for it:

It wanders around looking for grass.

(Poem by Kabir, version by Robert Bly)

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Photo by Dan Murtha

One part of the 'family' self wants to think about, help and support in whatever way possible, and give up  personal preferences and wishes in order to become a better daughter, wife, sister, friend. Another part wants to be free from these roles and responsibilities and their incessant demands. Yet another part continues to struggle with the two 'wants' and seeks for more harmony. And yet another part reminds to stay calm, and do whatever is needed and take whatever comes with no personal preference.

One part of the 'social' self wants to know what is going on in the world and why. Another part of this 'social' self wants to be free from this desire to know what is going on in the world and why. Yet another part continues to oscillate between the outward and inward paths of knowing. And yet another part reminds to be at peace and open the heart to receive true knowledge, knowledge of the eternal. 

One part of the 'worker' self wants to look at the purpose and place of my work in the larger context. Another part reminds this part - "you don't even know what your work is." Yet another part suggests - "find your work." And yet another part calmly signals - "the work will find you."

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Artist: Bindu Popli

Feel the stirrings of a seed within, a seed whose first tiny leaves will one day take the form of a longing for true learning, learning that helps one to transcend the narrow limitations of one’s various identities, roles and responsibilities and makes possible the direct knowledge of the inner, truer being that manifests in all yet is none of these identities, roles and parts, that is waiting in perfect calmness and peace to be unveiled, so that it can surface and shine its light on all the stumbling, crude movements of all the other parts that keep chattering. 

A seed is the link between the Heaven and the Earth. All the potentiality of Life is hidden in a seed. In Life lies Aspiration. Aspiration to look up towards the Heaven. Aspiration to bring the Heaven on Earth, to transform Earth into a Heaven. If the seed is broken up to see what exists hidden in it, all potentiality of Life is destroyed. Only the 'whole' seed carries potential Life, and thus a potential Aspiration....aspiration to become 'whole' again. The 'whole' is already in us, trying to reveal itself in and through all our outer actions and movements, partial, fragmented, obscure and crude as they may be. We need to stop and observe, and observe and observe some more. We need to become conscious of our parts and their movements. 

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Photo by Andrew Gibson

Our outward happenings have their seed within,

And even this random Fate that imitates Chance,

This mass of unintelligible results,

Are the dumb graph of truths that work unseen:

The laws of the Unknown create the known.

The events that shape the appearance of our lives

Are a cipher of subliminal quiverings

Which rarely we surprise or vaguely feel,

Are an outcome of suppressed realities

That hardly rise into material day:

They are born from the spirit's sun of hidden powers

Digging a tunnel through emergency.

But who shall pierce into the cryptic gulf

And learn what deep necessity of the soul

Determined casual deed and consequence?

Absorbed in a routine of daily acts,

Our eyes are fixed on an external scene;

We hear the crash of the wheels of Circumstance

And wonder at the hidden cause of things.

Yet a foreseeing Knowledge might be ours,

If we could take our spirit's stand within,

If we could hear the muffled daemon voice. 

(Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Book 1, Canto IV)

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Prayer, Aspiration and Faith

Bamboo branches and palm leaves swaying gently in the tropical breeze outside... the sounds of the dancing branches naturally mingling with the chirping sounds of some birds, an occasional hiss from some insect in the garden, and the soothing sound from a very special wind-chime near the window…

Can this spot near my bedroom window be my temple today?

On the occasion of Ram-Navami, the birth of Sri Rama, I re-read today some of the words of the Mother on prayer and aspiration.

Am I praying today? Am I aspiring? What is the difference?

Prayer: Self-giving is true prayer.

(Botanical name: Zephyranthes; Common names: Zephyr flower, Fairy lily, Rain lily)

Photo credit

Growing up with devout and religious-minded parents, I used to often wonder whether I should be praying to the God asking for something specific, or whether I should call for guidance, help, light, direction, or whether that moment should simply be a state of wordless, quiet feeling. As far back as I can recall my childhood and growing up years, every time I was standing in front of a deity in a temple or even at the small altar in our home, my prayer (if that can be called a prayer) took the form of something like – “Oh god, do what you feel is best. Give me what is best for me. Give me peace.” I can’t remember asking for something specific – like fulfilling whatever wish I may be holding on to in my heart at that time. I have found it particularly difficult to ask for a specific thing when I have always felt that the Divine knows everything I am thinking or wishing, knows what is needful for me, and will give me what is most necessary for me. [I can’t say with absolute certainty that I have never prayed for anything specific, as I write this I can indeed remember a few specific occasions when I did that. But generally speaking, that was not the case.] Sometimes my prayers would become less egoistic and more about asking for the best for all, asking for a wider peace. Did I ever reflect upon who all are included in my definition of ‘all’? Can’t remember.

But I do remember some conversations with my parents during childhood about this topic – should one ask God for something specific or should one pray more generally? One view would be that if God is same as your parent, and we ask for specific things from our parents all the time, then why not ask God for specific requests. Another view would be that if God knows all and everything (and can not only see the innermost beings of all but is in fact is That Innermost Being), then surely God also knows what we want, so there is no need to ask for anything specific. Of course, we may want one thing, but God also knows what it is that we need. So it may be better to not ask for whatever it is that we think we want, but let God decide for us what it is that we should be given. Aah…the philosophizing minds of children, and the parents’ indulgence with these innocent queries!!

Aspiration: Innumerable, obstinate, repeating itself tirelessly. 
(Botanical name: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis; Common names: Night jasmine, Parijat, Harsingar, Coral Jasmine, Tree of sadness) Photo: From my garden

The Mother’s words about the difference between prayer and aspiration make one thing very clear. Prayer requires a faith in the Divine Being, while an aspiration does not necessarily require that. One can aspire for a state of being, for progress, for a state of consciousness even without having a belief or faith in a personal deity or a Personal God. At the same time though, I feel aspiration also requires a faith in the ideal that a different state of being, a different level of consciousness is possible, reachable. It is towards that that one aspires. Faith is in both cases fundamental. One can’t aspire towards something if one does not feel inwardly that That is indeed something which exists.

So back to the question – Am I praying today? Am I aspiring? Do I have the Faith that is the need of the hour?

Perhaps a bit more of quiet time near the window will help…

Faith: You flame up and triumph.

(Botanical name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis; Common names: Chinese hibiscus, Hawaiian hibiscus, Rose-of-China) 

Photo credit

Aspiration

We can, simply by a sincere aspiration, open a sealed door in us and find...that Something which will change the whole significance of life, reply to all our questions, solve all our problems and lead us to the perfection we aspire for without knowing it, to that reality which alone can satisfy us and give us lasting joy, equilibrium, strength, life. (The Mother)

Faith

Faith is certainly a gift given to us by the Divine Grace. It is like a door that suddenly opens upon an eternal truth, a door through which we can see it, almost touch it....In the ignorance and darkness of the beginning, faith is the most direct expression of the Divine Power which comes to fight and conquer. (The Mother)

Prayer

Flowers are the prayers of the vegetal kingdom. (The Mother)

Prayer is only a particular form given to ... will, aspiration and faith. ... Its power and sense is to put the will, aspiration and faith of man into touch with the divine Will as that of a conscious Being with whom we can enter into conscious and living relations. ... In spiritual matters and in the seeking of spiritual gains, this conscious relation is a great power; it is a much greater power than our own entirely self-reliant struggle and effort and it brings a fuller spiritual growth and experience. (Sri Aurobindo)