Musings on Peace, Harmony and the Art of Spaces

The other day I was working at my desk, fully absorbed in reading a big document on my laptop, highlighting some points, trying to make sense of others, when I suddenly looked up. And this is the view I saw from the window by which my desk is placed.

A view from the window by my desk, one afternoon

It was not the first time I saw this view of my small garden in the back of the house. I see it daily, both when I am out in the garden and when I sit at my desk. But that day was a bit special.

It was special because the moment that day brought with it a sense of quiet and peace as I let that view sink in to me. There were a few small birds flying around the champa trees and the bushes nearby, making lovely sounds, calling each other, playing, resting on the thin branches, enjoying their freedom.

I sat there, in my chair, just sat there. For several minutes. Taking in the view, enjoying the sounds of the birds, the peace of it all.

I don't know what I was feeling in those moments. Perhaps it was some type of peace, a sense of harmony. Perhaps it was one of those moments when everything feels perfect, everything around you, everything within you, everything is just the way as it should be. There is no need to fuss over anything, no need to shift anything. As if there is nothing to disturb this moment, this sense of peace.

Have you ever felt that? Surely, you must have. Thank the gods for such moments, rare as they are in the noisy worlds we live in - within and without.

A few minutes later, a part of me wanted to go out in the garden and take pictures of the view. Even thought of taking the pictures of the birds who were still playing and singing. How foolish of me, I immediately said to myself. As if pictures would preserve the 'feel' of the moment for me. 

But still I couldn't not resist taking one shot on my phone, from this side of the window itself. The one you see above. 

The moment passed. Only to be followed by another moment, of a reflection. Reflection on spaces and harmony. And on art.

Today, a few days later, as I sit by the same window, trying to give voice to that reflection I see the same tree and the same bushes, though there are no birds at the moment, I try to recall to my awareness that moment of quiet and peace from the other day.

Maybe writing out this reflection on spaces and harmony will bring its own harmony. Afterall, minds are spaces too, and creating a sense of harmony in our mental spaces is an art, a very important art that we all have to learn one way or the other if we want to experience more of these moments of peace and quietude.

So I begin.

You walk into a space -- a home, a room, a garden, a temple, an ashram, a workplace or any other public place -- and you instantly, spontaneously feel a sense of all-pervading harmony, a quiet ambience, an effortless beauty. Nothing is amiss, everything is perfectly placed where it should be. Nothing is obtrusive, nothing is jarring, everything is quietly at home in its natural place.

And you walk into another space and instantly you feel that something isn't right. There is a sense of disorder, an artificiality to the whole arrangement of the space, a feel of uncomfortable ugliness despite the outward prettiness and 'designer-like' placement of objects.

What? You haven't experienced it? You must have. Think, think.

Well, I surely have. Many times.

In fact, I have experienced this sense of harmony (or disharmony) even in empty spaces. For example, a few years ago when we were looking for a house to purchase, many times we would walk into an empty house for sale and just upon entering the house I would immediately 'know' whether or not I would even consider the house any further. Spaces, even empty spaces have their auras, sort of like an energy around them.

Personally speaking, how I feel in a particular space generally figures as one of the main criteria for deciding how much time I want to spend there. This could be a richly decorated home of a relative or a humble half-demolished temple in a village I am only visiting for an afternoon. I have experienced a discomforting sense of disharmony at a five-star hotel and felt a deeply calming sense of joy at an almost decrepit building that serves as a guest house.

This feeling or perception of order or disorder, a sense of harmony or chaos, is not about the physical appearance -- the size of the space, the form, placement and outer charm and prettiness of objects or furniture in the space -- though these things may be part of it. But only a very small part. The bigger part is about what the space makes one feel inwardly.

What is it that makes one space feel harmoniously beautiful, even though it may be very simply arranged with most inexpensive objects? And what makes another space, sometimes even the most well-designed space, furnished with most expensive 'designer' furniture and object d'art, feel jarring, out of order almost?

Is it the aura of the person who lives, works, moves in the space? Or the aura of the person who looks after the space, its cleaning, upkeep, etc? Is it something about 'the way' things are arranged in the space? Or the consciousness of the space itself, the consciousness hidden in everything that is there in the space?

Or is it the state of the mind of the person walking into the space? The sense of harmony he or she brings to the space?

It is perhaps every thing. And more.

It takes an artist to make a space harmoniously beautiful.

If you ask me, I believe that all those who produce something artistic are artists! A word depends upon the way it is used, upon what one puts into it. One may put into it all that one wants. For instance, in Japan there are gardeners who spend their time correcting the forms of trees so that in the landscape they make a beautiful picture. By all kinds of trimmings, props, etc. they adjust the forms of trees. They give them special forms so that each form may be just what is needed in the landscape. A tree is planted in a garden at the spot where it is needed and moreover, it is given the form that’s required for it to go well with the whole set-up. And they succeed in doing wonderful things. You have but to take a photograph of the garden, it is a real picture, it is so good. Well, I certainly call the man an artist. One may call him a gardener but he is an artist....

All those who have a sure and developed sense of harmony in all its forms, and the harmony of all the forms among themselves, are necessarily artists, whatever may be the type of their production. (The Mother, CWM, Vol 8, p. 324)

It perhaps takes an artist to 'know' a space. To feel a space. To experience the harmony.

But what is this sense of harmony? Can it only be felt? Can we grow in our sense of harmony? Of perceiving? Of creating harmony? In our spaces, outer and inner?

Maybe in some other moment of grace, sitting by the window in front of the garden view, when my mind is in a state of harmony I shall be blessed with an insight into some of these questions.

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Linking with ABC Wednesday, P: P is for Peace.

The Remains of the Moment

Quietly they came and took him away. 

What remains are the moments, moments before and after. The images, the words spoken and unspoken, that's all that remains. That's everything. Yet nothing but words.

Does it only feel like or was it really yesterday? 

She can no longer hide herself from the truth, she has to let go. Let go of the moment, the pain and the agonizing helplessness, for the new life breathing within. 

This moment is all there is. That's everything. Yet nothing but words. The truth is in remembering that nothing remains but the remains of the moment.

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Linking this post with Write Tribe 100 words on Saturday prompt: She realized she could no longer hide the truth. (I have taken the liberty of slightly re-interpreting the prompt).

Linking this post with ABC Wednesday, R: R is for Remains

Photo by Suhas Mehra

That Fragrant Beauty

Smiling through the frame is an endearing and charming beauty, just like those fresh fragrant lilacs which always spread delight and joy.

Smiling through the frame are clear and twinkling eyes, just like those tiny semi-open blossoms that will soon open and reveal their full glory to the world.

Smiling through the frame is a loving and delicate face, just like that unadorned, freshly painted surface against which everything and anything looks more beautiful.

Smiling through the frame is an experienced and wise personality, just like the fragrance of the lilacs that fills up the whole space around it and yet remains invisible.

Smiling through the frame is she; gone today six months ago, but very much visible because her fragrance fills me up the mom-ent I think of her.

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Lilacs are given the spiritual significance "Distinction: Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself." 

Image credits: 1, 2 (The Dark Hedges, Ireland). 

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda, written for Mother's Day special prompt, a five-sentence piece with the word Mom in the text). 

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

New Beginnings

What a strange and difficult year it has been! On so many fronts, in so many ways. So many struggles, so many conflicts, so much uncertainty...and yet something deeper and higher kept guiding, showing the light, and holding the hand whenever required. Pain was immense, and yet Peace kept afloat in the middle of that turmoil. Much too much was lost, and yet so much was gained too through all this. Sweet and Bitter tastes of life got their due share of the pie, and Laughter and Sadness renewed their marital vows and agreed to co-exist. Through all of which Life offered in its onward march, much was learned and hopefully will continue to be assimilated and integrated within for inner growth and progress.

As this year ends and a new one begins, I wish to express gratitude for all the experiences and lessons Life brought me and pray for greater acceptance and inner balance.

Source

Common name: Begonia 

Spiritual Significance: Perfect Balance (One of the most important conditions of a growing peace.)

As I await new beginnings in the new year, my mind finds expression for its unspoken wishes in the following words of the Mother given to Her children as New Year Blessings...

May this year be a year of luminous peace in the joy that comes from 
true kindness—the human child of Divine Compassion.

Let us hope also that this year will not pass without bringing us together once more.

Let the dawn of the New Year be for us also the dawn of a new and better life.

...the New Year must dispel the smoke of ignorance and make the Light shine forth.

Collected Works of The Mother, Volume 15, pp. 181-182

And my heart finds solace in this soothing music by Pandit Ravi Shankar....

In anticipation of a new dawn of a New Year, with a prayer in the heart for greater peace and equanimity, and for Her Grace to help see things deeply and inwardly....

Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year.

That Sad Sweet Moment...

A new post in the series - "All Music is Only the Sound of His Laughter"

In my very first post in this series I made a reference to these famous line from Shelley, actually, the last line in particular.... 

We look before and after,
And pine for what is not;
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell 
Of saddest thought.” 

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, To a Skylark

Today I found myself remembering these lines as I heard this beautiful song, composed by A.R. Rahman and sung by Sadhana Sargam. Based on the early morning raag Bhatiyar, this song has a certain haunting quality - in a pleasant way of course. It sort of stays with you long after, it brings a type of quietness that is both endearing and lingering. The heart-touching lyrics of the song are penned by Sukhwinder Singh. 

There is a certain  sweetness in the emotion of sadness, and when captured in a beautiful composition it can be powerful in its impact, almost soul-stirring. It is a quality, if we can get to it somehow, that doesn't allow us to wallow in our sorrow but rather takes us higher in a way. 

It can move us beyond our narrow and egoistic self-pity, away from the "oh, how unfortunate I am" type of sentimentality to some deeper place that is a bit more detached, a lot more calm, and certainly a whole lot more gentle than the brutality of a raw emotion of sadness and despair. 

Beautiful music can often help us move to such a place, a place of cleansing....opening the way to a more peaceful place inside, a place where we may begin to experience emotions  in their sublime form, in their more purified form. 

The Light begins to shine its way through such an opening within, the Light of Life, the Light of Love, the Light of Beauty.

 

Painting by Freydoon Rassouli

When I hear this song again, and again, and slowly take in the beauty of this painting, somehow I begin to feel that the truth of Shelley's thought finds its truer meaning when seen in the light of these lines: 

He delights in our sorrow and drives us to weeping,

Then lures with His joy and His beauty again.

~ Sri Aurobindo, from a poem titled 'Who'

Click here for the previous post in this series.

Imagine a Society Like This...

On the Occasion of Indian Independence Day....

For the Freedom that is Yet to be Won....

Imagine a Future Society...

Where the fulfilment an individual is seeking is “not the utmost development of his egoistic intellect, vital force, physical well-being and the utmost satisfaction of his mental, emotional, physical cravings, but the flowering of the divine in him to its utmost capacity of wisdom, power, love and universality and through this flowering his utmost realisation of all the possible beauty and delight of existence.”

Where the individual grasps the truth that “he is not only himself, but is in solidarity with all of his kind... That which we are has expressed itself through the individual, but also through the universality, and though each has to fulfil itself in its own way, neither can succeed independently of the other.” (Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, pp. 46-47).

Where a substantial mass of individuals have experienced the inner evolution of consciousness and are leading their lives in accordance with an inner law of the spirit.

Where an individual’s law of the spirit leading him or her in a unique direction specifically suited for the individual’s progress is not in conflict with the life-direction of other individuals on their unique journeys of seeking for true subjectivism. Free-progress of the individual and infinite variation among the individual paths of progress captures the group consciousness as the underlying deepest truth of human experience.

Where individuals realize the inherent ideal purpose of their works. Writers’ hearts open wide to receive experiences and realizations that are translated into words and woven in beautiful prose and poetry that avoid unnecessary sensationalism and convey the deepest truths and ideals of human experience. Artists and sculptors create forms that carry them and their patrons into the realms and imaginations of formless. Musicians and singers in their music bring forth the stirrings of the depths of their souls and create a bridge between the form and formless for the listeners. Dancers bring into being deep, wide formless truths through their graceful forms and movements in front of which all purified human hearts would involuntarily bow in utmost humility.

Source

Where children grow with self-discipline that comes from deeper freedom, not with mindless confusion and mind-numbing authority. Parents discover the true spirit behind the words – “child is the father of man.” Teachers and students are co-learners in their journeys to discover and uncover the truths of the world; they collaborate in a mutually respectful manner and deeply appreciate and grow from their differences. Education is not a business, and businesses are managed through human-centered and consciousness-based approaches. Business leaders worry less about the balance in their bank accounts but more about the balance in their junior-most employee’s retirement accounts. 

Wealth-generation as an important social activity has regained its heart and realizes its purpose in creating a warm luxurious reign of beauty, harmony, comfort and contentment for all. The weakest and poorest sections of the society are looked after by an enlightened socialistic economic setup where individual freedom and enterprise is just as valued and encouraged as state-run programs and enterprises. A spiritualized ethic of compassion and caring for all creation guides social action.  

        

Where small, sufficiently self-reliant economic and social aggregates are freely formed by individuals who have come together because of common interests, backgrounds, and affiliation. These aggregates encourage people to practice the kind of work that is deeply meaningful and fulfilling, but in the name of self-reliance and self-sufficiency there is no pressure to cover all needed areas of economic activity. The sphere of economic activity is determined by the creative potential of the people in a community, and the availability of natural and other resources in their geographical area. Reasonably regulated exchange of goods and services among the aggregates is preferred without encouraging mass and unlimited production of goods and services that could lead to unbridled commercialism, industrialism, and rule of the market. 

A small group of elected officials use a consensus-based decision making process to manage the necessary administrative functioning of the aggregate. Politics, law-enforcement, and other necessary administrative and governmental activities are chosen as life’s work by those individuals who see these fields of action as instruments with a deeper purpose to bring forth the ideal of Divine Life on earth. These individuals work toward increasing transparency in legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government.

Where such smaller aggregates are loosely and freely held together by a common spirit that ties them to larger aggregates. People are relatively free to move from one social aggregate to another, are able to make decent living in new places. This type of migration and assimilation is somehow smoother because of the already-loosening hold of one’s social and cultural egos that could prevent one from connecting to somewhat unfamiliar cultural and social norms. 

The tendency of political, social and cultural aggregates is not to dominate or devour the ones that are relatively weaker and poorer, but to aid them to grow and develop with their unique identities and traditions intact and blossoming. Cultural traditions, practices and values are not marketable items, but there is a free-flowing exchange of ideas and thoughts leading to new forms of synthesis of a variety of traditions and practices. 

The larger aggregate is secure in the unity of its spirit and in the diversity of its forms. With full confidence in such deep and inner security these aggregates interact with other large and small aggregates and collectivities in the spirit of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. Compassionate progressivism, free-spirited interdependence, shared prosperity and a free unity of nations guide international diplomacy.  

Illustration by Willy Pogany

Where there is a wider human tendency to live through and with pain, death and loss as the needed grist for the mill so that individual soul may progress and grow through such experiences. Humanity recognizes that the misery and violence resulting from exaggerated mental, vital and physical ego are crude but necessary steps to a golden future that is evolving through these stumbling efforts.

There is a kinder and more compassionate understanding and acceptance of those dark moments and life-phases that are part of overall human experience, and these are seen as opportunities for deepening one’s transformation. Peace comes from the realization that it is an endless journey to perfection that we are on. Tranquility comes from the knowledge that every little victory along the way is a marker to the countless victories that await us, and every little failure along the way is a sure sign of even more countless victories that await us. Calm courage of the spirit is the inner guide as individuals move through various stages and phases of life.

Imagine. We must. 

Create. Can we? 

Begin. How? 

Seek. We must. 

Inner Truth of a Flower

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.

This is one of those passages which compel me to simply listen to the truth of these words and not add anything from my own limited mind. This is one of those passages which compel me to listen to the truth of these words again and again. 

And again if I still don't get it. 

"In the outer world of activity nature has one aspect, but in our hearts, in the inner world, it presents an altogether different picture.

Take an instance--the flower of a plant. However fine and dainty it may look, it is pressed to do a great service, and its colours and forms are all suited to its work. It must bring forth the fruit, or the continuity of plant life will be broken and the earth will be turned into a desert ere long. The colour and the smell of the flower are all for some purpose therefore; no sooner is it fertilised by the bee, and the time of its fruition arrives, than it sheds its exquisite petals and a cruel economy compels it to give up its sweet perfume. It has no time to flaunt its finery, for it is busy beyond measure. Viewed from without, necessity seems to be the only factor in nature for which everything works and moves. There the bud develops into the flower, the flower into the fruit, the fruit into the seed, the seed into a new plant again, and so forth, the chain of activity running on unbroken. Should there crop up any disturbance or impediment, no excuse would be accepted, and the unfortunate thing thus choked in its movement would at once be labelled as rejected, and be bound to die and disappear post- haste. In the great office of nature there are innumerable departments with endless work going on, and the fine flower that you behold there, gaudily attired and scented like a dandy, is by no means what it appears to be, but rather, is like a labourer toiling in sun and shower, who has to submit a clear account of his work and has no breathing space to enjoy himself in playful frolic.

But when this same flower enters the heart of men its aspect of busy practicality is gone, and it becomes the very emblem of leisure and repose. The same object that is the embodiment of endless activity without is the perfect expression of beauty and peace within.

Science here warns us that we are mistaken, that the purpose of a flower is nothing but what is outwardly manifested, and that the relation of beauty and sweetness which we think it bears to us is all our own making, gratuitous and imaginary.

But our heart replies that we are not in the least mistaken. In the sphere of nature the flower carries with it a certificate which recommends it as having immense capacity for doing useful work, but it brings an altogether different letter of introduction when it knocks at the door of our hearts. Beauty becomes its only qualification. At one place it comes as a slave, and at another as a free thing. How, then, should we give credit to its first recommendation and disbelieve the second one? That the flower has got its being in the unbroken chain of causation is true beyond doubt; but that is an outer truth. The inner truth is: Verily from the everlasting joy do all objects have their birth." 

~ Rabindranath Tagore

selection from Sadhana: Realisation of Love

(Photos by Suhas Mehra)
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Previous posts in this series:

On Sensitivity and Appreciation of Beauty         "No Construction Without Destruction"