FOLLOW THE STAR

A high school teacher told one of his students, 30 years later, when life had shown both of them myriad colours, “When in doubt, trust your instincts. If you feel a subtle note of lightness in doing something, follow that course; if you feel a sense of heaviness, wait, think again…let it go.”

One is bound to make mistakes. Just before starting out on any action or in any relationship, can one not say, “I reserve the right to be wrong”? If a mistake does occur, would it not be more easily acceptable or excusable if one were thus prepared for it? How much were we tormented or held responsible when we took our first tottering steps, fell off our first bicycle or horse, or slipped out of our first tree, or got stung by our first wasp? Wasn't that how one learnt to eat, walk, ride, write, jump, fall, live and love? So what has changed now? Have we outgrown being human, subject to Nature, prone to err? Does making mistakes have no place in the natural order of things? If somebody is out of step, couldn't he be marching to a different drum? Were those who embraced our infirmities superhuman? Or was it love?

Love makes us blind to ‘faults’ and ‘wrongs’ and absence of love highlights them. So what is the deciding factor - right and wrong, or love?

The answer was provided by one of the greatest mystics the world as seen. I will not put the name down for fear that my words will be inadequate to convey the full import of that holy one’s thoughts. Suffice it to say that this exalted one from Basra rejected the idea of love for God and hatred for Satan, because if one is infused by Love, there remains no scope for the existence of Hate. The holy one rejected prayer in the hope of Heaven on the same grounds that if there was Love, then there could be no heaven and hell; just Love.

Mothers nurse, nourish and protect. Blessed are the mothers who can spread their motherly embrace far and wide to encompass in their love a much larger brood, and not be obsessively inhibited by the instinct of protection for their ‘own’.

Fathers provide and teach. Our children’s fathers need to be remembered as ones who spread benevolence and love, or we are doing our children a disservice. Every father owes that to his children.

Who are the people we remember kindly, the ones who were aggressive or the ones who showed us how to be gentle? Those who demonstrated breaking away from all loved ones and the companions of eager youth or innocent childhood (be they friends or pets or flowers or dust), or those who encouraged us to reach out and touch others?

In each family or neighbourhood, let us pick out the ancestor or predecessor who spread the most Love, and then, FOLLOW THE STAR!

INSURED AGAINST LOVE

THE BEAUTY OF THE PATH

(This post is mostly in response to a reader’s comment that has been included at the end of the post)

The secret may be to accept Perfection as ordered by God, by any name or as any concept, and practise to relish it in each of its flavours and fragrances.

We do not choose the path. No one gets to choose his path, or there would be no sickness or poverty or crime or madness or killings. But we do have a choice of how we tread the path given to us.

Our ‘troubles’ are given terms of reference on our journey; we have to go through them. How we choose to face them makes life seem good or bad, takes away their poison or gives them an extra sting. It’s like the weather, it cannot be made to order, yet it can be respected, appreciated or enjoyed in every manifestation. Our health and strength and daily food are also terms of reference. But we never complain of having had too many trouble-free days!

The seemingly wider and not so straight path does give an illusion of achievement and comfort, because it is a wider expanse of emptiness to behold one’s own image in; a simple optical or perceptual illusion which shows an inflated ‘I’.

The straight and narrow changes the perspective of one’s own size and strength, when all sorts of unknown fears seem to crowd in on one to smother and suffocate. Ah! Practise! Like in childhood, once the fear of heights and enclosed spaces is overcome, the best moments are in soaring through air or floating on water or hiding secreted away in closets! Oh the straight and narrow has been unfairly defamed! Step out on it! It’s like leaving one’s fancy car behind and walking; once one gets over the initial ‘discomfort’, the sights and sounds and feeling have no equal!

Man is a thinking animal. We need a sense of achievement, the thrill of facing challenges. But after we have climbed a mountain or swum a river in our youth, do we hide it away in a bank account or any other fortress? No, we live it repeatedly in our feelings, we enjoy sharing it. We have no fear of losing it, and it leaves us stronger to face many more challenges in life.

Amassing wealth or ‘power’ gives a similar sense of achievement. If this ‘wealth’ is translated into caring and goodness and love, it is alive forever. If, however, it becomes a source of unending worry over its security and replenishment, then it becomes a curse that diverts one’s attention from all the better things in life, like laughing with one’s children. And Life goes by anyway.

Accept God’s will. Get over the initial ‘discomfort’.

Ever so often, when we do not have the selfless courage to share, we try to blame the prospective recipients of our time, affection, kindness or help, for being responsible for their own state. The cancer patient is blamed for smoking cigarettes, the diabetic is blamed for not exercising his body enough, the rich person is accused of being a snob, the poor one is reproached for not being industrious or intelligent, the drug abuser is blamed of bringing it upon himself and the rape victim is accused of being promiscuous. We thus imagine that we have wriggled our way out of a potentially losing situation, and we pat ourselves on our backs for being clever.

We have to do the back-patting ourselves, because we have succeeded in missing out on a wonderful opportunity to help, to bless, to love, to live. We may think that we have been very smart in not exposing ourselves to the danger of some presumed loss, but actually we have failed to make an investment in gratitude, love and the security of sharing goodness.

We can complain and make a fuss and whine and grumble and hold in suspicion or contempt all and sundry, and live a nice cold and lonely life behind the stone walls of our minds, ‘insured’ against theft, 'insured’ against bad health and accidents, even ‘insured’ against natural calamities! Or we can, take the ‘risk’ of investing in caring and affection and hope and sharing and blessings and warmth and smiles and happiness and laughter that does not need to find humour in deriding someone else.

We run a risk, every day, of doing a direct disservice to the memory or goodness of anyone who ever helped us or ours. Goodness cannot be repaid; it can only be passed on. All the people whom your father or grandfather may have helped cannot give it back to him, because he is dead and gone. But they can denigrate his memory by not passing on the goodness when they get a chance to.

Go ahead! Dig into the deeper reaches of your heart, and let the glow of Love and goodwill radiate from your countenance!

Reader’s comment on FRAGRANCE

AnonymousThu Oct 24, 10:40:00 pm

We can choose, practice and perfect the way we wish to spend our time on earth........

Every time I try to choose and practice my path on earth other people step into my path and divert me. Coming back keeps getting more and more difficult. How then do I keep to the straight and narrow?

Reply

FRAGRANCE

FRAGRANCE

We are all familiar with the words ‘practice makes perfect’, so familiar that we never stop to think about the implications that have made it such a common expression. Let us rephrase the words as ‘Whatever you practise, you will perfect,’ and look for the beauty they conceal!

First, we can practise any number of skills, and the more we practise, the nearer we will be to expertise and the elusive goal of perfection. An athlete or player can train his body and master his game, and it will be a while before age takes away his agility. An orator who has put in enough practice will carry his skill long into his elderly years.

Any skill practised will bring along its own discipline and self control. The artist will patiently carry the wonder of his imagination within him till he is able to paint it on canvas, the marksman will master his nerves and hold his breath till the moment he squeezes off the shot. The boxer will co-ordinate his balance, timing and force. The eager student will delve into the vast mysteries of his subject with a gusto, eager to understand, and unafraid of the new ideas that loom ahead.

Second, we can practise our attitude. It is up to us whether we want to make a repetitive habit of dullness or brightness, caring or callousness, insolence or respect, industry or laziness, gloom or joy, brooding or delight, fear or wonder, selfishness or compassion, complaining or gratitude, attractiveness or repulsiveness, health or sickness, glow or dullness.

Whatever we practise, we will perfect, and our attitude will become our disposition and nature, our philosophy, and beauty not to be dulled by age.

Skill, attitude, philosophy; we can choose, practise, and perfect the way we wish to spend our time on earth, what we wish to carry as an aura around us, what we wish to pay back to the efforts and memory of our elders, what we wish to impart in hope, joy, and love to our children.

“Kunjre ki si haat hai duniya,

 Jins hai saari ikatthi;

 Meethi chaahe meethi le le,

 Khatti chaahe khatti”

(Lines from the title song of a television drama from Pakistan named Manchale Ka Sauda, by Ashfaq Ahmad. Highly recommended watching!)

The world is like a grocery shop

Where all products are gathered;

If you wish to take sweet, take the sweet,

Want bitter, take the bitter.

We can choose and pursue what we wish to imbibe from our parents, teachers, books, jobs, children, society, nature, religions and God. We can decide and practise what we wish to impart to others or leave behind as our legacy.

Do we have the Courage to love our neighbour? Do we have the will to leave our home or neighbourhood a wee bit better for our having been here?

We can choose to amass or to share. We can choose to ignore or to care. Understand! We could well have been that miserable wretch living in his own muck by the pavement, watching an uncaring world go by. It is not an accident that we are in a position to help or comfort someone; it is a blessing to be used or wasted. The glow inside is ours, to radiate or to smother.

Our intentions adorn our countenance, and Beauty begins from the heart.

Remember, the hand that distributes flowers retains their fragrance. Let us practise, and perfect, the art of distributing flowers!

CARESSING GLANCES & FLEETING KISSES - II

THE COLD TOUCH OF STONE

But pardon me, why do I digress? I came here to spread beauty, health and inner glow! Why am I wandering? Let me get back to basics. Looking good, feeling great.

Visit, on my behest, any of the millions of monuments in the world made out to Love.

Love with longing, is Worship. Love without dissolving, is Worship. Squirming, writhing in the dirt at the feet of the Entity, is Worship.

Worship, as in losing oneself, is Love. Worship, as in dissolving, ceasing to exist independently, breathing in the Beloved, is Love. Worship, as in becoming the Blessed Dirt at the feet of the Beloved, is Love.

Worship is perfume; Love is fragrance. The one is applied, the other is exuded.

We are bombarded by sellers enticing us with perfumes having names like Naturelle, Macho, Dezire, Fantasy, Entice, Musk, Taboo, Aroma, Sweat, Appeal, Envy, Poison, and Life, and Love!

And we apply what we ought to exude! And if man is judge of man (metaphorically, as a species, not gender), no superficial trappings and put-ons can hide what we are on the inside, or show us off as what we are not.

Ah! Back to the monuments made to Love. Love of another human, love of animals, or animal deities, love of God. Mostly of stone, the most favoured being marble. Sometimes metals like gold.

But monuments of Love!

If you have been there, have you not felt the urge to run your fingers gently over the stone, press the palm of your hand to it with a fond pressure? Sometimes, for those who've had the opportunity, have you not put your cheek against the smooth surface of the cold stone and felt the warmth flowing into you? A time or two, one has even put one’s lips to the stone.

Think of it, try it. It is the magic of Love. Sometimes it is called the flow of Prana. If it is in the stone, be sure it dwells in you also, in humankind, the Greatest Monument of Love.

YOU DON’T NEED LOVE

Whenever you get the opportunity, take a look at the work that some of the institutions or people involved in the restoration of old paintings, works of art, manuscripts, sculptures, monuments and antiques do. These objects have been sullied by years, sometimes centuries, of dust, grime, pollution, fungus and other rigours of exposure to time and existence. The restorers remove all the unwanted matter particle by painstaking particle, sometimes taking years over a single picture. The layers of foreign, unwanted matter come off to show the original masterpiece in its true, pure, vivid colours and form. Paintings, manuscripts, animal trophies, all come alive as good as new. It is miraculous! The old stone and paper and fabric and paint still throb with life, only the layers of junk, refuse and litter collected with age need to be removed.

Do I need to write further? Do I need to tell you that the original innocence is alive and bright inside? Is it not plain for all to see that one does not need to put on any superfluous masks, disguises or supplements, of actions, thoughts, deeds or plain old make-up?

We do not need to put on shows of intellect, caring, love, emotions or any façade at all. We are Love. We are Truth. We are Beauty. We are One.

All that is required is the peeling away, layer by painstaking layer, of the muck, grime and pollution that has covered the presence of the holy and pure spirit inside all of us. The first and most important step is to acknowledge the presence of love and innocence inside each one of us. It is not something that I have and you do not. It is not something reserved for saints and angels and mythical super-beings. Love is the essence of every being.

The moment we realize that we have it in us, we have opened the windows to our inner selves and encouraged Love in all its forms and manifestations to grow and flourish.

When we agree that lust, greed, anger, avarice, covetousness and insensitive self-centred egotism are the pollutants and grime of centuries of exposure, we have identified the layers to be removed. And just the grasping of this truth starts creating subconscious conditions for their peeling off.

There is only one difference in this form of Restoration of the original art work; as the work progresses from the outside, that is, by one’s deliberate efforts, the glow radiates stronger each day from inside, and progression is geometric, if not more.

I wish you inner peace, good health and attendant beauty.

MY CUP OVERFLOWS - 1

Ah so many questions and comments from readers! And so often, the answers are in the questions themselves. Because every question pre-supposes the existence of an answer. The moment the query is made one's mind, body, spirit and entire being accept the possible existence of an answer. The windows open to fresh air, the curtains to morning light, the touch to gentle breezes...

Gradually, drop by drop, bit by bit, the answer keeps growing in stature and the question withers away...

Beautiful...

Question away... and watch your thoughts change...

MIRACLES

To each of us a miracle is given.

This miracle may be in the form of a brother, sister, parent, child, spouse, friend, pet, a talent or a passion or a mission or just anything!

When the storm clouds bow too low and the winds blow rough, a little question shows itself. Would we exchange that one miracle for all the comforts of the world.....?

Let us think deeply and clearly of one gift in life that is so precious to us that we would forsake all else for it. If nothing distinctly outstanding, it may just be the blessing of good health, a sound body and a healthy mind.

....and we dig in our heels and say, “No, never! This is a miraculous thing, a gift from God that transcends all my desires. I would not exchange it for anything!”

And we realize that here we have one blessing that gives our life much more meaning than the mundane chores of living.

Then?

Then comes the bigger miracle, the gift of recognizing miracles! We open our eyes to the wonders of God’s world, we begin to perceive how abundantly blessed we are, and it rains miracles and wonder and even pain is a blessing in different hues and our cup overflows and we dance inside and we live, or die, and there’s really no difference any longer!

Back in school so many years ago, the piano teacher was taking auditions for the school choir; each one of us had to sing this verse,

"Count your blessings

Name them one by one,

Count your many blessings,

See what God has done!"

Most of us did not make it to the choir, but we learnt to count our blessings. (Thanks to that kind soul, Mrs. Aubert.)

Every situation in this world has been crafted especially for each individual by The Master Craftsman. We just have to let our mind free, think with our heart, touch, feel and try to find the good in everything. Gradually we will stop questioning and start believing, then will come routine acceptance of a concept that we have proved to ourselves over and over again. This is the most simple and straightforward explanation of Faith.

“Faith is the bird that feels the light

And sings when the dawn is still dark”

                        - Rabindranath Tagore

The biggest miracle of all, Faith.

That everything in our lives is God’s special gift to us.

So Live the Miracle! Enjoy the Miracle! Be the Miracle!

            ...and feel the glow from inside...

PERSIAN RUGS

Carpet weaving has been an art in the Persian lands since times immemorial.

Art flourishes openly in all stable governments and empires. Before the lure of unbridled commerce, almost every art, craft and trade was handed down through generations by the system of apprenticeship. A printer’s apprentice would be a master printer before he sprouted whiskers, a blacksmith’s apprentice would be strong and proficient by the time the master advanced in years, and so on for almost every conceivable way of life, including thievery. Thus learning was a part of growing up. Hands, head, body and soul were all used in equal measure, and the successful apprentice was one who finally acquired all his master’s expertise, and then some more. And the level of learning steadily advanced in each profession.

The carpets of Persia were made for Sultans and Emirs, and traded far and wide to lands unseen. And oh, how painstakingly perfect was their design, each thread in place, every colour artistically matched, each knot perfectly shaped, tied and snipped!

Did I say perfect?

No! Some little pattern, some spot of colour, some inexplicable intricacy, was deliberately left amiss! Because Perfection was only for The Master Craftsman, the one who crafted all the worlds and every grain of sand, ALLAH!

Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!

Call Him by any name, Allah WAS perfect, IS perfect, and ever SHALL BE!

“The Heavens declare His glory, and the firmament shows His handiwork......” Psalm 19.

He and I are not separate entities. THERE IS NO I ! It is only God, by any name, religious or non-religious, worshipped or not worshipped.

The world is full of boils that erupt, sores that fester and balms that soothe and heal. This is a big rejuvenation centre for the One. Whatever any part of the Soul lacks or needs, it gets through this great processing plant.

Some scriptures give a total of 8,400,000 types of reincarnations for the processing and purifying of a soul to be reunited with the One. These are species, half of them attributed to aquatic life and half to terrestrial. Some lasting for seconds, others for centuries.

Each creature walks a perfect earth. Each one gets the suffering and comfort that he or she needs. When ALL cravings and needs are satisfied, each bit of Soul, merges again with the One.

The amount of joy and suffering in the world is always counterbalanced. One person’s evil can terrify thousands, but one person’s good can succour thousands too. Demons and saints.

The trick, the stipulation, is to remain detached, unaffected by the glory, the power, the strength, the suffering, the praise, the accolades, and keep following one’s destiny. The aim is absolute dissolution of the I, followed by acknowledgement, then overwhelming awe, then merger with One.

The Truth is Perfect. The Beauty is Perfect. The Love is Perfect. The balance is Perfect.

Perfection IS Allah! God, by any name, religious or otherwise! Allah IS perfection!

Rest easy in His world, wonder at His work, recognize the beauty in the wag of a puppy’s tail, the flight of birds, the turn of fish, the bloom of a flower, and glow, Glow, GLOW from within!!

5 EXCUSES TO BE UNHAPPY TODAY

(These thoughts were triggered by a reader’s comment on an older post, given at the end of this article.)

1. 
   Zeina Glo10/12/2013 6:17 pm on OF FATHERS AND WAVES

   Work. For the sake of the work. For the satisfaction of having done it well. With sincerity. With integrity. Remember some of the words common to all the books of wisdom, ‘To give and not to count the cost, to labour and not to ask for any reward.’
   
   Profits. Are incidental. The lasting ones come in the form of satisfaction, of having done well, or tried sincerely. Strength. Sense of achievement. Having made something good. Having served a good cause. Having helped someone. Having made the world a wee bit better for your presence. They might, sometimes, come in the elusive form of money.

   Subsistence. Yes. We all need the means to live. The parents who spend time with their children will also survive. The money may be - may be - a little less, but the profits will encompass at least two generations. 

   Luck. If one can smile and laugh in and at the situation one is in now, one is lucky. If one frowns now in worry to create something for the unknown tomorrow, one has lost the today. If one can build happiness around things that do not depend upon money or power, one is LUCKY. If one’s entire being revolves solely around the earning of money or power, one is poor, and damned.

   Beware. Of the need-mongerers. One of the first subjects one studies when one goes for an MBA course is 'How to Create Need'! The title speaks for itself. The effort may give one money, the money daily 'needs', but the inner glow comes with giving, spending and earning something from much deeper inside than one's wallet.

   It is about happiness inside. Anyone you meet can rattle off 5 excuses to be unhappy today. It is the fashion. Not being tense or worried or stressed out would make one an oddity. But everything other than those 5 or 10 things is reason to be happy about.

   "I cried when I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet."

   
   

   *************************

   

   noFear10/11/2013 7:20 pm on OF FATHERS AND WAVES

   I hav been told by people to wait for my share of luck but then people who wait get only what's left after those who work. Who should i be? What is to be done?

   
   

CARESSING GLANCES & FLEETING KISSES - I

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Let us visualize two different types of people; one who is clean, spotless, glowing, and true from inside; the second complicated, scheming, tied up in knots, secretive, and ridden with guilt and complexes and ambitions.

Whose eyes will jar one with a gleam of greed, jealousy, lust, scheming, ambition, aggression and bondage and confinement; and whose will embrace with reflections of love, truth, beauty, confidence, tolerance, sympathy, willingness, and open spaces and gentle breezes?

No amount of external effort can bring about that look. That beauty comes from the soul, and good health is attendant upon it.

The eye is a window to the soul. Eyes don’t lie. A single spurning glance can shake one to the core of one's being, and a fleeting look of affection can melt one into nothingness; one glance can scald like a hot iron, another glance can come as a refreshing splash from a cold mountain stream; one glance can be heaven and one can be hell.

Our eyes reflect Us! Our most powerful emotions and attributes are seen in the depth of our eyes, more often than not in the first glance!

We must decide today, now, what we wish to transmit - conceit, aggression, power, belligerence, hatred, anger, wickedness, lust - or serenity, calm, peace, happiness, love, truth, security, belief, confidence? What we are inside is what will echo in our eyes. What we reflect in our eyes will determine how the beholder perceives us at first glance. It may make us ugly to regard, no matter how flawless our face, figure or skin; or it may make our countenance angelic, no matter what our features or complexion.

The eye directly transmits PRANA, whatever energy one carries in one's soul, whether constructive or destructive, whether frightening or soothing, whether disconcerting or comforting. To the incredible extent that PRANA can be felt from the eyes of a picture on the wall.

This is the only way to understand why definitions of beauty encompass every shape, size, age, figure, complexion, colour, costume, fashion and adornment in the world!

LOVE MY PROBLEMS

Let us welcome our problems with open arms! Like any other game, the game of life is played as per our aptitude; the more expert we are, the more difficult it gets. Let us embrace the problems and hardships that come our way, for we are the ones chosen to handle them. They are our gifts from those who hung on the cross and sat through tests of fire. It is not mere words to say that They suffered to save sinners. Every anxious moment and seemingly non-negotiable obstacle that comes our way could well have gone to someone we love.

Those of us who do not suffer, let us realize the sacrifice of our sufferers, and instead of burying our heads in the sand and waiting for the trouble to go away, let us rally forth and lend a helping hand to all who need it. Be it work, play, studies, friendships, attitudes, we are all differently blessed. Troubles are divided when we share them, joys are multiplied when we air them. If you see anyone without a smile, give him one of yours! Do not be the dark cloud in someone else’s sky!

KILLING THE LIGHT INSIDE

The most outstanding manifestation of negative growth in the spiritual, mental and physical health of the human race through aeons of evolution is the pride of place that has been given to Guilt.

The burden of guilt starts weighing us down from early childhood. We make our children feel responsible for unnamed horrors and mishaps because they have not finished their glass of milk or done their school homework. They are held responsible for ruining their ‘future’ many times a day! Does the lion scoff at and deride his cub for not picking up something and putting it aside, for standing when it is ‘supposed to be sitting’ for not thinking of what will happen tomorrow? A little rebuke with a firm nudge in the right direction, yes; emotional blackmail, no! 

We have seen children burdened with guilt because their love and respect for the parent is in question if they will not pick up the TV remote and hand it to us! We probably get the remote and lose ourselves in our favourite soap, but we have forgotten a thoroughly confused little person who is having a tough time accepting that Love means to hand over the remote, sit down at one’s books, not shriek with delight, wear clothes one abhors, eat when not hungry, not ask for food when wanting it, not go out to play but be a sportsperson, play but come back with clean clothes, and so on.

The moment it is shouted at, the glow of innocent existence on a child’s face dims. It seems at once sullen or belligerent or sulking or annoying; in effect, less attractive. That is The Inner Glow that I write about.

As we grow, the weight of guilt grows, too. This or that would not have happened if I had exercised more, studied harder, driven slower, stayed up more nights, chosen more carefully, prayed more frequently, eaten less fat, cared more for my children or parents or whatever!

In another context, I would have been more beautiful if I had not gone out in the sun, eaten meat, bathed too often, walked in flat shoes, externally applied all my recommended dietary intake to my hair and skin, laughed carefully all my life to avoid wrinkles, never screwed up my eyes against the wind! Oh I can cover myself with layers and layers of senseless goo emerging from tubes and jars, but will they give me radiance, exuberance, warmth, joy, the glow from my inner being?

Responsibility, blame, fault, duty, obligation, mistake; we use these words for our parents and children and teachers and neighbours and governments and nations. Where is Love?

Majestic, wonderful, magnificent, splendid, graceful; these are adjectives we use everyday for animals, what happened to the human animal?

THE INNER GLOW WENT OUT!

And only freedom from the oppression of guilt can bring it back. Do not pour guilt into someone’s psyche, and don’t let anyone tamper with your conscience.

OF FATHERS AND WAVES

Why does a sailor brave the waves? Why does a climber risk the blizzards and precipices? Why the forays into the wild? Why the voyages into space?

Does the sailor then live in exultation of having conquered the waves, or is he humbled by the magnanimity of the ocean? Does the climber believe that he conquered the mountain, or does he dissolve inwardly and face again and again all the times when the mountain was kind to him who was not even a little rag doll in the clutches of a giant?

The craving is to merge, to become One with the mountain, the sea, the forest and the universe.

Did I not laugh and shriek with delight when my father flung me up into the air, not questioning for a moment that he would catch me and hold me to his breast the next moment? Did I not absolutely believe all the tales my father spun? Did I question him when he said, “Don’t worry, Daddy’s with you!”

Until the loss of innocence......

When I... AYE... AAIII... became bigger than all else, my fancies became needs, my likes became truths, my dislikes became abhorrent, the mirror told lies, dust became dirt, and all the world lost its colour.

Then I turned to God, seeking to appease Him by calling him ‘Father’ at times when I needed favour or consolation, forgetting to share my joys with Him and love him back for all his goodness, and expressing my dissatisfaction at all His doings at the drop of a hat.

Yes! He is a father. Yes, He is The Father! But only if I am a child. Not an opportunist who will cuddle up in her lover’s arms and whisper sweet nothings and coax him into more pampering and preference.

He is my Father only if I am the innocent Son, the epitome of love and faith, the One who adorns the Cross without question and wears a crown of thorns. The son who stands fearless as the walls go up around him in Sirhind.

Be not ‘child-like’, mon ami, be a child! Do not demand, for body or soul - surrender.

This post was written in a reply to a reader who had commented as follows:

k <robby1409@rediffmail.com>
Dear zeina glo very nice thought but I think there is no harm in putting forward in front of your FATHER what your heart (with its little knowledge) wants knowing well that he knows the best. No harm in having child like conversations with HIM and as faith builds up he teaches you how to pray for the soul. I think it starts with craving of mind and ends with praying for the soul.

Zeina Glo recommends reading an account of river rafting at Rafting the Motu - Tony Watkins

www.tony-watkins.com/content/view/24/39/

BEAUTY, CRAVINGS, PRAYER

Reader’s question on PRANA AND PRAYER - I

“...is there any way to improve the power of my prayers. Hardly do my prayers work :( though i never pray for much”

Dwell for a moment upon the power of purity and the strength of surrender. Take water from the brook and pour it into a vessel, be it the cup of your hands. At once it becomes a force that quenches thirst, washes off dirt, drowns sin and supports the miracle of life. Why? How? Because the water surrenders to the shape of the vessel, to its destiny and to the packet it comes in, to the act of being drunk, of being picked and poured and held and used and thrown and churned and battered and boiled, but always willing to take on the shape of the vessel and unquestioning of its destiny. Not happy, not sad, not tense, not elated, not triumphant, not defeated; just water. In being so, water is the Life Force, most essential to every living being existent on this planet or any other.

Listen to the sounds of this water. Listen to the sounds of Nature; no protest, no anger, no pain, no shrillness, no elation, no bragging, no lies, no ego. In some traditions, these sounds are called ‘Ragas’. They are not music composed, they are music comprehended.

Thus must be our prayers. Beautiful. Pure. Not asking, content in our being, willing to be taken where life must take us. Most of our prayers arise from insecurity, from undefined fears, from mindless apprehensions of tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and the years that follow. We do not know whether we will return home this evening in one piece, but our worries are for twenty years hence. We will drive fast and dangerously today to a meeting which we think is securing our future.

Understand the difference between prayer and demand. Prayer implies surrender to the will of the giver, demand preconceives a right to receive. Pray, my dear, and you shall receive. Pray for the discernment to recognize the bounties granted, for our view is incomplete; the Artist knows the whole picture and fits us perfectly into the canvas. We may be praying for the lover who is going to leave us an unwed mother some day, and the giver may decide that we do not need it.

One day in your prayers, maybe once a month or week, lie back and thank God for the things not given to you. Look at any person alive, think of his troubles and turmoil, and decide, would you want them too? Think back on so many prayers in your past, can you imagine where you would be if all had been answered? Would you be able to handle it? Then, in the age old way, count your blessings, which brother, friend, parent, lover would you offer in exchange for the prayers that you think are unanswered?

Discern between prayers of the soul and cravings of the mind.

PRANA AND PRAYER - I

PRANA AND PRAYER

Health, Beauty and The Inner Glow; these are glimpses of what God’s world holds hidden in the treasure of simple joys.

Truth, Beauty and Love; if we let them inspire in our hearts a feeling of awe, of overwhelming wonder, the glow kindled inside us shall emerge as a pleasant radiance which will take away the breath of the beholder!

Let us surrender to the will of God (by Nature or any other name) and be like the bubbling brook that flows playfully along, not caring about what comes after the next bend or boulder. Behold the little brook as it slides and tumbles along to become a young stream, full of vigour and vitality, unmindful of the seeming obstacles in its way. Observe the mature flow of the river, carrying much on its broad back, lending its shoulders to ease the efforts of the multitude. Rejoice in the grace of the sluggish old river, nearing the end of its solitude, bearing the weight and experience of a life fully lived, breathing now only to stay alive till it merges and becomes one with the wholeness of the Ocean.

‘Prana’ is the term used for the 'life-force'; the energy of prayers, blessings and goodwill that abound in the world, waiting only for the receiver's willingness to loosen up, relax, and open one's heart and soul to receive Grace.

Take a look at pictures of gods and goddesses and gurus and saints and philosophers and children and lovers and young people, and feel; does their effervescent and serene Beauty come from outward applications and ‘make-up’, or is it from within, and real?

INNER BEAUTY & HEALTH

Beauty needs no adornment. The radiant glow of inner peace is apparent in one's outward appearance; like the reflections of innocent childhood, healthy youth or advanced age secure in the satisfaction of a life well-lived.

I ask you to join me actively in a quest for tranquility, fulfillment and radiance. Let us surrender to the flow of 'prana'; the life force. Let us allow the radiance of inner beauty to shine so that its glow can be seen outside. Let us build positive feelings, perceive the flow of Prana, and take help from Nature to stay healthy from inside and out.

Let us contribute a few drops every day to the ocean of strength and spirit required to battle the illnesses, worries and trepidations of the world. Let us tilt the scales every day in favour of positivity and hope, appreciation and good health.