The very word itself is confusing. I still remember, when I heard another name first, before I really allowed the word ‘confusion’ to percolate into me clearly. It was in our History lessons, a great being called “Confucious” happened to visit India. And then, the strange similarity in the pronunciation led me to look at confusion. As a kid, I was wondering, how it would be to undergo that utter confusion. We kids were quite clear about almost anything, then! (The very first few steps into adulthood engulfed the mind into dense clouds of that confusion. Now the search was about what was that root cause of such confusion, not about ‘how does it feel when confused!’
Confusion brings along an intense search for ‘trust’, because mind, by its very nature does not afford any confusion to stay too long! It keeps us uneasy all the time. When ‘trust’ depends on a ‘search’, distrust seems an easy and safe option. (This is where the traditional methods of ‘guidance’ helps a smooth transition through that turbulent stage of life). The turbulence ignited by the puberty causes its own polarization in a undue hurry. The logic seeks crystallization of concepts with undue haste, in its own pursuit of chasing the precious time, to achieve logical actualization of life goals as an insulation against visible uncertainties of survival needs, comforts, and luxuries too. Somewhere in between there is also a subtle query about validity of all these priorities from existential point of view. But that gets buried under the heap of surmounting tangible priorities!
It was a long and arduous journey to reach that point where sliding down does not happen any further.
Any way, the question about who creates ‘more confusion’ brought back the sweet memories of the mind’s journey through several paths (yes, quite simultaneously too).
There was also a confusion about the difference between ‘instinct’ and ‘intuition’. http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnXAPmNg0KEmcg7y7jggEa2RHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101225034340AA76JHl Most people decided the possible answers quite instinctively, and missed reference to the subtle ‘intuitive’ capabilities that everyone, as humans, is blessed with!
Psn(30th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101228204600AAvQTue
Why/who/how is creating confusion in world ....theist or atheist.?
My answer:
We ourselves.....
neither the the theist or atheist.
It is much convenient to find a scapegoat than take the accountability ourselves...
This confusion is a healthy thing, in fact, only if we just learn to handle it properly. It seems there was a story about Gautama Buddha. In those days, there were experts in just arguing. There job was to argue, confuse, win, and earn.Now one such person became expert in arguing that there was no God. He was a bit aged and got worried, thinking 'What if there is really a God! He wouldn't spare me! All my life I was working only against Him!' ... So to clear this doubt, he visited Buddha in the dark hours, trying to meet him alone. Buddha said 'Yes' to his query. A few disciples over heard it and announced. The same day evening, another person who strongly argued about theism also met with a similar but opposite kind of doubt. To him, Buddha said 'NO'! ...
Now the disciples got confused. The same Buddha saying quite opposite thing the same day?
(Buddha was not at all worried about others branding him this way or that way. His compassion towards fellow beings was great, and he saw greater purpose in invoking the thirst, disallowing the mind to 'settle'! From spiritual point of view, a settled mind is worse than a confused mind, when quietening of the mind is the main aim!)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Creativity
Quite understandably, there would be very few takers, for a question about how to ‘develop’ this creativity!
With the ‘head hunters’ putting up a huge price-tag for such creative people, looking out for that ‘out of box’ thinkers, asking mind-boggling questions to find out ‘lateral-thinking’ minds, average people would obviously feel it safer to shy away from the limelight when it comes to creativity.
That is where an ancient civilization happens to ‘score’, when the bulk of the people of those ancient times settled for nothing less than the ‘creator’ Himself! Spirituality, while it leads us towards that, can the mysticism about that ‘creativity’ remain elusive for too long!
Psn(22nd December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101220005347AASnA49
How to be very creative n develop our creativity?
My answer:
Creativity is very basic, fundamental, and perhaps, simple too (simple, only if we allow it to remain simple! It is not easy, because our judgmental mind hurries to pre-conclude about almost anything and everything, using its logic, and memory of past judgments! Otherwise, life abounds with scope for creativity. Creat-ures are creations. Nature does the job. We are ever welcome to participate, using our intelligence, and self awareness, to do something beyond nature! The day somebody decided to something more than just helplessly looking at a river flooding and taking away innocent lives, creativity took place, and check-dams were built!)
The problem is also perhaps, with our wide ranging and far reaching definition about 'creativity' that is thrust upon us by the situation. An example of any 'creative' person seems too difficult to 'copy'. Unless people around us 'recognize' that we are creative, we ourselves are not really convinced that we too can be creative! But it is as simple as contributing to any life positive effort. A doctor saves the life of a patient, and the doctor is creative. That life saved is almost same as a life created afresh! As we keep doing things with a 'fresh' mind, using reference to memory only when needed and at our will, this creativity of ours would evolve, and then we would start discovering new ways of doing things (without that needless interruption by mind/memory that 'this is the only way it can be done', etc). Even the possibility of inventions would open up. Many inventions, or discoveries might have been lost without that adequate 'notice', when the person does not 'seek' publicity, or when that person lacks communication skills, or does not look for any recognition
With the ‘head hunters’ putting up a huge price-tag for such creative people, looking out for that ‘out of box’ thinkers, asking mind-boggling questions to find out ‘lateral-thinking’ minds, average people would obviously feel it safer to shy away from the limelight when it comes to creativity.
That is where an ancient civilization happens to ‘score’, when the bulk of the people of those ancient times settled for nothing less than the ‘creator’ Himself! Spirituality, while it leads us towards that, can the mysticism about that ‘creativity’ remain elusive for too long!
Psn(22nd December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101220005347AASnA49
How to be very creative n develop our creativity?
My answer:
Creativity is very basic, fundamental, and perhaps, simple too (simple, only if we allow it to remain simple! It is not easy, because our judgmental mind hurries to pre-conclude about almost anything and everything, using its logic, and memory of past judgments! Otherwise, life abounds with scope for creativity. Creat-ures are creations. Nature does the job. We are ever welcome to participate, using our intelligence, and self awareness, to do something beyond nature! The day somebody decided to something more than just helplessly looking at a river flooding and taking away innocent lives, creativity took place, and check-dams were built!)
The problem is also perhaps, with our wide ranging and far reaching definition about 'creativity' that is thrust upon us by the situation. An example of any 'creative' person seems too difficult to 'copy'. Unless people around us 'recognize' that we are creative, we ourselves are not really convinced that we too can be creative! But it is as simple as contributing to any life positive effort. A doctor saves the life of a patient, and the doctor is creative. That life saved is almost same as a life created afresh! As we keep doing things with a 'fresh' mind, using reference to memory only when needed and at our will, this creativity of ours would evolve, and then we would start discovering new ways of doing things (without that needless interruption by mind/memory that 'this is the only way it can be done', etc). Even the possibility of inventions would open up. Many inventions, or discoveries might have been lost without that adequate 'notice', when the person does not 'seek' publicity, or when that person lacks communication skills, or does not look for any recognition
Justification
Justification.... That is what we try to do most of the times, the moment we open our mouth to say something ‘in response’ to a question, or even just a statement of fact (during conversations)!
For instance, an elderly lady happened to comment thus: ‘The youth now-a-days feel very hesitant to bend down to touch the feet of elders in the family to receive their blessing!’ (There is an ancient tradition in India, to touch the feet of elders, as soon as they meet, before taking their leave, or when they leave after a visit). I happened to puzzle this lady, with an unexpected remark “Yes, and they are quite right, in their hesitation!” …. And then, after allowing a few moments for the statement to sink in, I quietly added, ‘Are these elders quite sure about what they are doing,(or at least what they are supposed to do), in response to that mark of respect, when youngsters touch their feet?’ This unexpected question showed clearly on the lady’s face, with an expression that she could not find time to hide. The facial expression-response was instant. And then, I added, “Well, there was a time, when most people knew, what it meant to ‘bless’ or benedict, and did only what was appropriate on the occasion!..... It is perhaps time, before we try to re-impose those rituals on the youth, we re-equip ourselves, about the wherewithal, the know-how, and other technical details ….”
I was amused to find a simple straight response to a question about ‘feeling’ justified in telling a lie!
Quote:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101221132647AAKOlEt
“When do you feel justified in telling a lie?”
(Somebody gave a wonderful answer! )
“Always. We tell lies because we think they are justified.”
Unquote:
As simple as that! Are we not feeling ‘justified’ about everything that we say? Then, where is the ‘special’ treatment about a lie?
(The mind becomes a useful tool in our hands, only when we disable this reckless ‘justification’ about anything and everything, a bit consciously! A demonstrable situation is created by Spiritual Masters, during certain programs, where the participants feel utterly relaxed, when they ‘let go’ themselves free of their past, dropping the justification, especially the justification about their own ‘guilt’ about their past! The participants feel light, joyous, and cheerful for a while at least, soon after that program. Only the few alert ones pursue this ‘key’ later, when they roll back into their routine lives!)
psn(22nd December, 2010)
For instance, an elderly lady happened to comment thus: ‘The youth now-a-days feel very hesitant to bend down to touch the feet of elders in the family to receive their blessing!’ (There is an ancient tradition in India, to touch the feet of elders, as soon as they meet, before taking their leave, or when they leave after a visit). I happened to puzzle this lady, with an unexpected remark “Yes, and they are quite right, in their hesitation!” …. And then, after allowing a few moments for the statement to sink in, I quietly added, ‘Are these elders quite sure about what they are doing,(or at least what they are supposed to do), in response to that mark of respect, when youngsters touch their feet?’ This unexpected question showed clearly on the lady’s face, with an expression that she could not find time to hide. The facial expression-response was instant. And then, I added, “Well, there was a time, when most people knew, what it meant to ‘bless’ or benedict, and did only what was appropriate on the occasion!..... It is perhaps time, before we try to re-impose those rituals on the youth, we re-equip ourselves, about the wherewithal, the know-how, and other technical details ….”
I was amused to find a simple straight response to a question about ‘feeling’ justified in telling a lie!
Quote:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101221132647AAKOlEt
“When do you feel justified in telling a lie?”
(Somebody gave a wonderful answer! )
“Always. We tell lies because we think they are justified.”
Unquote:
As simple as that! Are we not feeling ‘justified’ about everything that we say? Then, where is the ‘special’ treatment about a lie?
(The mind becomes a useful tool in our hands, only when we disable this reckless ‘justification’ about anything and everything, a bit consciously! A demonstrable situation is created by Spiritual Masters, during certain programs, where the participants feel utterly relaxed, when they ‘let go’ themselves free of their past, dropping the justification, especially the justification about their own ‘guilt’ about their past! The participants feel light, joyous, and cheerful for a while at least, soon after that program. Only the few alert ones pursue this ‘key’ later, when they roll back into their routine lives!)
psn(22nd December, 2010)
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Misunderstanding
“See, you didn’t get me”……..
When we use these words, we often miss the other side of the coin, ‘Did we get them properly, in the first place?”
I had become sort of accustomed to envy ridden remarks, when colleagues around found me, seldom adhering to the ‘accepted’ tenets of a ‘friendly approach’ while ‘dealing’ with customers, and yet managed a wide acceptance at a deeper level amongst customers, who found it to their advantage to ‘tolerate’ me on an ‘as is where is’ basis!
It is not that we can do away with those ‘prescriptions’ for a ‘friendly’ approach. They ‘may’ be needed initially to ‘short-circuit’ the relationship. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of scoffing at those time tested tenets. But, when these don’t work, we have to re-look, whether we inadvertently ended up making them into mere ‘gimmicks’!
{The experience of being mercilessly ‘hammered’ by a spiritual master, out of utter compassion, is not entirely without a few incidental benefits :) }
psn(8th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207173832AABh3ho
I feel like I am constantly being misunderstood or people dont' get me?
Either I make alot of assumptions about them and expect them to know because I think they identify with me, or either I get a false image of them, and seek to identify with them. What the f*ck had happened? I don't understand... am I communicating wrong?
My answer:
Compatibility, connectivity, continuity, are the usual problems.
Compatibility is two-way, when it concerns human beings, unlike gadgets, softwares.
Connectivity is more about removing distractions, with humans, unlike with gadgets. (That is why a 'classroom' ambiance works always better!).
Continuity is about 'holding' attention, the toughest aspect of communication! (for proof, please look at the commercial ads. Even a child, looks at ads, more than the serial itself! The ads aim at holding the attention more than the serial makers!)
When we use these words, we often miss the other side of the coin, ‘Did we get them properly, in the first place?”
I had become sort of accustomed to envy ridden remarks, when colleagues around found me, seldom adhering to the ‘accepted’ tenets of a ‘friendly approach’ while ‘dealing’ with customers, and yet managed a wide acceptance at a deeper level amongst customers, who found it to their advantage to ‘tolerate’ me on an ‘as is where is’ basis!
It is not that we can do away with those ‘prescriptions’ for a ‘friendly’ approach. They ‘may’ be needed initially to ‘short-circuit’ the relationship. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of scoffing at those time tested tenets. But, when these don’t work, we have to re-look, whether we inadvertently ended up making them into mere ‘gimmicks’!
{The experience of being mercilessly ‘hammered’ by a spiritual master, out of utter compassion, is not entirely without a few incidental benefits :) }
psn(8th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207173832AABh3ho
I feel like I am constantly being misunderstood or people dont' get me?
Either I make alot of assumptions about them and expect them to know because I think they identify with me, or either I get a false image of them, and seek to identify with them. What the f*ck had happened? I don't understand... am I communicating wrong?
My answer:
Compatibility, connectivity, continuity, are the usual problems.
Compatibility is two-way, when it concerns human beings, unlike gadgets, softwares.
Connectivity is more about removing distractions, with humans, unlike with gadgets. (That is why a 'classroom' ambiance works always better!).
Continuity is about 'holding' attention, the toughest aspect of communication! (for proof, please look at the commercial ads. Even a child, looks at ads, more than the serial itself! The ads aim at holding the attention more than the serial makers!)
Monday, December 06, 2010
Multidimensional Relationships!
It was amusing to look at the thought process which highlighted this aspect of the mind!
Instead of the usual ‘long winding sentences’ (that my close childhood-friend once remarked), let me attempt simple approach.
For instance, a youth gets ‘relocated’ due to a job opportunity, and after initial ‘settling down’ , finds a calm day which invokes the warmth and fond memories of the childhood, that happened in the safe and secure insulation, which the parents had provided during the early age. It instantly evokes a sense of comparison with, the present ‘all by yourself’, insecure scenario. The deep buried emotional bonds resurface, and this youth attempts to relive them afresh, by planning a brief visit to ‘home’. But alas, soon after landing, even the not so important, ritualistic child-welfare-enquiries by the parents sparks off a logical stand-off and the emotional thirst simply vanishes like a person sinking fast into quicksand quite inadvertently! And the youth now wonders, ‘Did I come here for all this? Was I stupid to give-in for this poor bargain? I used up the precious two-day leave that I managed to wriggle out of that ‘demanding’ boss after lot of haggling! And with this frustration, I will be doubly burdened with the backlog of work after return!..... etc’
From the parent’s angle, they keep wondering, ‘what happened to the childhood closeness they felt about their child, which has got transformed into a ‘fuzzy’ mistrust!’
I am tempted to make a humble guess. The child, (in its ‘hood’ …. That is why perhaps the child-hood) was mostly emotion oriented (logic is yet to evolve). When logic improves, the relationships get slightly re-aligned. And logic shows no mercy towards emotional bonds! Even spouses wonder ‘what happened to that deeeep love that I felt (during early years of marriage) for my other half?
The source of this thought process was thus:
I happened to muster will to fight back the tendency to stay rooted and grounded at one place (5 years of retired life), and ventured a visit to my colleague(Mr.K) to repay the kindness of his unique close ‘bonds’ which had sprung some 30 years ago, having met and worked together for a few years, at the same office. He insisted that we halt for a unreasonably brief while, enroute our journey to another place of pilgrimage, at the very same city where we worked together 30 years ago. We had common colleagues, a few of them already retired. Within a matter of 15 minutes, a few of them converged at our halting place, and exchanged pleasantries. After returning home, I felt a bit guilty having missed to inform another close colleague (Mr.S), who was also retired and resided quite nearby to that ‘halting place’. So before I called him up now, to inform of our brief unexpected visit, and apologized for my lapse, I tried to think of what to ‘cook up and tell him’. Nothing but truth appealed to my mind. I blurted it out ‘blunt, raw and crude’ as I experienced it within. And it ‘sailed through’ smoothly, when I spoke to him briefly! Omitting the persons and personalities, I felt it worth while to share my experience here.
What I told him was, I had ‘happened’ to maintain multi-dimensional relationships with people around, and the bonds with Mr.K was a bit unique. It needed no less than an exclusive and personal proximity, by a visit, however brief, to ‘payback’ my dues. Where as this ‘S’ was in more frequent contact, (voice-mode), and it seemed adequate enough to hold on to the relationship. ‘S’ was more of a logical oriented disposition. He viewed emotions as temporal and as mere ‘outbursts’, of no logical consequence, other than of some nuisance value, of derailing us from deft handling of routine life! And I looked at my relationship with these two with an equanimous mind, and strove to do justice to both, exclusively, at its deserved appropriateness. The redundant bit of conversation was my own ‘surmise’ about possible consequences of such ‘orientation’ of mind. I made a reference to two main paths towards spirituality. Knowledge-path and emotional-path. Logic steers the knowledge path. Experience steers our way through the emotional path. (I was fortunate to be able to align myself to these two and also many other paths, by consciously shifting myself to suit the situation and the opportunities that demanded a particular path! Thus it came about that my relationships with people, often appeared to look a bit ‘mystic’, to the onlookers!)
My bonds with K:
I had to ‘see’ him in person to fulfill the commitment towards that kind of relationship. Gaps of time did not matter at all. This was amply evidenced by the wonderstruck remark of K’s daughter, nudging her mother and whispering quietly (I happened to ‘catch’ the remark! My own personal tools, mystic tools!)… the daughter, a student of advanced study of psychotherapy, told her mother ‘Did you observe… Dad is utterly different these two days! Even his strong addiction to the remote of our TV set has vanished!’. (This girl saw me for the first time, and knew very little about me, except for a casual mention by her ‘papa’ sometimes). The ‘mom’ fully shared her own delightful surprise with an affirmative nod at the daughter’s remarks! ‘K’ had his own style of prioritizing his goals. He did not mind at all, the adversities that he created for himself, due to refusal to adhere to ‘logical’ style of handling material aspects of life. He could not find many patrons around and his intimacy was therefore very limited. Ironically, he compensated adequately by enlarging the circle of close acquaintances who poured into his house in an incessant stream. He dealt with ‘logic’ with absolute simplicity. People loved being helped ‘without expectation’. He loved to look at even his own body (needless to add, his material belongings too!), as a mere vehicle for the spiritual journey of ‘life’ (or life-span), on this planet! Any incidental spill over of emotional bond beyond that materialistic greed and desires by people around was a ‘bonus’ for him! His well knit family is his greatest asset. Petty differences of opinion do not surface beyond a point. His daughter is gifted with unusual ‘sensitivity’ capability, and blends with ‘common’ goals of the family, quite effortlessly. In the process, she has evolved into appreciable levels of adaptability and flexibility, which is rare amidst youth of her age! Deep within her, she has accommodated her own ‘logical reasoning’ without any urgency for a compromise to suit the situation! Her present training sessions as a psychology-consultant/counselor adds to her data base of knowledge bank for a future reference when she would find mind-leisure to resolve deeper questions of life! The wife of K, has clear set compartments, presenting a unique blend of adherence to traditional values, rituals, heritage, and at the same time deftly dealing with multi-tasking skills which are demanded of a modern working woman! I was quite unprepared for an event that ‘exposed’ my attempts to pursue my spiritual commitments, my striving towards humble ‘repayment’ for what ever benedictions were bestowed upon me. This event turned out to be an utter failure. The way various people around looked at this failure was an unexpected windfall of rich experience for me. It is simply beyond my ‘logical’ mind to unravel the mystic source that prompted me to venture into a ‘process’ which got aborted in no time. I tried to attempt a possibility which was medically a non-possibility. The clinical details are unimportant. It concerned a child, carrying a deficiency, for no ‘apparent’ fault of hers, right from baby age! The parents could not find a way, to blend themselves, together, into the kind of a state of ‘deep acceptance’, which I felt, was needed for the ‘process’. I had to spell it out a bit bluntly that the father was perfectly ‘tuned’ while the mother was still in the grip of a residue of some bitter past. My part of the folly was to stretch the effort to bring the mother towards a deeper level of acceptance, beyond a level of tolerance, normal for a working mother faced with multitasking commitments. My dear friend K(who was keenly watching my efforts), could do no more than pitying at me, and mildly suggested that I restrict spelling out the ‘blunt’ aspects of attitude. He did not even need to look at my words to understand my sincerity (He simply ‘feels’ and experiences a person beyond barriers of language! It would not be out of place, to mention right here that when I informed him of my proposed visit, his joy knew no bounds, and all that he managed to say was ‘I await the pleasure of the experience when our ‘aura’s ‘ would merge once again!’. He never bothered to fine-tune his communication skills. Instead he chose for his actions to ‘speak’ and, it also did, only too well, and demonstrably too!) . The father of the child was strongly hoping that I would push forward to do ‘whatever it takes’, for the process which seemed to me as a tremendous possibility! That was the tragic end of this brief episode. Some episodes are wonderful, only with a tragic end, of part-1 at least! My curiosity still hopes for some kind of ‘miracle’ for that child, and in very near future too, and I sincerely wish it too! (Never before did I experience this kind of ‘absence’ of inhibition while confessing an utter failure. For that matter, to my memory, a failure of this magnitude is for the first time! For me, it still seems, only like a ‘seemingly’ and a temporary failure! And, anyway, the successes were never mine entirely).
There were several events of deep experiences during this 4-day visit. I could pay my respect to several spiritual beings, one of whom is alive, and quite young by his bodily age, and meeting this person presented many surprises to all those who witnessed, as co-visitors with me! But any attempt to narrate all of my experiences here, might cause fatigue to the casual reader, and result into needless injustice to the ‘beings’ involved! In my experience, these 4 days, and even the journey of 3 days to and fro, life happened very intensely, as if ‘a few lifetimes got compressed itself into a short span of these few days! I have to therefore, stop this narrative here!
My deepest and heartfelt gratitude and many thanks to several beings who made this visit happen to me thus, and not in the least, but more than all, to my dear friend, Mr.K! :)
Psn(6th December, 2010)
Instead of the usual ‘long winding sentences’ (that my close childhood-friend once remarked), let me attempt simple approach.
For instance, a youth gets ‘relocated’ due to a job opportunity, and after initial ‘settling down’ , finds a calm day which invokes the warmth and fond memories of the childhood, that happened in the safe and secure insulation, which the parents had provided during the early age. It instantly evokes a sense of comparison with, the present ‘all by yourself’, insecure scenario. The deep buried emotional bonds resurface, and this youth attempts to relive them afresh, by planning a brief visit to ‘home’. But alas, soon after landing, even the not so important, ritualistic child-welfare-enquiries by the parents sparks off a logical stand-off and the emotional thirst simply vanishes like a person sinking fast into quicksand quite inadvertently! And the youth now wonders, ‘Did I come here for all this? Was I stupid to give-in for this poor bargain? I used up the precious two-day leave that I managed to wriggle out of that ‘demanding’ boss after lot of haggling! And with this frustration, I will be doubly burdened with the backlog of work after return!..... etc’
From the parent’s angle, they keep wondering, ‘what happened to the childhood closeness they felt about their child, which has got transformed into a ‘fuzzy’ mistrust!’
I am tempted to make a humble guess. The child, (in its ‘hood’ …. That is why perhaps the child-hood) was mostly emotion oriented (logic is yet to evolve). When logic improves, the relationships get slightly re-aligned. And logic shows no mercy towards emotional bonds! Even spouses wonder ‘what happened to that deeeep love that I felt (during early years of marriage) for my other half?
The source of this thought process was thus:
I happened to muster will to fight back the tendency to stay rooted and grounded at one place (5 years of retired life), and ventured a visit to my colleague(Mr.K) to repay the kindness of his unique close ‘bonds’ which had sprung some 30 years ago, having met and worked together for a few years, at the same office. He insisted that we halt for a unreasonably brief while, enroute our journey to another place of pilgrimage, at the very same city where we worked together 30 years ago. We had common colleagues, a few of them already retired. Within a matter of 15 minutes, a few of them converged at our halting place, and exchanged pleasantries. After returning home, I felt a bit guilty having missed to inform another close colleague (Mr.S), who was also retired and resided quite nearby to that ‘halting place’. So before I called him up now, to inform of our brief unexpected visit, and apologized for my lapse, I tried to think of what to ‘cook up and tell him’. Nothing but truth appealed to my mind. I blurted it out ‘blunt, raw and crude’ as I experienced it within. And it ‘sailed through’ smoothly, when I spoke to him briefly! Omitting the persons and personalities, I felt it worth while to share my experience here.
What I told him was, I had ‘happened’ to maintain multi-dimensional relationships with people around, and the bonds with Mr.K was a bit unique. It needed no less than an exclusive and personal proximity, by a visit, however brief, to ‘payback’ my dues. Where as this ‘S’ was in more frequent contact, (voice-mode), and it seemed adequate enough to hold on to the relationship. ‘S’ was more of a logical oriented disposition. He viewed emotions as temporal and as mere ‘outbursts’, of no logical consequence, other than of some nuisance value, of derailing us from deft handling of routine life! And I looked at my relationship with these two with an equanimous mind, and strove to do justice to both, exclusively, at its deserved appropriateness. The redundant bit of conversation was my own ‘surmise’ about possible consequences of such ‘orientation’ of mind. I made a reference to two main paths towards spirituality. Knowledge-path and emotional-path. Logic steers the knowledge path. Experience steers our way through the emotional path. (I was fortunate to be able to align myself to these two and also many other paths, by consciously shifting myself to suit the situation and the opportunities that demanded a particular path! Thus it came about that my relationships with people, often appeared to look a bit ‘mystic’, to the onlookers!)
My bonds with K:
I had to ‘see’ him in person to fulfill the commitment towards that kind of relationship. Gaps of time did not matter at all. This was amply evidenced by the wonderstruck remark of K’s daughter, nudging her mother and whispering quietly (I happened to ‘catch’ the remark! My own personal tools, mystic tools!)… the daughter, a student of advanced study of psychotherapy, told her mother ‘Did you observe… Dad is utterly different these two days! Even his strong addiction to the remote of our TV set has vanished!’. (This girl saw me for the first time, and knew very little about me, except for a casual mention by her ‘papa’ sometimes). The ‘mom’ fully shared her own delightful surprise with an affirmative nod at the daughter’s remarks! ‘K’ had his own style of prioritizing his goals. He did not mind at all, the adversities that he created for himself, due to refusal to adhere to ‘logical’ style of handling material aspects of life. He could not find many patrons around and his intimacy was therefore very limited. Ironically, he compensated adequately by enlarging the circle of close acquaintances who poured into his house in an incessant stream. He dealt with ‘logic’ with absolute simplicity. People loved being helped ‘without expectation’. He loved to look at even his own body (needless to add, his material belongings too!), as a mere vehicle for the spiritual journey of ‘life’ (or life-span), on this planet! Any incidental spill over of emotional bond beyond that materialistic greed and desires by people around was a ‘bonus’ for him! His well knit family is his greatest asset. Petty differences of opinion do not surface beyond a point. His daughter is gifted with unusual ‘sensitivity’ capability, and blends with ‘common’ goals of the family, quite effortlessly. In the process, she has evolved into appreciable levels of adaptability and flexibility, which is rare amidst youth of her age! Deep within her, she has accommodated her own ‘logical reasoning’ without any urgency for a compromise to suit the situation! Her present training sessions as a psychology-consultant/counselor adds to her data base of knowledge bank for a future reference when she would find mind-leisure to resolve deeper questions of life! The wife of K, has clear set compartments, presenting a unique blend of adherence to traditional values, rituals, heritage, and at the same time deftly dealing with multi-tasking skills which are demanded of a modern working woman! I was quite unprepared for an event that ‘exposed’ my attempts to pursue my spiritual commitments, my striving towards humble ‘repayment’ for what ever benedictions were bestowed upon me. This event turned out to be an utter failure. The way various people around looked at this failure was an unexpected windfall of rich experience for me. It is simply beyond my ‘logical’ mind to unravel the mystic source that prompted me to venture into a ‘process’ which got aborted in no time. I tried to attempt a possibility which was medically a non-possibility. The clinical details are unimportant. It concerned a child, carrying a deficiency, for no ‘apparent’ fault of hers, right from baby age! The parents could not find a way, to blend themselves, together, into the kind of a state of ‘deep acceptance’, which I felt, was needed for the ‘process’. I had to spell it out a bit bluntly that the father was perfectly ‘tuned’ while the mother was still in the grip of a residue of some bitter past. My part of the folly was to stretch the effort to bring the mother towards a deeper level of acceptance, beyond a level of tolerance, normal for a working mother faced with multitasking commitments. My dear friend K(who was keenly watching my efforts), could do no more than pitying at me, and mildly suggested that I restrict spelling out the ‘blunt’ aspects of attitude. He did not even need to look at my words to understand my sincerity (He simply ‘feels’ and experiences a person beyond barriers of language! It would not be out of place, to mention right here that when I informed him of my proposed visit, his joy knew no bounds, and all that he managed to say was ‘I await the pleasure of the experience when our ‘aura’s ‘ would merge once again!’. He never bothered to fine-tune his communication skills. Instead he chose for his actions to ‘speak’ and, it also did, only too well, and demonstrably too!) . The father of the child was strongly hoping that I would push forward to do ‘whatever it takes’, for the process which seemed to me as a tremendous possibility! That was the tragic end of this brief episode. Some episodes are wonderful, only with a tragic end, of part-1 at least! My curiosity still hopes for some kind of ‘miracle’ for that child, and in very near future too, and I sincerely wish it too! (Never before did I experience this kind of ‘absence’ of inhibition while confessing an utter failure. For that matter, to my memory, a failure of this magnitude is for the first time! For me, it still seems, only like a ‘seemingly’ and a temporary failure! And, anyway, the successes were never mine entirely).
There were several events of deep experiences during this 4-day visit. I could pay my respect to several spiritual beings, one of whom is alive, and quite young by his bodily age, and meeting this person presented many surprises to all those who witnessed, as co-visitors with me! But any attempt to narrate all of my experiences here, might cause fatigue to the casual reader, and result into needless injustice to the ‘beings’ involved! In my experience, these 4 days, and even the journey of 3 days to and fro, life happened very intensely, as if ‘a few lifetimes got compressed itself into a short span of these few days! I have to therefore, stop this narrative here!
My deepest and heartfelt gratitude and many thanks to several beings who made this visit happen to me thus, and not in the least, but more than all, to my dear friend, Mr.K! :)
Psn(6th December, 2010)
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