Transformation
illusion of our separateness
So long as there is the sense of separation, there will be afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the sense of separation is ended, there is peace.
Consider what happens when a stone is thrown up. It leaves its source, is propelled up, tries to come down and is always in motion until it regains its source where it is at rest.
So also the waters of the ocean evaporate, form clouds which are moved by winds, condense into water, and fall as rain, and the waters roll down the hill tops in streams and rivers until they reach their original source, the ocean, reaching which they are at peace.
Thus you see where there is a sense of separateness from the source, there is agitation and movement until the sense of separateness is lost. So it is with yourself. Continue reading
become a more conscious instrument of your highest calling…
Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, founder of Aravind Eye Care Hospital.
Practice for perfect vision. This in essence was what Dr. V always returned to. He believed that the evolution of an organization ultimately hinges on the evolution of the individuals within it. Continue reading
Transition begins with letting go of something
Pay attention to “core concerns”
there is an “unbridgeable gap” between desire and satisfaction, a gap that is responsible for both our civilization and our discontent
One of my favorite stories comes from the Sufi tradition of mystical Islam. It is a tale that tells us exactly what we will have to face if we endeavor to walk the path of desire. A man sits in the center of a Middle Eastern marketplace crying his eyes out, a platter of peppers spilled out on the ground before him. Steadily and methodically, he reaches for pepper after pepper, popping them into his mouth and chewing deliberately, at the same time wailing uncontrollably. “What’s wrong, Nasruddin?” his friends wonder, gathering around the extraordinary sight. “What’s the matter with you?” Tears stream down Nasruddin’s face as he sputters an answer. “I’m looking for a sweet one,” he gasps. Continue reading
Soul Mate
“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Continue reading
Dance your way to god, laugh your way to god, sing your way to god!
Life as such has to be taken as a cosmic joke — and then suddenly you relax because there is nothing to be tense about. And in that very relaxation something starts changing in you — a radical change, a transformation — and the small things of life start having new meaning, new significance. Continue reading
understanding is love’s other name
At the heart of Nhat Hanh’s teachings is the idea that “understanding is love’s other name” — that to love another means to fully understand his or her suffering. (“Suffering” sounds rather dramatic, but in Buddhism it refers to any source of profound dissatisfaction — be it physical or psychoemotional or spiritual.) Understanding, after all, is what everybody needs — but even if we grasp this on a theoretical level, we habitually get too caught in the smallness of our fixations to be able to offer such expansive understanding. He illustrates this mismatch of scales with an apt metaphor:
If you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink. The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform. When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited, and we suffer. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others. We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform.
our impact on others is more powerful than we may ever suspect
Our thoughts impact on the lives of others, not only in prayer but also in mental telepathy. With every thought we think, we are either helping or hurting, aiding or hindering the person to whom or about whom the thought is directed. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 