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October 30, 2006
Life After Death, Part 9: Two Magical Words
(For Part 1 of the Life After Death series, click here.)
The Invisible Thread
"Look, do you see that?" said Ramana. He pointed ahead, and Savitri could make out a wisp of smoke above the trees.
"A home fire?" she guessed.
"Follow it and find out. I'll stay here until you return." Ramana sat on a stump, waiting.
So Savitri headed toward the smoke. Soon she noticed that trees had been burned down, and there were wrecked ox-carts and other signs of destruction. Eventually she found herself in a deserted village. Soldiers had invaded from another kingdom, and wherever they went they laid waste. In this village all the houses had been reduced to smoldering ashes except for one, which was untouched.
Savitri walked up to the door where an old woman sat. "Everything is destroyed," Savitri said, bowing to her. "How did your house come to be spared?"
The old woman replied, "All the men of our village were away fighting. So I had to keep the soldiers off myself. When they came with their torches to loot and rob me and then set fire to my house, I told them, ‘Come, come, for no one else is brave enough to enter. Everyone inside has scarlet fever. Look for yourself.' At that the soldiers were so frightened they refused to come a step closer and ran away."
Savitri reached into her sari and found a small coin, which she gave to the old woman. She retraced her steps until she found the place where she'd left Ramana.
"Why did you send me there?" she asked.
"The old woman turned away an army with two words: scarlet fever," he said.
"The wise know that Death can also be turned away with two words: I am."
"I don't understand." She was even more confused when she looked at the sky and saw that the wisp of smoke had disappeared.
"That village was just a symbol," said Ramna.
"For trouble and sorrow?"
"No, for impermanence. Heed this, Savitri. There is no permanence in this life. Possessions come and go, as do other people. We somehow cope with so much loss. How? By clinging to the notion that we are permanent, that our world is forever.
"But that is the wrong way. Death is greedy and wants to destroy everything as wantonly as an invading army. Just hold out your arms to him and say, I am. Death will retreat because there is nothing for him to destroy. I am has no possessions, no expectations, nothing to cling to. Yet it is everything you are and everything you will ever need, in this world or the one to come."
Ramana spoke with the calm authority of one who knows, and this helped Savitri.
"The old woman lied when she said scarlet fever. You must tell the truth when you say I am. I think that you are nearly ready," Ramana said gently.
"How can I make it the truth?" asked Savitri.
"It's not difficult. When you are happy, go inside and feel the one who is the experiencer of happiness. When you ae sad, go inside and feel the experiencer of sadness. They are the same. There is a still, small point that watches all, witnesses all. Be with your stillness whenever you can. Notice it instead of sliding past it. Familiarity is your greatest ally. I am is your being. There is nothing foreign about simply being.
"At first the still, small point will not be much of an experience, yet it can grow without limit. When you die and finally have nothing to hold on to, I am will fill the whole universe. The wise have repeated this truth over and over, in every age. But you mustn't buy a truth second-hand. Find the I am inside yourself, and it will expand to fill you. When that happens, you are safe. Your being will be the same as your soul."
Note: While writing a new book on the afterlifeLife After Death: The Burden of Proof
In this case the hero is a woman named Savitri, and the enemy she must defeat is Yama, the lord of death. Yama shows up in her front yard one day, waiting to take away her husband the moment he returns from his work as a woodcutter. Will she succeed? What strategy can possibly turn Death away from his inexorable mission?
Part 8 - Seeing the Soul
Part 7 - The Invisible Thread
Part 6 - Ghosts
Part 5 - The Path to Hell
Part 4 - Escaping the Noose
Part 3 - Death Grants Three Wishes
Part 2 - The Cure For Dying
Part 1 - Death At the Door
Posted by Deepak Chopra at 02:24 PM | Comments (53)
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Love's Philosophy
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle: --
Why not I with thine?
See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea: --
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
[ENDS]
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), was one of the great English lyrical poets. He experimented with many literary styles and had a lasting influence on many later writers, particularly Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Hardy.
What do you think of Shelley? What are your thoughts, observations and views.
Do you have some similar favourite poems to share?
With warm wishes
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Posted by DK Matai at 11:38 AM | Comments (14)
Weekly Yoga Pose
The Butterfly Pose
Instructions:
Sitting down on your towel or mat, bring the bottoms of your feet together with your knees relaxed out to the sides.
Interlace your fingers and slide your hands, palms up, under the sides of your feet.
Inhale and exhale lengthening your spine (three to four deep breaths).
Inhale and reach your right arm up pressing your finger tips towards the sky, looking up towards your hand.
Exhale bring your right hand back down to your foot facing forward.
Inhale as you reach the left hand up towards the sky looking up towards your hand.
Exhale bring you left hand back down to your foot, facing forward.
Alternate sides six to ten times following your breath.
Benefits
Lengthens and strengthens the spine
Increases blood flow to the large and small intestine
Lengthens muscles around the inner thighs and hips
Increases mobility of the shoulder joints
Safety Tips
If your knees bother, you can perform this pose with your feet further away from your torso or your legs can be
extended straight out on the floor in front of you
If either shoulder is uncomfortable when reaching your hand up toward the sky, make sure you bring your arm out to the side to a comfortable height (make sure you elevate both arms at the same height to maintain balance.
TIPS
Create a Sacred Space
- Unplug the phone
- Place mat or towel down
- Dim the lights
Breathe in a Relaxed Manner
- Full deep breaths
- Breathe continually
Relax Through the Movement
- Place tip of tongue gently behind the two front upper teeth on the ridge of your gum
- Relax your jaw, unclench your teeth
- Keep your shoulders relaxed, back, and down
Move Easily and Gently
- Never force or strain
- Smile with your eyes by gently bringing the corners of your mouth towards you ears
Enjoy the Sequence
- Allow yourself the freedom to move your body in anyway it needs
Posted by Claire Diab at 10:44 AM | Comments (5)
More powerful, more effective, NOT as President?
The UK will appoint Al Gore as an Environmental Advisor today in the wake of a comprehensive economic report that advises that "the costs of confronting climate change are far outweighed by those of failing to act in time." It is refreshing to see
a government being proactive on environmental issues -- although is it too little to late? I only hope that other governments, companies (like Virgin) and individuals will follow suit.
But the other question -- Will he run for President? -- continues to linger in my mind. I would campaign and vote for Al Gore. He - and his family whom I am fortunate to know - inspire and are intelligent, very intelligent.
And, I also wonder, do you think that he can achieve more as a US President or NOT as US President? For me, President Bush has been a disaster and is a lame duck leader. I am ready for someone who can be a true leader for the United States. Is Al Gore that person?
Posted by Mallika Chopra at 04:29 AM | Comments (36)
October 29, 2006
IntentBlog: Thou hast made me known to friends...
Dear fellow IntentBloggers, Donatella Riback has submitted a poem by Rabindranath Tagore under the Kahlil Gibran Socratic Dialogue, which embodies the spirit of Dr Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur...
...very well as it does the spirit of the young Chopras and all IntentBloggers. It is so beautiful that we wish to share it with you:
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not. Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own. Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest.
Through birth and death, in this world or in others, wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same, the one companion of my endless life who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of the many.
- by Rabindranath Tagore
The Rabindranath Tagore Socratic Dialogue on IntentBlog in regard to Geetanjali can be accessed from here!
What do you think of the opportunity to bring our hearts, minds and spirits together at IntentBlog? What are your thoughts, observations and views.
Do you have some similar further ideas and reflections to share?
With warm wishes
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Posted by DK Matai at 10:32 AM | Comments (28)
Climate: Economist Sir Nicholas Stern's Views
The dramatic findings of Sir Nicholas Stern's report, due out tomorrow, have increased the pressure on the British Prime Minister to act decisively in regard to countering climate chaos.
Dear ATCA Colleagues
Re: Countering Climate Chaos: Economist Sir Nicholas Stern's tough warning to Her Majesty's Government UK -- A stitch in time to save nine
The dramatic findings of Sir Nicholas Stern's report, due out tomorrow, have increased the pressure on the British Prime Minister to act decisively in regard to countering climate chaos. The massive 700-page report -- commissioned by the Chancellor of The Exchequer, Gordon Brown, the UK Finance Minister -- has been described as "hard-headed" and "frighteningly convincing". It focuses on the economic peril now confronting the world, unless action is taken to combat harmful CO2 emissions that contribute to climate chaos.
The choice before the UK, and other developed countries, as well as large rapidly industrialising countries, is simple: pay billions to develop sources of green energy and other environmental technologies today, or pay tens of billions a few decades down the line when the climate chaos problem will be much worse.
Global climate chaos could cost the world's economies up to 20 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) if urgent action is not taken to stop floods, storms and natural catastrophes. That stark warning has been given to The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his cabinet just before the weekend by Sir Nicholas Stern, a former World Bank economist, and is said to have left cabinet ministers chastened by the magnitude of the threat posed by climate chaos.
In a preview of the report Sir Nicholas is to deliver on Monday, he informed the British Cabinet that the world would have to pay 1 per cent of its annual GDP to avert catastrophe. But doing nothing could cost 5 to 20 times that amount. He told them: "Business- as-usual will derail growth."
Sir Nicholas's review could be a watershed in overcoming scepticism about the existence of climate chaos. Mr Brown believes it could force the oil-dominated White House administration of President George W Bush to concede the importance of action to curb climate chaos. According to media sources, one minister who was present said it destroyed the US government's well known argument that cutting carbon emissions was bad for business.
Sir Nicholas's report, covering the period up to 2100, warns that climate chaos could cause the biggest recession since the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression. A downturn of that magnitude would have "catastrophic consequences" around the globe, with the poorest countries hit first and hardest, Sir Nicholas informed the British Cabinet. Insurance analysts, who submitted their evidence for his report, said they feared insurance claims could exceed the world's GDP.
The Treasury believes that publication of the Stern report could be a turning point in public opinion in America, to force the Bush administration to accept the scientific evidence that global warming is happening. According to some, its significance is huge and it is a desk-breaker. It could be as important for climate chaos as the Africa Commission was for poverty in Africa. Its biggest impact could be on public opinion in America, which is like turning around a tanker. It is expected to dominate the UN international climate chaos talks scheduled to start in Nairobi, Kenya, next week.
The British Prime Minister's official spokesman said the Cabinet recognised "this was a very serious piece of work on a very serious subject and a very clear piece of thinking about the economic benefits of dealing with climate change now." The Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, is believed to have drawn from the findings when she warned last week that global warming could cause more conflicts as a result of massive population shifts because of rising sea levels and flooding.
Downing Street appeared to be gearing up to use the Stern report to launch a fight back over the Government's record on climate chaos which was attacked last week as "woeful" by Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader. The Chancellor gave the clearest hint so far that he would use his forthcoming Budget and the pre-Budget report next month to raise "green" taxes, including the cost of motoring. He promised legislation on climate chaos, but he appeared to resist the growing demands for binding annual targets for reducing CO2 emissions. The Conservative leader, David Cameron, put forward his own Bill to impose annual targets monitored by a new independent commission. That strategy is supported by a growing cross-party coalition of more than 400 MPs who may still force the UK Chancellor to change his mind.
[ENDS]
We look forward to your further thoughts, observations and views. Thank you.
Best wishes
For and on behalf of DK Matai
Chairman, Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance (ATCA)
____________________________________________________________________________
ATCA: The Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance is a philanthropic expert initiative founded in 2001 to resolve complex global challenges through collective Socratic dialogue and joint executive action to build a wisdom based global economy. Adhering to the doctrine of non-violence, ATCA addresses opportunities and threats arising from climate chaos, radical poverty, organised crime & extremism, advanced technologies -- bio, info, nano, robo & AI, demographic skews, pandemics and financial systems. Present membership of ATCA is by invitation only and has over 5,000 distinguished members from over 100 countries: including several from the House of Lords, House of Commons, EU Parliament, US Congress & Senate, G10's Senior Government officials and over 1,500 CEOs from financial institutions, scientific corporates and voluntary organisations as well as over 750 Professors from academic centres of excellence worldwide.
____________________________________________________________________________
Posted by ATCA at 10:20 AM | Comments (7)
You will Love this...
I wanted to share with you this recent image from Astronomy Picture of the Day. This website I have visited almost everyday for the past several years. As they describe, each day a different image
or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation of that image written by a professional astronomer. Make sure you go to the bottom of the page and click "Archive"...and you will see our universe in a way you've never known possible.
Posted by Saira Mohan at 09:12 AM | Comments (13)
October 28, 2006
Life After Death: Part 8 - Seeing the Soul
(For Part 1 of the Life After Death series, click here.)
Part 8 -- Seeing the Soul continues below:
The moment she woke up, Savitri saw that they were back at the banyan tree where they’d started. She sat up, squinting at the sun overhead. How could it be so high in the sky? Then she saw Ramana standing over her. He wore a mysterious look.
“We haven’t left yet,” he said. “There are hours to go before Satyavan returns home.”
Weakly rising to her feet, Savitri gazed at the monk as if he were a magician. “What did you do?”
Ramana shrugged. “You were exhausted. You slept. I’m not responsible if you had a productive dream.” Without another word he picked up his flute, exactly as he had before, and set off. This time Savitri followed him without a doubt. They did not take the trail up the mountain but the trail down, and after a while Ramana said, “When I was young there was a traveling fortune-teller who erected a tent by the Ganges. Every devout person wants to die in Benares. Their families come to the funeral, and a fortune-teller can make a good living, particularly this one, since his specialty was predicting the day that a person will die. But I refused to go.”
“Why?” asked Savitri.
Ramana laughed. “I was different, even then. I used to say it’s easy to see the future. I’ll go to the fortune-teller who can see the present. The most difficult thing is seeing what’s right here.”
“Can you explain?” Savitri asked.
“Have you heard of Maya?”
“Of course. She is the goddess of illusion.”
“Just so,” said Ramana. “But what is illusion? A kind of magic that hides reality from us? Let me give you an example. Let’s say I show you a piece of ice, a cloud of steam, and a snowflake. Have you seen any water? If you say yes, then you have overcome Maya--the forms of ice, steam, and snowflake didn’t fool you. You went to the essence, which is that they are all made of water.
“If you say no, then you fell for illusion. The ice, steam, and snowflake grabbed your attention, and you lost the essence. It didn’t take a goddess to fool you. You allowed your mind to be distracted. So it is with the soul. We look at people and see everything on the surface. This one is ugly, that one beautiful, this one poor, that one rich, this one I love, that one I hate. Yet each is Atman, the same essence in infinite forms.”
“Is that what you see?” Savitri asked.
“Don’t look so mystified. You’ve seen someone’s soul, too,” Ramana said. He gazed at her deeply. “I know all about you, princess.”
Suddenly Savitri’s cheeks burned. It was true. Despite her present poverty, she had been born a princess, the most cherished daughter of a rich and powerful king. When the time came for her to marry, she had insisted on finding the right man herself, and so her father, though worried in his heart, sent her with a band of nobles to find the perfect prince. Savitri and her guards traveled through the dense forest, and by chance they came upon a woodcutter’s hut. As soon as she set eyes on Satyavan, who was humble and poor, Savitri resolved to marry him, whatever the obstacles.
When she announced her choice, Savitri made her father deeply disappointed. Satyavan was handsome and known for his good heart and generosity. Since he had also fallen in love with Savitri, the king reluctantly accepted his daughter’s choice. Then something disturbing happened. On the three nights before her wedding, Savitri dreamed of Lord Yama, and each night he said the same thing: Satyavan would die when they had been wed exactly a year.
“So you already knew,” said Ramana. “And yet you decided to marry someone who was doomed. Why?”
“Because I loved him,‘ Savitri whispered.
“And what is true love but seeing someone else’s soul? If you can see past all the illusions laid in your way by Maya, you will always see Satyavan’s soul. It can never be lost, no matter what happens to his body.”
Savitri mourned, “I see his soul when I can’t see my own.”
“The difference is that you must notice your soul. Seeing with the eyes keeps us trapped in the world of shapes and colors. Noticing goes deeper.”
Ramana touched Savitri’s forehead, and instantly she saw bodies burning on the funeral pyres beside the Ganges, their ashes escaping on the wind. “The eye can’t help but see this,” Ramana whispered, “yet it never saw the soul in the first place, so the act of seeing nothing makes us believe in death.” He let these words sink in. “Do you think you can stop believing your eyes now?”
Savitri nodded, and for an instant she glimpsed Satyavan’s soul merged with hers, just as she had the day they met. “I will never forget,” she murmured.
Note: While writing a new book on the afterlife, Life After Death: The Burden of Proof
I kept being drawn back to stories that I’d heard in India as a child. In these stories the abstract issues of death, immortality, and eternity acquire a human face as ordinary people confronted the mystery of death. I hoped that reader will be intrigued by a world where heroes battle darkness in order to emerge into the light.
In this case the hero is a woman named Savitri, and the enemy she must defeat is Yama, the lord of death. Yama shows up in her front yard one day, waiting to take away her husband the moment he returns from his work as a woodcutter. Will she succeed? What strategy can possibly turn Death away from his inexorable mission?
Part 7 - The Invisible Thread
Part 6 - Ghosts
Part 5 - The Path to Hell
Part 4 - Escaping the Noose
Part 3 - Death Grants Three Wishes
Part 2 - The Cure For Dying
Part 1 - Death At the Door
Posted by Deepak Chopra at 11:06 PM | Comments (64)
I know...we'll call it India!
I usually like to stick to fluff on this blog, but once in a while I'll report on real news as well. You know, stuff about India that actually makes the US media (besides nuclear weapons)... Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are going
to adopt an Indian baby. You know what? I can put aside sarcastic hang-ups and live with that. Maybe even respect it.
Besides, they've already scored a Cambodian and an Ethiopian...this addition should round out the Benetton commercial nicely. Put 'em in some brightly colored polo shirts and snap away some smiley pictures.
But, then I have to go and read this:
According to the source, whether they end up choosing a boy or a girl, "they'd like to name the child India to honour its homeland".
India? India? You can't even pick a state or something? Call it Tamil-Nadu, that has some hyphenated appeal! Or name the precious little thing Punjab...she'll have a similarly named playmate. Maybe make the paparazzi check their spelling a few times and call the baby Thiruvananthapuram. But, India? If you really want to honor our homeland, name it this, this, or maybe even this.
Come on, Angelina. I know you haven't been feeling too well, but you used to wear a vial of your husband's blood around your neck. That was creepy, but definitely creative. What happened?
On the same subject, Manish Vij has a great Rushdie citation over at his blog.
Posted by Sandeep Sood at 10:59 PM | Comments (5)
Deepak and Zappy's Billboard Censored
Kabbalah Centre puts the Kibosh on Kabala Billboard
The Kabbalah Centre in Beverly Hills ordered Clear Channel to remove
our billboard on Robertson Blvd for "Ask The Kabala," a beginner's guide to Kabala. The billboard was up for just one day before the Centre had it removed, claiming that the building was owned by one of it's affiliates.
It's troublesome that the Centre wants an exclusive path to the wisdom of this ancient, spiritual practice. It seems to be we should be encouraging as many people as possible to tap into the wisdom of Kabala.
In a Karmic twist of fate, the new location of the billboard on busy Olympic Blvd ensures that millions of additional people will be exposed to Kabala alternatives, not less, as some at the Centre had hoped.
Peace. Zappy
Posted by Zappy at 10:40 PM | Comments (6)
How To Know God DVD
I am excited to share with you the How To Know God DVD
You can watch the trailer here:
Posted by Deepak Chopra at 10:37 PM | Comments (10)
Cool magic trick.
Would you be so kind as to think of a card for me? I will return to this shortly.
Once, when I was a toddler (I hope I still am one!), my father gently drew the day to a conclusion by observing that my toys probably needed to retire for the night, following which he vanished them one at a time into the ceiling light. They reappeared at the foot of my bed the following morning.
Would you be so kind as to think of a card for me? I will return to this shortly.
Once, when I was a toddler (I hope I still am one!), my father gently drew the day to a conclusion by observing that my toys probably needed to retire for the night, following which he vanished them one at a time into the ceiling light. They reappeared at the foot of my bed the following morning.
This episode has profoundly influenced my own engagement with ‘magic’, a practice whose boundless mysteries are only occasionally intimated to a novice such as me.
My father is not by vocation or training a ‘magician’ as most might recognise. However, in my reckoning, it may be a mark of a ‘good’ magician that her preternatural abilities are commensurate with her sense of civic responsibility – or in my father’s case, his sense of filial-paternal bond.
Good magic, it seems to me, incites a communion and reverie in the moment which some might compare with a fireworks display. My own inclinations though are for the kind of magic which has purpose beyond the meretricious, which is anchored by concerns which are even more real (than describing a bright streak in the night sky) and which leaves legacies over and above igniting short term gratification. Please be advised that these are aspirations which I have not realised in any way the majority of you might recognise to be meaningful!
Despite the foregoing, once in a blue moon I find my magic going directions I had not pre-meditated. These include www.bookofcool.com and (very fleetingly) ‘Magicians’, the latter a feature film from Universal Pictures. For I will continue trying to get my head around projects where one is thrust onto a pedestal – but I will always be asking myself: “What is my intent in colluding with all this?”
Sometimes such ‘magical interventions’ in the mainstream may look ‘cool’ – but are not of great import to tell the truth. For you know, such a sublime agency as magic should not be largely confined to popular entertainment. There is also the problematic dichotomy one may see within ‘magic’ – the subsistence of ‘mystery’, even ‘epiphany’, with contrivance, deception and trickery. I mean by ‘magic’ in this instance the live art form which is most often known as public spectacle which is heavily devised, rehearsed, scripted and embellished; whereas in my experience magic can be that which is improvised, expressive, instinctual, unedited – and a genuine, iterative, reciprocal, two-way conversation comprising unscripted responses and counter-responses which carry ‘real’ freight to and fro.
What I am sketching out here is my sense that real magic doesn’t need bells and whistles and that it is at its most profound in milieus which seem to be the most prosaic, even banal.
Yes, my encounter with my father’s magic all those years ago is still resonating – and re-invigorated as I meet other magicians of that ilk: for be assured, we are each such magicians.
I don’t kid myself though, as we all know it’s natural to desire the acquisition of skills some might se as ‘cool’ – in fact the projects I refer to above are more than a little knowing in this regard! However, to be a real magician is no trick; furthermore, knowing cool tricks is no route to being cool. For you were cool enough the day you were born – and have been ever since.
Now to the cool magic trick of the title; I mustn’t deceive you. Your card is - as I imagined it would be - a rather beautiful one. As they are all.
Finally to the mystery of how my father made a toy trumpet, a ball, a book and a couple of other items disappear into the globe screwed into the ceiling of my parents’ bedroom. On second thoughts – why don’t you recall the first time you encountered magic?
Posted by Aladin at 08:09 PM | Comments (1)
Voices From Beyond
Speaking of Life After Death, have you ever had contact with someone who has passed away. Would love to hear your stories.
I will share mine in a bit...
Posted by Mallika Chopra at 05:56 PM | Comments (26)
Kahlil Gibran: Quotes & The Prophet
. I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
. Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
. God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.
. If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully.
. If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.
. If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.
. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
. Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'
. The lights of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reaches us. So it is with great men who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities.
. To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do.
. Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.
. In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. He conceals the other half out of fear of the people's wrath.
. It is well to give when asked but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.
. Yes, there is a Nirvanah; it is leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem.
. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a poet, philosopher, and artist and he was born in Lebanon, a land that has produced many prophets. The millions of Arabic-speaking peoples familiar with his writings in that language consider him the genius of his age. He was a man whose fame and influence spread far beyond the Near East. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world and compared by Auguste Rodin to the work of William Blake. In the United States, which he made his home during the last twenty years of his life, he began to write in English. The Prophet and his other books of poetry, illustrated with his mystical drawings, are known and loved by innumerable people across the world including many in America, who find in them an expression of the deepest impulses of man's heart and mind. In The Prophet, Gibran wrote of Friendship as follows:
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
What do you think of Kahlil Gibran? What are your thoughts, observations and views.
Do you have some similar favourite poems to share?
With warm wishes
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Posted by DK Matai at 05:40 PM | Comments (5)
You are now a Foetus!
The migraine attack had been going on for over a week. Nothing I did or did not do seemed to set it right. I was desperate-real desperate. If somebody had told me that walking naked ,upside down on my head to a shrine in the Himalayas would get rid of the monster I would have tried that too.
And then they told me about this alternate medicine doctor/healer
I had already been through all the lotions, potions, hot water inhalations, pills and motions prescribed for migraine. Tried every allopathic cure. Had massages galore, drank gallons of water to flush out the copious quantities of champagne consumed at the Diwali parties. The kaleidoscope of bursting lights dancing in front of my migraine infected brain prevented me from squinting through any of the new age self help books prescribing cures for this malady, and partly influenced by Deepaks recent posts on the after life etc etc I decided to give this alternate medicine doctor a try.
“He’s a magician. A super technician. Hpypnosis, psychotherapy, ayurveda, homeopathy, past life regression, present life aversion-hes got it all figured out- I was told. So I go
“Okay magician. Here I come. Wave your magic wand on me”
The board on his front door announces him modestly to be a
'Consulting Homeopath'. I reassure myself that I am doing the right thing as I step gingerly into his clinic.
”Faith Faith Faith-you gotta have faith faith faith!-I hum to myself ala goerge Michael.
He stares at me from across the table with intense blazing eyes. I can hear the sound of children playing next door. He sticks he head out of the window and bellows-“BE QUIET!”
So now the only sound I can hear is the rattling of the airconditioner and the ‘tup tup” sound of the water leaking out of the old cooling machine to form a little puddle on the dark grey mosaic floor. This and the sound of my migraine infested agitated breathing.
“Sit down Sit down” he gestures with his hand as I let myself sink into the musty smelling fake leather upholstered reclining arm chair. Its a bit creaky, not too comfortable but i sit.
“So what is the problem?”-he asks
“my problem is doctor that I have this terrible miserable headache that just will not go away”
“how long have you had it?
“More than a week now doc” I mumble as the monsters continue to hammer on the inner walls of my brain “I feel like somebody is squeezing my temples hard with a large metallic wrench and my brain is collapsing into itself…”
“hmnnnn” says the doctor and rises. He is now waving his arms frantically over and around me in what looks like a badly choreographed martial arts dance, or a man having a mild epileptic seizure.
“Huhn!” I gasp in alarm
“Relax.Nothing to worry.This is Reiki. You Know Reiki? I can feel the negative energy surrounding you. You are under a malicious attack”
“Attack?What attack? Whose attack? I don’t understand….Yes its a migraine attack, I've had it before but never so bad”
“sshhhh…..(some more arm waving and martial arts & then)
“There its gone. You are feeling better now”
“No doc I don’t feel better. Infact this action really startled me & now it’s not only my head but my heart that is hammering too”
“No No-Just relax.I can feel it. Your are feeling better. So tell me your problems” He tells me I should recline further back into his musty smelling couch so I am almost lying down. I obey.
“my problem is doctor that my head feels like its being crushed by a giant rotating boulder and all this churning is making me nauseous too. My brain feels so hot I think its soon going to evaporate”
“No –tell me your real problems” At this moment he begins to lightly tap my face, round the eyes, on the temples…
“tell me about your mother”-tap tap tap
“Uh doc..”
“problems with your father then”- tap tap tap
“any brothers and sisters? –tap tap tap tap
“any childhood problems? Maybe you suffered from lack of love-huh?” the taps are getting harder now & its bothering me
“no doc-I have problems like everybody else, but they are too trivial, and I get along really well with my family so this has nothing to do with that!”
“man trouble then?”
“any problems with sexual intercourse?’
the taps are turning into slaps now & I wince and try to push his hands away
“aah!so did he beat you then? Try to recollect..come on, try hard” slap slap slap
“no doc.Ouch! This is hurting me!”
hes thumping my chest and my abdomen and my sides now
“do you know how to masturbate?”
Ooooops! This is getting really weird and I try to raise myself up.I don’t think I can take it any more. I’m getting a crick in my neck now from the badly designed chair and my teeth are beginning to rattle with the cold blast of the airconditioner..but still under my breath i sing
”Faith Faith Faith-you gotta have Faith Faith Faith”
“Don’t Sing! Just REELLAAAXXX!!” he bellows
“but I sing to relax”
“shhsshhh… Be Serious. RELLAAAX. You are on the right path!”
I am trying to force myself to go through with this but am feeling so tired now I’m almost comatose.I close my eyes and surrender to the thunderous explosions in my brainTaking that as a sign of deep relaxation he announces
“You are ready! Now I will regress you”
“regress me?!! I’m sorry I don’t understand doc”
“yes I will regress you and take you into your past life. Dont worry. I have tried it successfully on 100's of my patients. No complaints.Once I am finished, forget this life, you will not get any headaches in your next life also. Ofcourse if youre really lucky this could be your last life and you would be free”
“But doc. I’m not sure I believe in this past life stuff. Surely we all have enough problems to deal with in this life time. Why go into this past life thing? I mean… what if I discover that I was a really bad person who did many wrong and bad things? What if I was actually not a human being at all but an antelope who was eaten by a scavenging eagle in the hot Sahara dessert? Or maybe I was Marilyn Monroe…or worse what if I discover that I was my Grand Uncles mistress who was actually a prostitute who ran away with the family jewels to give her…”
“Ha Ha Ha. You are a clever girl.You crack funny jokes. You will discover what you want to discover and what you believe or disbelieve is upto you. That my friend is the power of the human mind”
‘Faith Faith Faith-you gotta have Faith Faith faith”
So I’m lying there on the couch. He orders me to keep my eyes fixed on a lightbulb on the ceiling.I don’t realize I’ve started humming again till I hear him snap his fingers-the sound is so loud it sounds like the ominous crack of an angry lashing whip
“I told you don’t sing! Just reeelaaaax. Even I know that fellow. Goerge Michael. The girls in my class were crazy about him. Then they found out he was a homo. Poor chap!
I’m sure past life therapy would work on him….
"DON’T MOVE YOUR EYES FROM THE CEILING & COUNT WITH ME AND REMEMBER EVERYTIME I SNAP MY FINGERS YOU HAVE TO GO ONE NUMBER BACK –SO IF I SNAP MY FINGER AT 46 YOU HAVE TO START COUNTING BACKWARDS FROM 47 AGAIN!”
“47,46,….. 35(SNAP!)36, 35…. 9,(SNAP!)10, 9,8 ….1”
I go through the motions but the head is really bad now, this slapping and tapping and snapping has made it worse. Mercifully I get through the counting without too many mistakes and doc looks pleased.
I am almost passing out while he proceeds to read a badly written grammatically incorrect script from some worn pieces of paper. This goes on for what seems like ever. I am not really listening anymore –too tired,just too tired. This headache is wearing me down.& then I hear his voice
“YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS”
Uh? Did I hear him correctly?
“YES YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS. JUST RREEELLLAAAAX. YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS”
“Commom doc. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m not even a teenager yet let alone being a foetus!”
“YES YES.YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS AND I AM GOING TO REGRESS YOU FURTHER…WE WILL NOW GO INTO YOUR PAST LIFE. STAY WITH ME. WORK WITH ME!”
“but doc…”
“sshhhh! Just reeellaaaax! YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS AND I AM GOING TO TAKE YOU DEEPER AND DEEPER”
Something is brewing in my stomach . I think it’s a cramp and place my hand on my belly. I’m starting to smile –but I’m not sure where its coming from
“DON’T SMILE. DON’T MOVE. JUST REELLLAXXX”
The feeling is moving upwards from my belly now.What I thought was a gas cramp are actually bubbles of laughter. They come out tentatively at first. I let out a few giggles
“DON’T LAUGH! REELLLAAAX! YOU ARE NOW A FOETUS”
The bubbles are exploding through me now, filling my entire being, coursing through my head, no longer muffled and tentative but bold and free. I start to laugh aloud & soon I am laughing so hard I am clutching my stomach and guffawing into the doctors face. I fall to my knees laughing laughing laughing. Tears roll down my cheeks.
“STOP LAUGHING.. PLEASE SIT DOWN…
“because I AM NOW A FOETUS..” I complete the sentence for him, and the surprise on his face makes me laugh even harder. I laugh all the way to the car and through the ride home. My driver looks a bit afraid and hesitantly asks
“madam aap theek tho hain naa? (madam are you allright?)
‘aapka sardard theek ho gaya? (has your headache gone?)”
“yeh foetus foetus kya bol rahe hain?Main kuch samjha nahin. Town mein hai kya? (why are you saying foetus foetus?I don’t understand…Is it a place downtown?)
I assure my driver that I’ve never felt better, still laughing. My sides are hurting with all the laughing but my head feels light and clear
People on the road are staring at me from their cars and at the traffic signals . Some of them are wondering if I'm okay.I give them an ebullient thumbs up.I empty out my wallet to the beggars and street kids on the way home. Some of them stare at me silently while some join me at the signal and laugh with me, pressing their noses on my window
“kya hua didi? Aap itna kyon has rahe hai?
(what happened big sister? Why are you laughing so much?)
“Bas. Mazaa aa gaya. Main foetus ban gayi!”
(nothing happened really. I just had some fun and... I am now a foetus!)
Posted by Suchitra Krishnamoorthi at 03:00 AM | Comments (16)
October 27, 2006
William Blake: Auguries of Innocence
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.
Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.
The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.
He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.
The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.
One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.
He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.
The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
William Blake (1757-1827) was a British writer, artist, mystic, and poet, who is often considered the first of the great English Romantic poets. In 1789, the year of the French Revolution and the Storming of the Bastille, Blake's early masterpieces, The Book of Thel and Songs of Innocence appeared. After that, Blake created "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" (1790-93), "The French Revolution" (1791), "America: A Prophecy" (1793), "Visions of the Daughters of Albion" (1793), the "Songs of Experience" (1793-4), "Europe: A Prophecy" (1794), "The Book of Urizen" (1794), "The Book of Los" (1795), "The Four Zoas" (1795-1804), "Milton" (1804-1809), and "Jerusalem" (1804-1820).
What do you think about The Auguries of Innocence by Blake? What are your thoughts, observations and views.
Do you have some similar favourite poems to share?
With warm wishes
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Posted by DK Matai at 01:06 PM | Comments (22)
October 26, 2006
Larry King Live Show this Saturday
Dear Friends,
I will be speaking on the Larry King Live Show this Saturday - do tune in.
Deepak Chopra and Tom DeLonge
Spiritual guru Deepak Chopra says there's life after death and he knows what its like. Plus, rock star Tom DeLonge. How the Blink 182 member found inspiration in World War II. Plus, Bob Newhart. Tune in Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
Posted by Deepak Chopra at 02:32 PM | Comments (16)
Life After Death, Part 7 - The Invisible Thread
To tell the truth,