I see so much reaction all around me. Loud and violent. People are getting louder and louder. They speak loudly, they fight more, laugh loudly, hug and kiss publically or scream loudly. I wonder why are we being so unkind to ourselves? Loudness leads to stress, blood pressure shots up, heart beats increase and toxic chemicals flow into the blood stream. So many and such loud reactions.....Why? What for?
Have you ever noticed the child like smile of His Holy Highness "The Dalai Lama"...so sweet...so tender...he speaks like an innocent child...every sentence ends in a genuine crackling soft laughter!!!Always at peace within himself. Nothing is exaggerated about him.Even the killings of beloved Tibetans did not draw a harsh criticism from him. Nothing can shatter his peace of mind....so I think.
Shri SaiBaba (Shirdi) once said "Samadhi is not about yoga or retreating from the world on a mountain. Samadhi is about remaining in the world and attaining a state of mind where one is neither happy nor unhappy. It is that state where the mind is still like a pendulum....right in the middle."
But what do we do? Our mind keeps swinging like a pendulum. Between happiness and unhappiness...continuously ...every second...every minute...we get extremely happy and then extremely unhappy...there goes the pendulum.
It is all about restraint and controlling our reactions. Remember a pendulum next time you become too happy or to unhappy...And think of the center of the pendulum. Calm your self. Remember the pendulum as still..right in the middle. Tell your self....."..there goes my pendulum...I must stop it..."
"People keep throwing hot balls at us. They expect us to catch one of them and burn our hands. Surprise them by dropping these hot balls." - is my mantra to peace and happiness.
One does not have to react to everything that happens around us. Learn to let go reacting. Remember every time you react/over react; you are doing maximum harm to yourself. Be kind to yourself. Take it easy.
Showing posts with label samadhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samadhi. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Striking a balance
There are times while meditating, I manage to reach strange depths within my self. An unknown zone of existence in my mind and conscience. I am lost somewhere deep within myself cut off from the external world. It is a divine experience. Complete bliss. Those who have experienced deep meditation will understand or appreciate my words. I manage to cut through the noise and clutter of outside world. When I gradually open my eyes after meditation......for the first few seconds my mind is lost. It fails to connect with the outside world. It tries to establish a connect with the outside physical world. Naming things, recognising people, establishing a context. Slowly the pleasant effect of meditation starts fading away. It all comes back. Work, money matters, society and various pressures of our contemporary human existence start taking control like the tentacles of an Octopus. The peace and quite which I had found during meditation vapourises. One thought echoes in my mind "Welcome back to the insanity of human existence!!!!"
I become a mixed bag of human emotions. Angry one second, happy next and again sad the third second. And so the pendulum of emotions keeps oscillating. Coping with life and the demands made upon me by the outside world. No grudge as far as the demands are concerned. The world has a right to make demands on me. I am obliged to meet their requirements. This is my Niyat Karma (Destined Karma I am born with). But yes, the noise and the clutter of the external world irritates me. I crave for the peace and the quite inside me. Sounds of joy, chatter of family members, the birds and breeze, Small children crying or laughing, people chanting prayers, soothing music....all good but still noise.Traffic, people screaming and shouting, making demands, fighting with each other...all bad again noise.
Given my wordly commitments and responsibilities it is not possible to remain in a state of meditation at all times. The dilemma is whether to seek the depths within myself which requires me to cut off from the outside world or to give up the quest for self and focus only on the outside world? I feel like a Pilot who is flying a plane at 30,000 feet above the ground with a few hundred pasengers on board. Even if the poor fellow has a sudden urge to quit his job and leave the plane, he is bound not to do so. He is bound by a sense of responsibility to fly the plan to a safe destination. We are all seeking to fly our planes to the safe destinations. As helpless as the pilot. Forced to give up the self needs and focus on those we feel responsible about, willing or unwilling.
It is all about making the choices. Religious teachers say "strike a balance", corporate trainers say, "work-life balance", saints call it a state of "Samadhi". But how do I attain it? Is it really possible for anyone to attain a state of "Samadhi" in the physical form of exisitence? Remain bonded to the external world and yet strike a balance between the self and the outside world. Is giving up one of the two the only way to attain peace?. As did Mother Teresa; loosing the self completely in serving the outside world or as did Lord Buddha; loosing the outside world completely and retreating deep within oneself?
But then even that is not a balance!!!!
I become a mixed bag of human emotions. Angry one second, happy next and again sad the third second. And so the pendulum of emotions keeps oscillating. Coping with life and the demands made upon me by the outside world. No grudge as far as the demands are concerned. The world has a right to make demands on me. I am obliged to meet their requirements. This is my Niyat Karma (Destined Karma I am born with). But yes, the noise and the clutter of the external world irritates me. I crave for the peace and the quite inside me. Sounds of joy, chatter of family members, the birds and breeze, Small children crying or laughing, people chanting prayers, soothing music....all good but still noise.Traffic, people screaming and shouting, making demands, fighting with each other...all bad again noise.
Given my wordly commitments and responsibilities it is not possible to remain in a state of meditation at all times. The dilemma is whether to seek the depths within myself which requires me to cut off from the outside world or to give up the quest for self and focus only on the outside world? I feel like a Pilot who is flying a plane at 30,000 feet above the ground with a few hundred pasengers on board. Even if the poor fellow has a sudden urge to quit his job and leave the plane, he is bound not to do so. He is bound by a sense of responsibility to fly the plan to a safe destination. We are all seeking to fly our planes to the safe destinations. As helpless as the pilot. Forced to give up the self needs and focus on those we feel responsible about, willing or unwilling.
It is all about making the choices. Religious teachers say "strike a balance", corporate trainers say, "work-life balance", saints call it a state of "Samadhi". But how do I attain it? Is it really possible for anyone to attain a state of "Samadhi" in the physical form of exisitence? Remain bonded to the external world and yet strike a balance between the self and the outside world. Is giving up one of the two the only way to attain peace?. As did Mother Teresa; loosing the self completely in serving the outside world or as did Lord Buddha; loosing the outside world completely and retreating deep within oneself?
But then even that is not a balance!!!!
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