While you are waiting

Goddess Uma

While I met my husband when I was just 21, quite a few my fgirl-riends who are now entering their 30's still haven't met their Mr.Right, and society especially Indian society certainly does not make it easier for them, and nor does facebook, with its pictures and pictures of happy couples, exotic holidays and babies.....
I ache and feel for my friends and I wish I could do something to assure them that everything will be fine, and they will meet the right person and they will just know it with each passing day of their lives....and so I wanted to share with my woman friends Meadow Linn's blog, 'Savour the Day', I happened to find Meadow's blog while browsing thorugh her mother, Denise Linn's website (I adore her mother for her book 'Sacred Space').

I identify with Meadow on one common ground, how she lives her life in creative colourful celebration, expressing it through her love for food. Check out her recipes and delicious photos to go with them at the end of each post.....

Most of the times, I can be quite the introspective bear, and I balance that side of me as I process my thoughts and emotions and do something creative and useful with my life no matter what is going on in the background :-) be it with my art-practise, cooking a lovely meal, re-arranging the look of my home, a small kind gesture for a friend, any creative act becomes a source of joy and can transform the initial pain or worries into an acceptance of life's mysteries through the path of creative living. 
Everyone is an artist of life, all my woman friends are great cooks, lovers, sisters, daughters, weaving together the tapestry of life as only a woman can with her intuitive nurturing wisdom that only grows with age.... :-) like a gnarled old tree or fine wine :-)

Marriage has brought with it it's own challenges, and today I read in Dr.Wayne W.Dyer's book, 'You'll see it when you believe it', that, "We often love someone who represents an undeveloped part of ourselves". Now I'm sure this sentence will mean different things to different persons....

take care lovely ladies, my divine Goddesses :-)

love + light
x

Rainbow Blessings

As the last of this season's monsoon showers come to an end, I'm reminded of the beautiful rainbows we were witness to last year. On one such sighting, I remember, the sun was about to go down, and I saw this beautiful wide arc of the rainbow, straight from a children's story book, rising from the horizon in the south-east and descending in the north-east. I was so overjoyed that I immediately started to text some of my closest friends to tell them of it, one of them called me and we stopped doing whatever is it that we were doing and just stood near our windows and balconies admiring this gift from the heavens, breathing in this transient display of of ethereal light, it was hard to belief, here in Bombay! such a beautiful sign!

(The picture above is of another rainbow siting, the one I'm speaking of was a complete arc, even if I could have taken a picture, it would have been only a part of it, as it was so wide!!! from one end of the city to the other..)

Rainbows always feel so magical, they stay in the sky for all of us to see only for a brief period of time, making their appearance all the more special, because we know it won't last, it will change...
it is a simple natural phenomenon really and yet it evokes so much awe and delight....

Personally I love to think of rainbows metaphorically as spiritual lessons or realizations even gifts learned or received after the dark challenges of cloudy days...like a metaphysical treat! :-)
may we all see the 'rainbow' in our cloudy days....

love + light! :-)

A jewel in this ocean of samsara

After having watered my plants I was busy getting on with my day, when while walking across the room, I saw the run-of water caught like a jewel in the leaf. This sudden gift of beauty reminded me of a conversation I had yesterday with a friend who is in the midst of intiating a public arts project ( my best wishes with her). We were discussing about the city, it's extremes, the contrasts, how we all battle with it on a daily basis. I spoke of Thich Nhat Hanh's gatha (verse), "In the garbage I see a rose, in the rose I see garbage...", meaning when you take out the trash you do it with the understanding that a rose can/will come out from it and when you see a rose you know that it too will wilt and turn to garbage.....I was hinting at seeing the contrasts around us, as being impermanent....changing, beauty turning to ugliness, that which is repulsive to beauty...but on reflection while I was alone I realized all this also questions the very meaning of what we consider as beautiful.

It will be interesting for me to see how I view this in future, my own relationship with the city is always changing, I try not to react, but it is there, all the chinks in the system....I try to be the change rather than expecting the city to change around me. I try.

All I know is a seeking mind can find beauty even in the mundane and be uplifted till the next mundane joy comes along.

Love & light!

Towards becoming people of "presence".

Last evening I was at my girl-friend Harsheet's place, and I borrowed from her book-shelf, Dr.Judith Orloff's Guide to INTUITIVE HEALING. I took it along with another book simply thinking it will be good to go through not realizing what powerful statements the doctor makes.

I wanted to share this paragraph for today,

"It's important to grasp that intuitive healing begins with the individual but is not simply personal. we become catalysts for something beyond the self. as we turn to love more and more, we generate energy others can feel. I am talking about "presence," being able to radiate love without saying a word. just standing next to a person with this quality brings enormous comfort. Our goal is to become people of presence. The love each of us generates radiates into the world, expanding ripples on the pond, not limited by time and space. Love has a voice. It has compassionate arms that reach out from you to your family, your community, the globe."

I will leave the message to sink in with no further discussion. For me it confirms so many things I read, felt and knew were true.

Love & light :)

Peace

Never work a day in your life!

Boatman rowing people to Janjeera Fort, Murud, along Konkan coast.

“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
- Confucius.

Recently I bought a book with lovely inspirational quotes and photographs, as a gift for a close friend. After returning from the bookstore when I was leafing through the book myself, on the very first page, I read the above quote. I paused for while, it felt as if it was life was speaking to me, especially now that I have embraced my new artist's life. I thought, how true, if you choose to do what you love then naturally you look forward to it each day. It becomes a play, you think ,“How best you can do this or that?”

Confucius' saying I think also points towards adopting a more positive attitude towards the existing profession we are in, because if we are not doing it with a playful attitude then it certainly becomes a job!

This same fun-filled attitude reminds me of one of my favourite persons, Marie from France. We met in Ladakh and stayed together for nearly three months. When about to try anything new for the first time she would cheerfully say, “It can be fun!" (and these activities could be anything, washing clothes, learning to make rotis and rajma!) I loved this attitude! When she left I felt as if I had learned something important.

So I would say even if you are presently doing something, of which even a small part is not what you like, then you have to ask yourself, if it is only the attitude which must change or perhaps you have to ask yourself a deeper question, what is it that you really want to do ? and then work towards it. Visualizing about it, I would say is the first step, the rest will happen as you take each step towards that goal. I am working on it too.

Love and light!

New Beginnings

Hello everyone :)
I know it has been a while since I blogged but let me not go on about that, what is important is that i'm writing again :) Well, I hope this time has been fruitful for everyone, in relation to the individual life-lessons we are all here to learn.

This month brings big changes for me. First of all I finally left my job at the art gallery - The Guild. Now that I've done so, it becomes clear that leaving Guild was really about commitment, to accepting that, yes, I truly want to be and live as an artist. My learning at Guild had come to its end. Presently, I'm taking each day as it comes, visiting artist-friends and sharing our works and thoughts, and most of all I finally moved into my new home which is really just a cozy flat, that I will also double up as a studio for my art-practise. I could not be more grateful to the Universe for revealing to me what path I must choose.
Surprsinlgy I am not afraid, not having a structure to my day like I did when I was working, each day I try to complete one task or a part of it, for instance, getting my kitchen to be functional, putting a few ferns in my balcony....our home is still all bare and Rigzin, my husband has yet to see it, but I'm putting my energy into it, vibration after vibration :)

I will post more about my experience at home/studio and around me soon.

Love and light and wishing you all the most romantic monsoons! :)

Making that Quantum Leap

'Leap of Faith' by Laurel Schwartz.

Have you ever had the experience, where, for no particular reason, you kept hearing a word or a particular phrase in your head and you didn’t really know why? and then when you were least expecting it, someone mentions it to you or you read it in a book or a magazine without having made a conscious effort to know its meaning or significance. Déjà vu anyone? You see, for a while now I’ve been hearing, ‘quantum leap’ in my head. My first strong memory/ association of it is from a passage in Susanne F.Fincher’s book, 'Creating Mandalas'.

“Early Buddhists established the belief that there are two planes of existence, two absolutely different worlds, between which there is no communication......one world is our familiar reality in which karma operates, and which is forever dying and being born again. The other world is nirvana, which is reached by a quantitative leap when karma, and the force which derives from it, is stopped or suppressed. This is accomplished when, through cognition and living experience, it is realized that the universe is “solely a becoming a flux” (Tucci, 1961:3). This arrests the momentum of the karmic process, and makes possible the leap into nirvana."
- Excerpt from ‘Creating Mandalas’ for insight, healing and self-expression by Susanne F.Fincher.

On reading this I had an aha! moment....I had never understood (on an intellectual level of course) how one could go from one's present mental state to that of total enlightenment (still a long...long way for me).

Nirvana or no nirvana, what has stayed embedded in my head is the phrase, ‘quantum leap', it has become my newest mantra (if I have'nt slipped into my old habbit-patterns....again!) towards reaching a goal however mundane or cherished! You can say I am able to trick my mind into doing things it would otherwise take ages to accomplish.

For example, if I say to myself during my saddhana/yoga practise, especially in a difficult pose, or one in which in which I'm trying to push my boundaries, that, I’m going to 'make that quantum leap', than I do! Which means there is hope for us mere mortals.........
by way of a quantum leap :)

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While surfing the internet for an inspiring image to go with this post I stumbled upon artist Laurel Schwartz ’s site. I love it that her paintings seem like personal mandalas as she does them intuitively, being guided by her higher self. These are my words but do read her artist statement :)

Love & light!
Om

Balance the Universe

Too loud and we are not heard.
Too bright and we are not seen.
Too fancy and we are hidden.
Too much and we are obscured.
Let speaking come from deep within, from the quiet place.
Let silence speak.
Listen for silence.
Hear the sound between words.
Be patient and attentive.
It is the surface that is apparent.
Give time for depth to find depth.
During each moment, balance the universe.


The Tao of Relationships
Ray Grigg


Love & Light !

Solitary Delights!

Have you ever felt completely at ease with yourself when alone at home? even though a part of you wished that everyone hadn’t gone out? Have you ever travelled alone at some time and felt refreshed with the new perspective that came with it?

The stretch of time alone can be a few moments, for example, stepping into the kitchen when you have many guests at home or it could be longer, such as a walk by yourself, or, an or even a month or more of travelling alone.

Is there a bit of a hermit in all of us? I suppose in varying degrees, yes. I’m certainly not anti-social but spending quiet time alone for me is like food and water....there are days when even though I’m having a relaxed day with my husband, by evening, I simply tie up my shoe-laces and say, “Alright, Im going out for a walk” ^_^ and I return refreshed, calmer and with new insight.

Increasingly, I’m enjoying my time apart from Rigzin (he is from Ladakh and is currently engaged in projects for the national television network there). I miss him especially on Sundays but gradually I see this theme changing, I feel happier as I am looking forward to fulfilling new art projects, even this blog has become an affirmation of positive living and sharing ! ^_^

A chat with my yoga teacher the other day helped me to realise and accept that I like being alone! at least for some part of the day...... for instance, after a long day at the gallery I like to have a coffee by myself, (at the Barista ,near Regal cinema ) ....I don’t usually read books in cafes, although a magazine or newspaper is more welcome. Then I like to walk to the station! yup! that’s a long walk! from Colaba (Radio club to Churchgate station) but it frees my mind...I look at the art-deco buildings, the sky, notice something I had’nt noticed before....mmmm...I think one can enjoy the company of people more if one can be alone and at ease with one’s self. Or better still when one when is alone, you will find, in between the thoughts which are constantly flowing, you stop and notice what is happening in(side) and around you. This "pausing", and for a while not giving all our “daily tasks” too much importance can only add more depth and meaning to our lives ^_^

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Pictures from my wanderings ^_^

A pond inside Bhandavgarh National park (forest), Madhya Pradesh, the heart of India. This was such a peaceful spot when we came upon it, and I remember we spotted a crested serpent eagle perched on a branch. The solitude of this serene place reaches out to you even through the picture...sigh!!!




Tea by myself. Imagine finding Hongkong style tea on the menu in Beijing and it is exactly like the stronlgy brewed black tea sweetened with milk and sugar (kadak chai, Bombay style!) that we drink in Bombay! ^_^ truly, a solitary delight! ^_^

One of the pleasures of travelling in trains in Bombay when there are hardly any people is you can put your feet up and relax as the breeze rushes in through the open windows...everyone does it...one of the many many interesting things about Bombay.... ^_^

Pink! Imagine my delight when I hopped into this pink rickshaw ^_^ .....one more solitary delight!

Evening tea with crackers.... ^_^

Saw this adorable Tom-cat outside a fancy light-fixtures store in Kalaoghoda, just besides the resaurant, Khyber Pass.

The pleasure of observing the evening sky turn gold and pink while walking across Oval maidan (maidan means an open area to play in/ have outdoor activities).

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Lastly, Poems of Solitary Delights by Tachibana Akemi (Edo period, Japan), I love the poems' honesty, and simple wonder of the natural world. Although, it may seem it is about a person who was a poet and a painter of long ago, when I read it for the first time it had an wonderful effect on me, I laughed and smiled....so true , I said.... as I identified with some verses. ^_^ Read on and see which verse you identify with...ha ha.... ^ ^

Tachibana Akemi

Poems of solitary delights.

What a delight is

when on the bamboo matting

in my grass-thatched hut,

all on my own,

I make myself at ease.

What a delight it is

when, borrowing
rare writings from a friend,

I open out
the first sheet.

What a delight it is
when, after a hundered days

of racking my brains,

that verse that would’nt come

suddenly turns out well.

What a delight it is

when of a morning,

I get up and go out

to find in full bloom a flower

that yesterday was not there.

What a delight it is

when, skimming through the pages

of a book, I discover a man written of there

who is just like me.

What a delight it is

when everyone admits

its a difficult book,

and I understand it

with no trouble at all.

What a delight it is

when I blow away the ash,

to watch the crimson

of the glowing fire

and hear the water boil.

What a delight it is

when a guest you cannot stand,

arrives, then says to you

‘I’m afraid I can’t stay long,’

and soon goes home.

What a delight it is

when I find a good brush,

steep it hard in water,

lick it on my tongue

and give it its first try.

*

Love & light!

Rumi and the inner voice.

Pale sunlight,

pale the wall.

Love moves away.

The light changes.

I need more grace

than I thought.
- Rumi

"The Essential Rumi" compiled and translated by Coleman Barks and published by HarperSanFrancisco (1994).

Picture: from SUFI Expressions of The Mystic Quest by Laleh Bakhtiar, one of my fav books to go through as of now for the pictures as well as the text.

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What if something is bothering you? Can you accept your limitations as you blurt you are cracking while keeping appearances under pressure? How dignified do you feel with your straight face since you do not fool yourself? You know you do not feel good inside.
During such times, I try to think things through, to pause. Even though I may be pensive or melancholic, rays of compassion from somewhere touch me or if nothing else, the emotional pain gradually subsides. In the aftermath Goenkaji’s words always ring true, “It is ephemeral, this too shall pass away”. And I feel so foolish for amplifying every word and action in my mind.

Today suddenly it came to me, Rumi’s words, "Pale sunlight,
pale the wall...need more grace than I thought" - one of my favourite verses.
Also this thought, “The seeds you sow today are the fruits of tomorrow”.

I'm sure you identify with answers such as these which just pop up in your heart/mind, calming you down, reassuring you, reminding you to stay on a higher vibration so that even though you waver you regain your balance and simply walk on.


Love +light