Spring diary

Hello everyone :)

Have you noticed any trees around your neighbourhood which are in full bloom? Don't you just love the bright colours of spring? the thing that fascinates me the most is the sight of a tree completely dry, devoid of leaves, fully crowned with fragrant flowers!

This Sunday I took a walk in Aarey and the path-ways were lined with fallen blossoms, makes you wish the rest of the city was kept that way...

Now, a little bit of what I've been upto, last June-July, I'd enrolled for the Post Graduation course in Buddhist studies at K.J.Somaiya Centre for Buddhist studies . One of my teachers whom I have grown to love and adore, Mrs. Sharda Sanghvi suggested I try the Pali language class (Diploma) and before I knew it I was studying both!

It has since been an amazing journey, and I wish to keep studying, exploring....
I'm grateful to Mrs. Sanghvi for putting me onto Pali, without which my studies would have been incomplete.

If your wondering, Pali is an ancient Indian language, older than classical sanskrit. The Buddha taught in Pali and majority of the Buddhist texts are preserved in it. Hence, its importance.

At present, I'm studying for my exams, just got over with Pali and I have four more papers to give (Buddhist studies), so wish me luck! :)

I wish to leave you with these pictures of Lotuses I took during my last vipassana course at Dhamma Pattana, Gorai. They inspire me towards my goals :)

Love + light!

Buddha Purnima, May 27th, 2010 at the Global Vipassana Pagoda

We had our first showers yesterday and it was wonderful to feel the cool breeze and see children playing in the rain. The weather has much improved since the auspicious day of May 27th, Buddha Purnima Day, weather department said it was the hottest day in May in the last 5 years!

I remember everyone in the Pagoda fanning themselves with whatever piece of paper they had with them, but spiritually, the day was wonderful! Thousands of meditators gathered at the Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai. One could truly feel the pure vibrations of dhamma in the air :) (dharma, Pali)

On this day Guruji Goenka unveiled a 21 feet high statue of Gautama Buddha, a gift from the Government of Myanmar (Burma). The Buddha's golden robes shone brightfully in the sunlight and the extreme humidity was made bearable by Goenkaji's teaching on the dhamma.

Here are a few pictures from that day :)

From a distance the Pagoda ressembles a golden bell placed on the horizon :) To reach the island of Gorai on which the Pagoda is built one needs to take a ferry either from Malad-Marve Beach or Gorai Jetty (Borivali).

The interior of the dome is purely functional, serving only as a hall for meditation. While being seated I like the sight of a few pigeons who have managed to get in, as they fly across from one niche to another under the great dome. I also like the Dhamma wheel depicted in gold, the only adornment at the top-centre of the dome.

The Large entrances have a beautiful slanted arching shape. Due to the sheer scale, if you happen to go out and then return, it takes a good deal of looking around to find your seat !! :)

The Pagoda is still not fully complete and each time I visit, I'm delighted to see some new developments. I liked this juxtapositioning of an unfinished part and the rich gold-yellow of the Pagoda.

The Pagoda glowing in the intense evening sun.

The 21 ft high statue of Gautama Buddha, gifted by the government of Myanmar (Burma). People were really happy with the smiling presence of the Buddha :)

An elderly monk descending towards the jetty at the end of the day.

You may watch Guruji unveling the Buddha's statue here

If you wish to visit the Pagoda, or if you are visiting Esselworld do drop by as it is on the same island. You can get more information at their website.

Wishing you a good week :)

and good rains!!!

Love + light!

The Shrine-room

Lately, I’ve been thinking of the symbolism and spiritual significance of a shrine. Often, when I’m reading a book, the word will surface, highlighting a different association or meaning of the word, thereby sparking off new brain-waves! :)

We are all too familiar with shrines, being in a deeply spiritual land. Personally, I think of a shrine as a physical as well as a mental space, where your inner-self retreats to, where you can still the muddy waters of your heart-mind. Physically, this space can be a meditation hall/room or even a cell, similarly a prayer hall/room. I also see the shrines in which we place an image or a sculpture of our personal/family deity as symbolic of the shrine within us. As if the shrine outside has a corresponding or parallel space within - a space where our higher-self resides.

Coming to the title of this post, I knew the shrine-room was the working-title for my current works after I exprienced an "aha!" moment, while reading it in venerable monk Sangharakshita’s book, Living with Kindness. :)

Love + light!
Happy Weekend :D

P.S: To Old Vipassana Meditators- Guruji S.N.Goenka will impart metta and discourse at Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai as part of a one-day dhamma seminar on May 27th, call and register in advance, get their number from the Pagoda's website.
Be Happy! :)

Spring, Igatpuri: 2 day self-course.

Last weekend I attended a two day self-course for old vipassana students at Dhammagiri, the Vipassana Meditation centre in Igatpuri. It is hard to believe that two days of turning your attention within can bring about so much peace and change in one's life. I feel better, renewed and I couldn't have gone at a better time, even though temperatures have been hovering around 35 degrees celsisus. There were beautiful flowering trees and the birds twittered and babbled from dawn till dusk :)

Igatpuri was where it all began for me, and it is a pleasure to return each time. As I grow older, I now appreciate more things, for example like being able to meditate in a peaceful environment where the meditation hall is kept ready for you much before you have entered, where the paths are swept of fallen leaves each day, where your meals are lovingly served, and teachers watch and listen patiently to everyone, over 200 women in each course and as many number of men too.

It was delightful to be in the midst of nature, walking past well kept flower-beds from the meditaion hall to one's room. You open your door and you are outside :) Sorely miss that in a flat.

Its funny how as you get older you look forward to hours of meditation and then listening to the discourses at the end of the day. The mind due to its conditioning isn't very helpful but expereience tells you otherwise and you know how much you will learn and enjoy the spoken wisdom after you have put in your practise for the day :) (theory and practise should go hand in hand- Goenkaji's words).

Here are a few photos I took of place before and after the course. Hope you enjoy :)

Walking area for women.

Imposing mountain facing Igatpuri Vipassana Centre

View of the mountains as one walks out of the meditaion centre.

Near the main gate is the recently erected replica of the Ashoka stambha.

As you enter you pass through the elegant Myanmar gate, which reminds one of the story of how the teaching of Vipassana was lost to India but was preserved in Burma, from where it returned to India after 2,500 years and then spread to the world.

love + light!

Have a lovely weekend!

Lotuses of the Floating World

An installation of hundreds of paper lotuses made in origami style.

Kalaghoda Arts Festival 2010,
Horniman Circle Garden
6-14 February
10.00 a.m – 10.00 p.m

At last this Saturday I will be able to see a wish fulfilled, hundreds of lotuses planted in the earth. This will be my first time showing in Bombay and I'm happy to begin this way, in the open, in a garden (I'm a complete nature person). So if you are anywhere near Horniman Circle Garden between the 6th and the 14th do drop by anytime between 10.00 a.m and 10.00 p.m. I plan to teach how to fold these beautiful lotuses. There will be plenty of other events too.

About the installation.
The lotus is a leitmotif in my work, for what it symbolizes and its metaphysical associations. My art-practise runs parallel to my own journey on the path of dharma. It is an earnest effort where I not only read but have a practise to support it (Vipassana mainly). This installation is a three dimensional extension of being on the path.

About the choice of medium.

I am attracted to the organic and fragile nature of paper and yet it can be quite durable. I like the idea of sculpting something out of it, origami is one way to explore this.

About the core message.

When I first learned to make to these lotuses I was filled with an urge to see them in an undulating mass, over a lawn, maybe. Through this installation I want to say to people, look, you don't have to go to some far away village to witness a pond or a lake filled with beautiful lotuses, to witness a lotus all you need to do is take a square piece of paper, sit quietly and fold. Opening its petals to full bloom is like awakening to the Buddha nature inside.

I compare this act to creating an island of refuge within ourselves where you can return to from time to time. We all live in a densely populated city and there are no lotus ponds near us, but still there is hope, human imagination can transform a mere piece of paper into a lotus flower, an absolute symbol of enlightenment. That is my message, no matter how bad the situation, one can find ways to find a balance, to create beauty and true peace in our lives.

Gratitude
Lastly, one post is not enough to thank my family and friends for their love and support. Yogeeta, Sanhdya, Harsheet you have really been there for me. Yogs thanks for all the help and designing my card. Sandhya for listening to me with all my updates on the progress I was making, Harsheet, I know you don't like thank you's but here it is, I appreciate it all. Behzad for being there while I installed and dismantled and largely for just being you, Nyela thanks dear for the lovely mornings at the garden, Himanshu for suggesting the venue, and my dear friend Sarita too. This project has been like waiting for a empty stretch of land to collect rain and then burst in lotus bloom.

Love + light!

P.S: there is a place where white lotuses bloom in the rains :) and where there are humans there is plastic! and yet the lotus grows above it all :))

The way of the artist

In a few days from today, I will be putting up an art installation as part of the annual Kalaghoda Arts Festival, the details of which I will post next.

Being a vipassana meditator my on-going project made me think very much of the attitude and intention of an artist. While reflecting I remembered Gurji Geonkaji's words,

" A balanced mind is very necessary. But a stage where you are totally free from ego, where the ego is totally dissolved, takes a long time. When one has reached the stage of anagami, then at the depth of the mind the ego has significantly melted away and at the stage of arahant there is no ego at all.

But for ordinary Vipassana meditators, at least they have to make sure that they have started dissolving their egos. Any artist who is pratcising Vipassana properly will see a big change in her field of art whatever it may be. The art shold be pure in the sense that it will never be used to arouse passion in the minds of others, anger or hatred. With the practise of Vipassana she will become a better artist wit the effect that through the medium of art one will be able to give people a sense of peace and harmony. One has to judge wether this wholesome direction is developing or not."
Guruji S.N.Goenkaji.

From time to time I find myself returning to these words of Guruji and often I have not been sure if I understood at the experiential level, neither did I know if my art could in someway convey a feeling of peace and harmony to people. I have never consciously tried to alter or filter my work ever but if my upcoming installation does bring delight to people then I think I came a hair-breadth of a hair-breadth closer to what Guruji is talking about.

May more and more people get a glimpse of pure dharma :)
love + light!

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

Re-visiting Igatpuri - Vipassana, insight meditation.

The view from where my room was. A detail of the bell which was rung to call for meditation and meal times taken in the morning. From here one could see the sun rise over the distant hills like a dome. It filled your being with gladness. A perfect way to begin the day. ^_^

The bell in the pavillion, the architecture is in Burmese style.

View of the entrance to the Pagoda. At the top are little wind-bells which tinkle most beautifully in the wind. I have taken these pictures when the sun has'nt completely come up yet. By noon the gold of the pagoda shines brilliantly against the blue sky

Letting it all sink in, sharing the dhamma. (dharma)I've just returned from a ten day course of Vipassana meditation. Although this is my fifth time, it feels as if the work has only now begun. True, the earlier courses did help me, I derived much benefit from it. I used to suffer from migraines, and I mean suffer! but from the time I did my first sitting, gradually the migraines lost their intensity and faded away. Of course, the meditation is not meant only for those with migraines or serious emotional and mental issues. With Vipassana, that is something that just happens once you start practising , all these psychosomatic illnesses start going away.

About the courseNow, what is Vipassana meditation? The word Vipassana means insight, to look at things in a special way, from as many points of view. This technique of meditation was discovered and taught by the historical Buddha 2,500 years ago. Please read the official site to get better and more accurate information, I am after all only a student. http://www.dhamma.org/

Experience of other meditators.

While surfing the internet, I found much to my pleasant surprise plenty of blog-posts by first-time vipassana meditators, most having done the course while travelling in India or abroad. While doing so I found out that Alanis Morisette wrote the song, 'Thank You' afetr finishing her first course, vow! now I know the reason to the lyrics, I had always wondered about the song, hmmmm... I am posting links below but bewarned each one's experience is unique although everyone agrees it is beneficial in the end.http://www.adventureguide.com/articles/Vipassana.htm
http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-138927.html http://lifecoachesblog.com/2008/01/07/thai-sojourn-vipassana-part-1/

A basic sketch of the ten days
When you join the course you for 10 days, you are asked to take five precepts, (no intoxicants, no stealing,....) which will strenghten your sila, (pali language at Buddha's time in India)that is morality. This is essential to the practise. You also refrain from speaking to your co-meditators for nine days. Of course you may speak with the teachers regarding the technique or the management if you need anything. All this has a good reason which becomes clear as you go deeper into your practise and the practise requires you to go very deep indeed. Take my word for it. On the ninth day you can talk as much you like and make friends with everyone. ^_^

Next for three and a half days you will practise samadhi, that is concentration, mastery over the mind. What is the tool with which you will practise? your breath, natural breath, for this is universal.

By the fourth day, now that your mind has become sharper and concentrated you practise Vipassana, which means you observe the sensations on your body wether pleasant or unpleasant and remain aware and equanimous. No one becomes a master Vipassana medtitator in a ten days course but you are taking the first step on the path to liberation.

By practsing Vipassana, you are developing wisdom from your own experience since none one can help you but yourself. Vipassana is a non-sectarian practise and anyone can do it without giving up their own faith or beliefs. It is a universal practise. In my own experience I have seen people from all denominations of life at the course. I find this experience hugely good for my ego. It brings me straight back to earth. In everyday life we tend to separarte ourselves from those we don't want to mix with. But here we are meditating with Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Old people, young people, the rich, the poor, people from different counries, everyone, we are kind to all. Everyone is treated equally.

On the last day you break your silence. Before that, you learn a new meditation, metta-bhavana, where you share your goodwill with all beings.Each course after metta and breaking silence, my eyes glisten, as if my heart is melting. One has to see for oneself the joy on everyone's faces. ^_^

~~~~~~~~~~~

The reason why I am writing in such detail about my ten days is because I feel a great need to share this technique with others. So that it may help others as well. There is nothing mysterious or complicated about Vipassana. The teaching is so clear , it is as if you can see straight to the bottom of the lake. But the first dip in the waters only you can take.

Usually I shy from mentioning about Vipassana knowing people may not want to make a committment of any sort let alone give the technique a fair trial. But there are thousands who have done so and onl for the better of it. Come see for yourself. Do a course some time in your life. The Bodhi seed is there in all of us. ^_^

My own resolve
We have been so conditioned to look and see outside of ourselves that it is impossible to understand a life where after dinner instead of watching T.V for an hour which although may be entertaining we can instead medtitate, that too a practise which will help change our habbit patterns.

One has to have to have strong determination if one wants to bring a change in one's life. With continued effort it can be done. I intend to do so without losing heart. If I do happen to miss an hour of sitting in morning or evening , due to travel or any other reason, never mind I pick up and start again. Always the middle path, no extremes. ^_^

Love & light !
In the words of Goenkaji,
May you be happy! May you be liberated! ^_^

Additional linksVipassana introduced in Tihar Jail, Documentary "Doing Time Doing Vipassanahttp://www.dhamma.org/en/av/dtdv.shtml
modern medicine/health and vipassanahttp://indiahealthtour.com/alternative_healing/meditation.html