Seema said ” You have it all hence have the luxury of search for self and soul. Its sad that even discovery to self is a usually a pursuit of the rich and famous because after they have it all they realize that there is still a feeling of emptiness that no amount of money can fill. Whereas, a common man is too busy making both ends meet to indulge in soul searching.”
You are right Seema, when you say ” the rich and the famous …… feel an emptiness that no amount of money can fill”. No one can disagree with that.
But faith too is a means of discovery of the self, as are prayer, ritual and pilgrimages. All are yearnings to find that part of you that is not wedded to the material. One that can transcend life and death. and all those yearnings are certainly not a preserve of the rich and famous. But I also agree, if you are idle, then your search can become an indulgence.
I have been grappling with these issues since I was 10, and perhaps before. I never saw Mathematics as I was taught it, but as a play of numbers where the answers would have to come before the problem. I always failed ! I could never comprehend Physics in a world that could not explain the concept of ‘forever’ and ‘infinity’ to me. I am still doing that, through faliure and success, through constant ups and downs of wealth and relative poverty. This search has been a constant.
Your question has got me thinking. Is this blog an indulgence – an idle indulgence ? Some of my friends think so too – but to me, if I could not afford a computer, I would search out people that have the same questions and talk to them. Through this blog I can reach out to many at the same time, and see what everyone else says.
I dream of day when I can just walk way into the Himlayas and forever wander looking for those reclusive spirits that have spent a lifetime searching for their selves. I guess that is an indulgence, but would that yearning not exist in what you call a ‘common man’ ? Do ‘common people’ as you call them, not go in search, even to the local temple ?
Hi Shekhar,
I don’t know if you read these comments or not but I am just posting this because I am inspired by your thoughts.
Who am I? Perhaps this is the only question life really throws at us. Maybe all our endeavors are, one way or another, directed at it.I try to figure out who I am actually, and every time I do some introspection the answer I get is different – I am a son
– I am a brother
– I am a human being
– I am an Indian
– I am a Hindu
– I am a son
Because I have parents
– I am a brother
Because my parents have another son
– I am a human being
Because so are my parents
– I am an Indian
Because I was born in India
– I am a Hindu
Because I was born in Hindu family
So Who am I?
The country where I was born, the family in which I was born, the religion my family follows – Do they define who I am? If yes, then I have not done anything to be what I am.
I am what I think I am, or my thinking is too shallow to define me. Or is it the shallow thinking that keeps me away from the chakravyuh of life and makes my life so simple.
everyone is searchingfor something, either within – who am i really, behind this mask of roles i play as father, brother, son, male – or without – success, pleasure, purpose…love
it is the mind that searches; but it is the heart that finds the goal
Self ,Soul Searching
Interesting …
Think carefully …
Why, common people visit temple or religious places ?
Why, person who is above daily/regular worries, celebrities, rich and famous visit temple or religious places ?
Try to think little different to find roots, differences …
Hungry stomach can’t pray
Self ,Soul Searching
That observation seems like one of the pet popular perceptions being passed around blindly. A simple search on the Self realized people as popular knowledge suggests shows none of them to be of wealthy backgrounds. Take Ramana Mahirshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj or any of the recent centuries’ true Masters. Most lived on the brink of basic existence.
The desire to search and Self-recognise does not differentiate between economic divides. It is as non-judgmental and basic as any other basic need. The way it expresses itself through people may appear to vary.
Shekhar, what is indulgence ? really. One man’s passion is another’s indulgence and to another the only way of living isnt it?. There is no other way to be but what you already are. why attach labels to it?
well said Shekhar.
I call my spiritual search, as part time spiritual search as i have to work full time to support my needs.
It is a luxary i indulge in once in a while and then try to co- exit with my reality.
Good Morning Shekhar
.
I a human, strings I attach or are attached to me…to make me feel where I stand, what i am, who I am(which I feel is a farce)etc
.
Me Born to complete the journey between birth and death thats all I know…in this journey to feel to dream to achieve yet feel this is not what I was meant to do or be…
.
Kabhi kabhi sabkuch hokar bhi kuch nahi hota
.
Kabhi kabhi kuch na hokar bhi sabkuch ho jaata hai
.
I missed the previous posts…they are good
.
Have a ROckIn Day
Discovering ones self is a luxury??? I never thought of it that way.
Certainly to the poor man on the street, one cannot talk spirituality specially when he struggles for his daily food.In that sense it is. However who ever thought its only for the rich and famous? In fact the common man is so untouched by intellectual garbage that its so easy for them to turn within.
Discovering yourself is eventually everyones goal in life- its just a matter of doing it in this lifetime or another 1000 lifetimes.
My replies to the blog is certainly an idle indulgence. Its not going to take me one step closer to my goal. Nor is it going to take you. Some times wonder why I am writing….
Shekhar, you do not need to go to the Himalayas in search of enlightened beings- they also live amongst us.
Writing, reading and gaining knowledge is not going to take you any where Shekhar. Infact the more U accumulate, the more furthur away you are. If you are truly seeking, find yourself a living master. Did u read the Alchemist? If U really want some thing so bad, no force in the universe can deny it to U.
And U R post also mentioned rituals being part of seeking. Really? Rituals and Spirituality seem poles apart…………..
We think Ramana or Nisargadatta to be poor because we do not know the whole story of their lives which certainly spans many lifetimes. They must have transcended the wealth in their previous lives.
There are rare people who repeat the whole cycle of growing/evolving from poverty to richness to again going beyond and attain spiritual goal in one life time but they will mostly be unknown, because if they were not they could not have gotten disentangled from each stage so easily.
Buddha in one life showed both being rich and going beyond and attaining self-knowledge.
relative poverty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i like your funny side …it’s more interesting than …………philosophical side
Ah but the rich and famous have the luxury of deciding thier search has not come to an end yet and can continue to navel gaze until the cows comes home. Perhaps it will never come to an end. How deliciously self indulgent is that?
The “common folk” (how I hate that term, but I am that too so perhaps I truly am common) must search quickly, efficiently and perhaps imperfectly. They have to declare imperfect goals imperfectly met and do have to move on to the daily grind.
The enjoyment or indulgence of the great spiritual search is bound by the process and quality of the search. So are a common man’s time efficient forays into spirituality, as enjoyable as the same experience to to those with the leisure and resources to navel gaze and to consider it a task indefinately in progress.
I think not. I never enjoyed being hurried along while I ate my dinner.
Whatever we call it, indulgence, spiritual search, art, quest, it exists. And we cannot run away from it, no mater what. If I am sitting in a jail tomorrow, I will still pray, wont i?
It is mans inherent nature to look for the source. Every single one of us is a seeker, all of us one day have to go back where we came from.
I mostly consider myself lucky that I am conscious of the seeking, as it takes me to higher planes of being.
But frankly, there is no choice, and that is what makes it so so beautiful, so there!
All questions have answers within the person but at the same time nature has its own process.
Is it possible to know all answers – I doubt.
Nature never permits score 100/100.
It is an evolution to ascend to the level of a seeker from that of a materialist. Most of the great sages have gone through the pinnacles of material success in past lives. The common man’s time has not come to transcend. His indulgence is needed to keep the machine going. Only a few ascend to the deepest levels and merge with the paramatma in a given time period. As Ramana Maharshi puts it, when the sun rises only a few buds blossom.
When the actual process starts, all this philosophy and speculation will go out the door. The demands of self-realization are not to be taken lightly.
And, this very dilemma was perfectly addressed during vedic times and the existence of a benevolent caste system. All the Kings and Kshatriyas, however wealthy and powerful, would bow down in complete humility to the Brahmin sages who were forest-dwellers and mendicants. This wisdom of evolution from material to spiritual was well-known and deeply accepted.
It is a choice.
As humans we have freedom of choice.
Do what you want to do, right?
Let someone else do what they want.
All of us have 72 beats/ min and 24 hrs/ day. Same to same.
Whether to ask questions or to watch TV or timepass in a mall- that is also a choice.
(I’m not attaching any value judgments to any of these.)
Why would someone who wants to go on a spiritual search, not structure his life to have the time and the energy to search if he wants?
http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/
Read the range of comments. Educative.
Lotus underneath the Pond,
Met the shadow of a Butterfly,
On a full moon night,
Carrying tear drop of her to him,
what a joy felt the moon ,
seeing his reflection in that drop,
Lotus was found dead on the shore,
by a washer women,
Butterfly was caught by school going child,
Moon saw itself only once in his life time,
Lovers…………………..
Sprituality………… i dont know what sprituality means. we talk about bigger acheivements, we want to succeed in all what we do, we wish to be admired, we wish to be honoured, we wish to be different, but do we really wish to be spritual when we saw a 3 year kid on a signal selling roses or buch of products, running between traffic, we never fear that he may die, just give a passing look and move forward with some false pride. some of us may buy something from them and feel we have helped them, but had we really helped him?
we r so protective for our kids we never let them cross garden fence wondering that they may harm theirselve but why we dont stop that signal kid. y someone just dont dropdown and just pick his hand and shout him that its dangerous.
No warm hug for these kids, no pat on back, no kiss on forehead. these kids are spritually superior than us. they know life better than us, these street winners are far ahead in humanity.
We crib to god several times y u have done this to me, y u have broken our dreams, y u let me failed. but y we dont compaint to God almighty that y this discrimination u hav ecreated among humans, and y u have make us so insensetive that we just feel unable to help the one who needs us?
Dead heart, insensetive people, i may be one of them. And see the irony i m discussing sprituality. do i really deserve that????? do we deserve to talk about sprituality?
No Shekar,
I think it comes from the restlessness of the soul. There are people who are driven by hidden desires, longings and a need to break free. They are the seekers, the doers and the dreamers. A rich kid can run away to seek it and a poor child can do the same. While contentment, that nebulous feeling is not there for most people rich or poor, your average man is not willing to push his limits and move past his comfort or discomfort zone. Some dare to up to a point, like you may have or I may have, but we have done so more for our careers or creative fulfillment rather than for spiritual reasons. Some dare to push past even further to seek deeper answers and have a willingness to discard comfort and all that is familiar. Do we lack the courage or is it that it is still not as strong a call yet for us ? Don’t know.
Yes and No too…
Often the common men or woman like me get to indulge in all this sprituality business, amidst all the rattle tattle of our ordinary lives.
Even sometime i wonder…Is this struggle worthy enough? Answers are vague and immaterial.
@ Dear Seema and Shekhar,
“A common man is too busy making both ends meet to indulge in soul searching.”
” the rich and the famous …… feel an emptiness that no amount of money can fill” as you mentiond no one can disagree on these points.
I do not know if time or money is a limitation for a common man. To me a famous figure for the world, will be a common man when it comes to himself. He might try to live a life where he can be on his own, being undisturbed by the public or media or people who are just curious about his life…. Where as a common man is always trying to achieve something in life so that the soceity notices him and respects him. Its just like ‘leaving behind what you have and yearning towards what one doesn’t have is the way of life’
If the search or yearning stops its no more life, for me it would be death….
Be it towards spirituality or towards knowledge… we are always behind something as long as we life thats how life seems interesting and thrilling. For a rich guy he would be able to acquire or buy all materialistic things, so his search is only for things that money can not buy!For a poor just a plate of meal would make his day great! The same poor guy would behave differently if he wins a lottery and becomes a millionare… Just food and shelter will not keep him happy anymore.
Finally can anyone tell me what exactly is spirituality? Though I too say I am spiritual! I can not really figure out what it is.
love and peace:)
I think shekhar sounds to be some what appologitic in this post..which is unnecessary.:)
but what has been said is fact which should be accepted..and will like to add, one can turn/think towards/about spritual life not so easily..how many princes were born till today and how many of them turned into Buddha..
how many shoemakers/blind were born as rohidas or surdas.:)
our own search is not a right which can be passed but one has to understand that we need to search for our ownself this is what is the meaning of this world and existence behind it..exactly like the cycle..sea water turn into steam..then turned into clouds..then into rain then river, ponds and finally again it reaches the sea..in all these cycle water will defiantely change its form but it is there…and every drop of water finally going to become a sea..nomatter whether that/every particular drop of water you see/vouch/taste right now with your eyes or not..:)
atleast i think so..
If you want an answer in one word then it is Yes!
Yes, the spiritual quest is the indulgence of the privileged. Or let me qualify it – it is either the privileged or poor. Middle-class morality and mores never get you there. The search for infinity only comes when you either have little to gain or little to lose. If you live a middle-class existence where eking out a living and fulfilling societal obligations is a necessity, you are likely to not find time for introspection. It is only when you live an unstructured and spontaneous life that you get to this nectar.
Let me illustrate with a few examples.
I was once having a conversation with someone on the singing skills of a legendary singer (Manna Dey for those interested). My friend did not hold him in as high an esteem as he held other singers. ‘But he has more training than any other of his contemporaries’, I argued. ‘Yes, he does’, my friend replied, but his singing is very middle class. It is mechanical and duty-bound. It lacks passion. It is like the contrast betwen a normal middle-class housewife who performs her religious duties piously and Meerabai. Meerabai had unbridled passion which drove her to the extreme pursuit of the spiritual. A middle-class housewife could best be characterized by an example I have – my friends mother. A couple of days back she invited me over because she needed 3 people for some pooja. After finishing off the ceremony, as a matter of small talk, I asked her ‘Aunty why do we do this?’. The innocuous question left her speechless for a couple of seconds. It was apparent no-one ever asked her this and more significantly, she never asked herself this question!
And Shekhar, I ask of you. Even as a 10 year old kid, did you have compulsions on you. To excel in studies, to get into IIT, AIIMS or whatever. Did you ever get that sinking feeling in your stomach that if I don’t score well in my 12 standard boards, my life and career are ruined? When you have the compulsion you don’t care for infinity or the concept of ‘forever’, you focus on the task required – to mug up and reproduce!
Even from empirical data, I do think a lack of responsibilities certainly help you grow. The mendicants in the past were desperately poor, but they did not need anything. Their life-style and society did not make demands of them.
As final note I would put forth my own example. I have a job that I have got do and when my job gets really demanding, my blogging and internet reading pretty much disappear from my life. I have a marked preference for lighter and more accesible music over esoteric classical forms, I exist on a different plane altogether. Also being in my 30s now, when I compare myself and my other friends who don’t have a household and pressing duties like children, school with those who do, I see the former set with far more evolved wanderlust than the latter.
Yes Shekhar, spiritual growth is the indulgence of the privileged. You are privileged because you don’t have pressing responsibilities, you are privileged because you have unstructured time and you are privileged because life has probably given you some hard knocks, this privilege could come to you by virtue of being rich or by the virtue of being poor..
There is no surprise in this. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs clearly talks about basic needs leading to higher level needs – So once your needs for food, shelter, security, socialisation are taken care of – only then you have the need for self-actualisation. So what’s the big deal?
I wrote this on the 2nd july coincidentally….. adding another dimension to quest of spirituality.
Are you seeking the truth, as a camouflage for looking good and self righteous?
What are your outward displays towards other human relations?
Do you ask forgiveness?
Do you stop to lend a helping hand?
Do you wonder what you could do to alleviate anothers pain?
Do you go that extra mile to be with someone who needs support?
Do you turn a blind eye to injustice?
or are your motives from an isolated selfish motive of salvation? The save me culture. What are the things I must do for myself so i can know what to do to arrive at salvation?
Have we in the west in our quest for truth just transplanted our intellect concepts to the spiritual realm, as another graduation school!!
What is loves expression? Can you love unconditionally another human being? Is surrender of yourself to the good of another too difficult to grasp?
Stop living the lie. Look around and see if its manifesting the spirit in your interactions. The statues and temples do not need your devotion as much as the living man.
i think it is lalithambika antharjanam, a malayaalam writer who recalls her routine in her youthful days. A luxurious, ritualistic bath followed by hours on a swing, or a swing cot, the latter being a common piece of ‘furniture’ in the then houses of the affluent namboodiris. refering to this confession of Lalithambilk antharjanam, a friend of mine ( a middle class workinh woman hassled by her ‘donkey’s’ existence’) remarked:’ if i had the luxury of sitting in a swing the whole day, i’d have become an antharjanam or a kamala das”.
while i concede that there is some truth in what she said (& what seema feels), i tend to agree with you too. no human being can escape a spiritual quest. and people locked in a battle with life arrive at truths via paths different from the ones taken by those who can afford the luxury of spiritual quest.
Its not so much about rich and poor as it is about how much idle time u have. Instead of looking at it as search of soul from one body to another, I think we should look at it as search of one lifetime but when the time comes. That is, when u have a lot of idle time – in old age. As mentioned in the vedas – 1. Jnana yoga (the path of knowledge). 2. Karma yoga (The path of action) 3. Bhakti yoga (The path of devotion). 4. Vibhuti-yoga (The path of splendour). 5. Raja-yoga (The path of mysticism). 6. Death. 7. Hymn to the earth.
Hi Shekhar,
Thanks for the prompt response to my comment. I do represent the common people and have been living the life of a commoner for sometime and in my experience most of the times we go to a place of worship to either ask God for favours or say a word of thanks and offerings for favours granted. Sounds more like a business transaction but thats the sad truth of about 80% of the people visiting places of worship. Why else would the coffers of temples like Tirupathi be overflowing. I am sure less than 20% of the people go to such places in search of self and soul. Personally I feel soul searching is a very personal and intimate activity that can be conducted at any place that provides an outer environment conducive enough to listen to your inner voice. This could differ from a temple in south to the Himalayas up north for different people.
I don’t see anything wrong in sharing your thoughts through blogs because the medium is not important, you do it through your movies, now through blog thats fine and meeting people one on one that would be even better thats what I call dissemination of knowledge through multiple mediums.
Coming to your tussle with understanding the basic science. Most of the sciences as we know today are based on assumptions and over the years with new discoveries some of the old assumptions are dropped while some dogmas are reaffirmed.
For example in the past science did not recognize the mind and believed only in the existance of the brain. Spring a couple of decades forward and Volia! you have a new emerging branch of science called psychoneuroimmunology that actually demonstrates the connection between mind and body. Also the dogma that the brain is rigid has been shattered now it can be scientifically proved that the neural network of the brain can actually be altered regardless of the physical condition of a person.
On a less serious note……..
Your show India has talent is good but what I would like is a follow up show that gives an insight into what happens to the winners of these talent shows after a couple of years.
All the best with your current projects.
Peace and light,
Seema.
i think when the rich (and famous) get into spirituality it gets lot of notice, moreover they are asked to talk abt it. And they do talk abt it with many flowery words.
When a poorer unknown kind of person is seeking, not many would be interested, except the people that are close to him or are themselves into spirituality.
Just this morning (around 2 am to be more precise) I was blogging to someone else about the following phrase that I had just heard a few minutes before and that had left me touched.
“More than Death, it is Life that is unlimited”… (Garcia Marquez)
If Life has the depth and the trappings of eternity, who would call it indulgence to dive into it and try to capture as much of its essence as possible? 🙂
Cheers.
Ritu,
Why look at spirituality as an activity or pursuit to engage in apart from doing other things. Is it not the fragmented mind which tries to differentiate the experience of life into buckets like career, motherhood,aging,middle class et al,
Life enjoys itself through us in many ways. Through some of us it enjoys its creative expression (your unquestioned passion for Manna Dey or Dev Anand, music for eg). It enjoys making plans and working towards them it in others. Through some it enjoys pondering over itself (the spiritually priveldged lot as per you say :)).
Since I can recollect I have been deeply and irrevocably drawn to this search. While the career, kids, daily chores and everything also happens this search is beyond being all consuming it is pretty much the background to all experiencing.
The essence of spirituality is that within which all of life as you perceive unfolds as well,is it not.
-Deepak
Socrates rightly said : “An unexamined life is not worth living”. Its a good thing that you are questioning the setting ! Contemplating on the environs… and going on an inward journey. This is no mean gift. It dawns on the very few. Its a high platform to be on… to develop that kind of perspective. The crowning glory is if this knowledge and insight is used towards some Karma (tangible action)., wherein we do something to fellow humans on earth… while we are still alive. It could be anything… from opening a quality high school (if it were possible, economically i.e.)., or giving someone a glass of water with a smile. To graduate from the intellectual plane to the field of action… from mind to hand… That indeed is the highest pinnacle of scholarship or contemplation., i guess.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
TRue enlightnment does live there,where we realize that we are nothing….Just a tinny beiings ,who wants to know soo much… about nothing.
Sanjay
hi dude…
how u been?…still stuck with damn words? puzzle aisa to nahi chutega…solve karna padega boss!…
To whosoever may be interested and may have the wherewithall to make a documentary, and above all to Shekhar himself:
Donald Neale Walsh of the book “Conversation with God” fame almost daily sends me his ad material and today he sent me the following, of which I especially want to bring to your notice “2012: Science or Superstition.”
Quote
[Dear Life Explorer,
The ending of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012 has sparked a worldwide discussion — bestselling books, New York Times and USA Today articles, Hollywood films and more. Will life as we know it end — metaphorically, literally or at all? Could 2012 actually represent an evolutionary leap in consciousness?
2012: Science or Superstition is an entertaining and informative documentary that will enable you to discover the many, and at times conflicting, perspectives on this enigmatic topic.]Unquote
I have not seen the documentary but I think no scientific theory as yet has really found a scientific basis for change in Ages except that WHICH IS CONTAINED IN MY BOOK though admittedly it may not be exactly in hard science or rather may not be ever.
Based on that I thnk we can produce a far authentic documentary to show why and how the Age is going to change around 2012 (or why it has actually already changed from deeper level and will only become apparent around 2012.)
For the time being, in this connection, I produce the following relevant paragraphs from my book:
******
So we can rightly say that whether in the West or in the East, our present culture stands divided into four like periods or Ages: Of Fathers and Schoolmen, of Romanticism, of Reason and finally – perhaps our ongoing – of Intelligence, of Intuition. In other words, of our culture’s childhood, of its youth, of its middle-age and finally, of its old-age. And that means stands divided into periods belonging to gravitational interactions, electromagnetic interactions, strong interactions and finally, weak interactions as we have explained in the previous chapters.
To show that our ongoing period is indeed going beyond thought, beyond reason, or is entering the Age of intelligence or intuition, I would just quote from a stray article in a local newspaper which I read only yesterday.
The article is named I think, therefore I am not and is written by one Adil Jussawalia in the paper The Tribune of northern India. It reads inter-alia:
“The climate all over the country – perhaps all over the world, I really don’t know – is anti-intellectual, anti-thought. Which, perhaps, is one good reason to account for the mess it is in.”
Though the writer here calls this era anti-intellectual, anti-thought, according to us it is transcending intellect, transcending thought.
From our ongoing discussion of the development of anything, any system, any culture according to four basic interactions, it would be clear that our present culture was bound to be in its present state because of these interactions, because of its passage from the strong interactions era where intellectual activity was to be its hallmark to the weak interaction era , where as already explained, ‘to be’ is going to be its motto rather than ‘to know,’ rather than intellectual activity.
The present ‘mess’ is because of the transitional period. It would stand cleared once we are well established in the weak interactions era. We are sure our Age then would be known not only as the Age of Intelligence or Intuition but as the Golden Age of the global culture as well.
No reward for guessing what would lie beyond…
As already written somewhere back, the advent of science in our present culture signified its entry further into its strong interaction era, heralding in its wake its Age of Reason, its age of immense intellectual activity. And this era of science further had its spiral of four eras according to four basic interactions as follows:
The era of gravitational interactions beginning with Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) and being at its peak with Newton (1643-1727), with Newton’s finding of gravity; the era of electromagnetic interactions comprising the period of the discovery of electromagnetism by Faraday (1791-1867) and Maxwell (1831-1879); the era of strong interactions commensurate with the discoveries of Max Plank (1857-1947), N.Bohr (1885-1962), A. Einstein (1879-1955) etc.
And its present, weak interactions era, which in a way is leading it beyond science. The so-called holistic science which is actually taking science almost to the doors of mysticism – to Oneness, to our Mosc – bears the truth of this later statement.
The efforts to synthesize Science and Religion on the world scale are also steps in the same direction.
As the discovery of language was the need of the strong interactions era at the base, it was inevitable that now it would begin losing its efficacy as compared to the previous periods – particularly the strong interactions period – in explaining the things. Aren’t our scientists lamenting the fact of late that our language is proving inadequate in explaining the things further deeper?
With this we would like to take leave of the reader, more so when on our own admission the era of reading – and hence of writing – books (especially on the so-called intellectual knowledge) is coming to a sort of an end. There would be no point in giving endless details.
But not before giving a quotation of Michel Casse from the book Conversations about the Invisible by Jean Audouze, Michel Casse and Jean Claude Carriere echoing similar sentiment:
Before advising people to throw away all books, we should at least write ours.
Indeed it stands for all, till it lasts, that is!
*******
If somebody is interested he can write to me at harb_singh@yahoo.com
Dear Shekharji,
Wealth could mean different things for different individuals. I guess everyone indulge in some way or the other as per their own desire and capacity. Even people going to Himalayas desire moksham and indulge in solitude. On the other hand we see in some famous temples in India there are three different darshan lines as per devotees financial capacity. One is free for the poor people and could take longer time, one is ticketed line for the middle class and then there are special direct darshan arrangements for the VIP’s., without any line.
Shekharji, I also do grapple in the similar way. I took up Vedic studies. Currently I’ve been studying Vedic astrology and it is helping me to figure out at least some of the mysteries of this universe that the modern sciences are unable to provide the answer for. Now a days one can take on line courses and study as per their own convenience, and even while on travel and from anywhere in the world. Of course I’m just a small person, but I believe that studying it by yourself under the proper guidance is one of the best way.
Thanks,
Swati
P.s. Shekharji, the info below is not for the blog and it is not an advertisement. Just thought this might interest you as well as help you. I’m studying it from US based online college ie. American College of Vedic Astrology, http://www.acvaonline.com/
You may check the link. Shekharji, I’m aware that you are an accountant. I hope you may find it interesting to check Karma account.
I’ve been enveloped by delightful pranks, playfulness, innocence, boundless spirit and pure unconditional affection these past few days…my 6-year old nephew decided to spend part of his summer vacation with me, braving a maiden long-haul flight across the Atlantic (while he has traveled the friendly skies since he was two, never before on his own).
We’ve had some very fun, engaging conversations…and the context of this post compelled me to share part of one such interesting exchange we had earlier this week, as we were getting ready to head out to a children’s theme park — a short exchange, but rather long in script (edited for brevity). Read on if you have the patience…
me: i think we should go tomorrow…looks like it is going to rain.
he: i want to go TODAY…let’s ask God to take away cumulus nimbus…
(me thinking: wow, do 6-yr olds learn such vocabulary in school??)
me: which God?
he: just God, i don’t knooooooooooooow (adorably shrugging his little shoulders and flowering out this palms)
me: have you seen God?
he: nooooooooooooooooo!! i’ve not seen God. because…ummmmm….because…he does not have a face. but he is everywhere. that’s why he is invisible. but you can go to the himalayas and see God there, if you want.
[me taken aback! lesson from a 6-yr old on invisible power :-)]
Me: oh really? does God live there?
he: Yeah!
Me: how do you know?
he: i know…because…because…i read in my story book.
me: who is that God living in the himalayas?
he: people die and then become God…[fidgeting with his tank top and thinking]…like Jesus. it’s so sad…you know, the bad guys put nails on his hands and legs and he died.
me: oh really? what is ‘died’ ?
he: dying means when the bad guys put nails on Jesus, or soldiers shoot and you fall down [with an adorably cute animated collapsing to the ground]…
…did the bad guys do bad things to Krishna and Shiva also? did they also die and then become God?
[me still trying to digest his thoughts….mind racing to gather the right words to respond to a 6-yr old…]
me: No cutie, Krishna and Shiva are invisible… like you read in your story book…so the bad guys cannot do bad things to them…
he: like Spiderman? he can never die, you know? Only Green Goblin and Venom and Sandman die. They are the bad guys. So God won’t accept them.
me: oh really? (not wanting to dwell on ‘dying’ and ‘killing’, attempting to change course of discussion…)
how about we play a fun game?
he: can we play Spiderman? I’ll be Spiderman and you be Green Goblin, the bad guy.
me: i don’t want to be the bad guy ðŸ™
he: it’s ok, don’t be sad, it’s not for real. pleaaaase. pleaaaase…..when you really die, you will go to God, because you are a nice person for real. you don’t hurt people…so God will accept you. ok?
(me LOL….how could i not play?)
so we played…
he: when i die will i also go near God?
me: cutie, God loves you soooo much. you are a VERY ‘nice person’.
he: like the ‘strawberry of your eye’? [he loves strawberries, and he loves me to call him that! ]. soooooo much, like the whole wide world? soooo much, like up to the stars and the moon?
me: yes!!
he: i am nice because…..um…because….i don’t do bad things to people…..i don’t make fun of my friends….i eat my vegetables and fruits fully….and finish my homework on time….AAAAND I did not cry when i came ALL by myself on the plane….i make mummy and daddy proud of me and happy. correct?
me: yes cutie! and you are so brave…
he: how about we play Wii now…..no, no, how about we dance? to….to…to…. do you have slumdog millionaire music?
me: yeaaaaah
he: yay!! how about we dance to ‘jai ho’? see, I am even wearing a dress like the slumdog kids…so i am from the slum. look, i am from the slum [pointing to his tank-top and shorts]
So we danced…he directing me on how i should move and swing to the beat!
At 6, from where he got on to so much thinking around ‘dying’ was beyond me. Last year, one of his friend’s much-looked-forward-to birthday party was canceled because of the child’s grandfather’s death — so I was told later by his Mom, since which time he has been on this endless path of curiosity and questions around comprehending death.
Anyway, within this brief exchange I saw him touch upon deep concepts — of a higher power, ‘becoming’ divine vs. ‘being accepted’ by the divine, faith, duty, oneness and perhaps more — all his curiosity and simple manner of reconciliations in his little brain, in his own childish way and within the framework of his own little world of imagination. Neither the presence nor absence of conflict or contradictions, to provoke or diminish his intrinsic spontaneity and effervescent sense of curiosity about things as they are. Guess he is in his own little path of search and discovery, in his own way.
Not much different from our respective ‘searches’, is it? Just a different reference point and form of expression. Instead of spiderman, some of us look to enlightened ‘living masters’ for inspiration. And, all these chirps in this blog space may seem childish in the eyes of those masters, after all!
Is the real question then one of whether we can exude that unrestrained sense of curiosity, their simple manner of reconciliation and acceptance of things complex and incomprehensible, be at peace with it, and yet be a bundle of joy and pure delight? Just an unconstrained flow, guided by the purity of a child-like sense of wonder?
Call it “knowing God’, or ‘search’ or ‘seek’ or, whatever word suits your frame of reference, it’s a state untouched by a state of being neither rich nor poor, young nor old. It’s all an attempt to head up to the top of the cliff and comprehend what’s beyond — while some, like my nephew, are at the very bottom looking up in absolute child-like wonder, others may be further up, with much baggage from the climb so far. And yet others, who have neither the time nor the inclination to acknowledge the existence of a cliff and beyond, or venture to the base to attempt an upward journey.
My nephew and me — between our respective sense of wonder, wrapped around fun and play, it’s been a blast being a 6-year old all over again!
Mr Kapur…what will you do the day you find all answers , those answers that you started this search for?
Why do i get the interpretation that this day will never come.That you and many other who leave long comments on this page seek solace and refuge in confusing the very fundamentals that they set.Is life mend to be this perplexing.
For every body that walks into this blogs for an answer just leaves with 10 other questions.Will you ever walk in search of yourself on the Himalayas..or you just wrote it because it makes sense.
crux is perhaps to accept and believe. The not so rich , quench their questioning minds and its fears with faith and belief and stick with it throughout their lives going about their work, their duties, their routines. the ‘intellectuals’, the rich with lot of free time (and apparently little work that they can enjoy) and lot of exposure to experiences/knowledge of multitude gathered over time, start on their questions with disbelief and disdain at simple answer, go thru’ all the rigamarole of spiritual quest and then may be arrive at the truth which comes back to faith and those simple beauties about life told again and again in every religion by every prophet over years and centuries.Spirituality is quite easily embraced by simple folks , although intellectuals spend lot of precious time in searching, debating and attaining it as mind takes a longer time to reach an answer than the heart.
A seeker can be a rich person or a poor person. It all depends on the evolvement within and not what one has. Kabir, Raidass, Nanak were ordinary people. Buddha, Mahaveer were kings. Its matter of intense longing to be one with that power, that burning desire. God knows that this person will turn to me when all his desires are fulfilled and he starts asking “now what?” Some will turn to him to fulfill wants…There is always a reason but the main is that the divine is calling. In Gita Krishna says I have 4 types of devotees and all four are dear to me. Those who desire some thing (Atharthi), those who are lacking(Arati), those who are seekers(mumukshu) and the gyani’s(gyani)
Hi Shekhar,
I have always thought, why must one goto a very remote place like the himalayas to feel that there is no one around when one can be themselves and not noticed in a crowded city like NY or Bombay.
Is it to force shut down from relation & people?
S.Srivats
Dear Shekhar ji,
way past the day this entry was made and comments were received.. but i arrived here only now…
here is what my limited knowledge allows:
A rich man feels empty, he searches.
A poor man struggles, he too searches.
In both the cases, the search begins only because of ‘suffering’. Mental suffering for the former, physical suffering, experienced more on a material plane for the latter. But both equally painful. Aren’t both only pathways, that will take you to the same point? A point where you will reach to begin your search…???
so then does it really matter whether you are rich or poor, as long as you get to that point through whichever way, to begin your search?
With a fleeting thought,
Charu
btw, you break my heart when you cry on the show.. Kiran ji too.. esp when a stray tear drop rolls down all the way to fill in her dimple.. it really breaks my heart…
God bless!
Shekharji,
1 st.Chakra – Work needs
2 nd.Chakra – Consumption needs
3 rd.Chakra – Security needs
4 th.Chakra – Love needs
5 th.Chakra – Communication & Creative needs
6 th.Chakra – Self importance needs
7 th.Chakra – Self realisation needs
We all move and stay to the different points of the staircase of our being. Thats why we feel and see the outside reality differently to each others. Understanding to which is the most predominating point of our being may help us to clear what we want materialy or spiritually in our life.
Shekharji,
Only reach people feels emptiness of their being this though comes from Osho. It is true in some instance. But Kabir and Farid and lot many spiritual persons did not had reach connections. But they had the sensitivity and clarity to see the the worthlessness of outer richness. Still, on the material plane wealth has its own importance
” Bahirpuja adhamodhama
Tirthartan dhamadhama
Dhyandharna madhyamodhama
Atmoplabdhi uttamodhama ”
– Adi Shankaracharya
It means worshiping is just a kinder garden. Piligrimage is the high school. Meditation is a degree college. But all of above self realisation is the real thing.
Hello there, You’ve done an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this site.