Did Micheal jackson live in his human self or his spirit self ?
Without the energy of his spirit, it could not be possible that every human being on this planet knew his music, his dance. It did not matter that you were in innner Mangolia, or a potential suicide bomber in the Gaza Strip, or an Israeli soldier, or an kid from the most remote rural India. Everyone knew MJ, every one knew his song, and everyone knew his dance.
In judging the show “India’s Got Talent” I was amazed at the amount of young people from small town and rural India that did Micheal Jackson impersonations and called him their Guru. In fact the most brilliant one was an 11 year old adivasi boy, who claimed that Micheal Jackson’s spirit entered him when he danced.
The few times I met MJ through my friend Deepak Chopra (they were good friends), I met an extremely humble man. One who made me feel like he was my fan rather than the other way round. He reminded me of a few others that I met, who’s spirits were obviously uncomfortable with the limitations of their bodies, the spirits were dying to soar and to be Universal. Heath Ledger and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were like that. Spirits not wanting to be limited by the body. All died young. Like Angels.
And what is it about us that we cannot handle strong spirits. Do we have to crucify them ? I saw the agony the Micheal Jackson had to endure in last years accused of crimes against children based not on proof but on flawed accusations.
When Angels appear amongst us, we are compelled to crucify them.
Author: shekhar
making life simple
‘P’ asked “Shekhar, why do make life so complex. Why don’t you just “be”. Acceptance is beautiful once you truly understand it…keep living in the moment….”
Your statement ” Acceptance is truly beautiful if you understand it” is so beautifully stated. It is what I am trying to do. Understand what acceptance means and strive towards it. Acceptance cannot just mean cowardice or inaction. Acceptance must lead to purity of action. Where action is separated from the result of that action. And how do I separate myself from the result of my action ?
That was what I was trying to come to terms with in my last post. That what we call ‘result’ of our actions is often independent of our action. It has an individuality of it’s own. It has it’s own life and often the relationship is the other way round. We are caught up in the Karma of the event (the result s we call it), and assume ourselves as one of the cause.
In fact the Universe in it’s true nature has no place for words like ’cause’ and “result’. The result and the cause are intertwined in an eternal bond, which is part of a universal matrix of the play of the universe.
So what does “Acceptance is beautiful when you truly understand it” mean unless you experience the the idea that time has a linear value only if you desire it. Or your Ego does, for it needs to see a distance between cause and result. The Ego needs to contextualize it’s actions by the result (or imagined result) of it’s action to know that it exists..
Yet this duality was what Buddha meditated over – trying to come to vision of Shunyata, of a vast emptying of the mind off our Ego and experiencing ourselves as in Unity with existence, where time and space have only imagined existences.
Yes, you are right ‘P’, ‘Acceptance is beautiful when you truly understand it’ ….. but I have a long way to go before I can truly get there. The journey began as a little boy reaching out to the idea of forever, and still goes on. You sound like you are much further ahead than I am, so I would love for you to share your experiences with our community,
shekhar
Does the event create the cause ?
Does an event create a disharmony, a ripple that provokes us into action so that we become part of the creation of it ? Mistakingly assuming we created the event ? Are we slaves to the event while we think of ourselves as creators of the ‘it’ ?
Nor are we separate from the event. The event and us, inseparable part of the same play being imagined by the Universe in all eternity. The event itself part of a ripple caused by another. And so on, but circling right back, the ripples being the eternal cause and effect of each other. Enclosed in nothing but timelessness.
Part of discussions that came up as I opened my installation at the Swarovski museum in Austria
Were Einstiens’ equations in his brain or outside ?
“The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness. ( Albert Einstein – The Merging of Spirit and Science) — ”
Thank you manav, for sharing this. It’s beautifully put by a person who’s brain is under constant study by scientists all over the world. But maybe Einstein accessed his equations from a source much higher then his own individuality, his own brain ? Is creativity the ability to access a source of universal consciousness ?
To see or to sense ?
Do we sense things beyond the world we construct from our ‘five senses’ ? I am sure we do, and there is enough scientific data to prove that. But does our reliance on our ‘five senses’ hinder our ability to truly sense things. Are the yogi’s right when they say that we should shut out the world to truly ‘see’ the world.
All of us have had such experiences, and most of us deny ourselves those experiences. By calling it a play of imagination. But in my experience, these moments have been of extreme simplicity and clarity. The sensing is of the unity of all things beyond analysis and understanding, in the realm of experiencing. These are meditative moments that force you into the clarity of ‘now’. Not always in meditation – but events that can lead to that which meditation is hoping to achieve.
In one such moment I actually decide to write at random, without imposing my intellect upon the writing, even without imposing my imagination. Just write. And I wrote something I have shared before :
I search for that which I see
and when the searching stops
the seeing begins
Goodbye Rajeev Motwani, Google Mentor and friend…
No one that met Rajeev Motwani could leave without being touched by this man’s humility, his gentleness and warmth. For someone that was instrumental in the creation of Google, and who was one of the most brilliant and respected minds in the silicon valley, Rajeev was the most simple person you would meet. Always smiling and always ready to help, Rajeev and I would spend hours discussing the next great developments in computers, in physics, even spirituality. Rajeev was a prolific investor and nurtured many great movements and companies. We would always dream up ideas for new companies to create or invest in. From his army background and relatively humble beginings in Delhi, Rajeev became one of the most respected persons in the Silicon Valley,
The last time he and his wonderful wife Asha met me, Rajeev insisted that I come to the Silicon Valley and stay with them for a few months, to discuss new ventures we could do together. He even wanted me to come and teach for a few months at Stanford.
Rajeev was died in his home two days ago in a swimming accident. In the pool by which we would sit and dream of new worlds. He left behind two daughters and a very very brave and wonderful wife, Asha. And memories……
But when passion is directed positively …
Meet Wendy Chin, who’s great passion is to protect the ancient mangrove forests on the coast of Langkawi in Malaysia. A business graduate with a hugely promising career in finance, Wendy found her true calling in protection of the environment. She moved to the Island of Langkawi and works ceaselessly to protect the incredible amount of species that live in the eco systems of the mangroves – and the mangroves themselves. And we all know that Mangroves provide the protection against erosion of our coast lines and against high tides and Tsumani like waves.
I was attending a Standard Chartered Bank conference at the beautiful Four Seasons Resort in Langkawi where Wendy was taking us out in boats to teach us about her beloved mangroves. From a one inch red crab scurrying into the mud to a poisonous viper that hung unseen a metre away from my head, Wendy brought the wealth of the mangroves alive for all of us, as we listened and watched with such rapt attention, feeling the very pulse of the ecosystem and becoming one with it.
The world needs more Wendy Chin’s to help save our ecosystems.
The Humanitarian problem in Sri Lnka and the threat to Tamil Nadu
Thank God it’s over, must be the answers to all the prayers for the people trapped in the final moments of the war in Sri Lanka. And while all the world clamors for investigations into terrible human rights abuses on both sides of the war, the question that one must must ask is that in a war that lasted over a quarter of a century, where was the world then ? Civilians were dying all the time.
Does that mean that slow death is much more acceptable than sudden death ? Or do we live in a word that cannot pay attention to anything unless it is high drama and melodramatic ? And is it really over ?
Seeds of resentment and memories of horror over twenty five years do not go away easily. The Sri Lankan government will have to embrace its Tamil people with compassion and resolve. Or the call for a separate Tamil nation will not go away easily.
And the LTTTE is still a force. I have come across fierce support for the LTTE amongst Tamilians in suburbs Paris and in the US, where a lot of the people came as refugees from the conflict. There is also support in Tamil Nadu itself. There is danger of the fight for a separate Tamil Nation now being nurtured in India in Tamil Nadu itself and expect the politics of Tamil Nadu to turn a blind eye to it, or even covertly support it.
With the Talibanization of Pakistan, the conflicts on our eastern borders, India can ill afford another separatist movement on it’s southern borders.
Dreams come true ?
Beware,
dreams are just dreams,
benign creatures
that give you wonderful feelings of warmth
in times when you need to cradle yourself to sleep
till they become passions and obsessions,
and develop an identity of their own,
no longer in your control
are you willing to watch your dreams
grow into demons that do not belong to you ?
a passion and obsession that takes charge of you ?
wrings out your soul
and leaves you breathless, almost lifeless
when it is done with you ?
beware of your dreams,
those subtle, benign thoughts
that saw you through hours of boredom
and took you through wonderful journeys
when your maths professor droned on
about numbers that made no emotional sense
Magical Clouds
If I had not seen clouds before
would this not have been the most magical sight ever ?
it was,
at the moment that the picture was clicked, randomly
was the first time I ever saw clouds
and was overwhelmed,