Spheres of Belonging

Tags

autumn, belonging, letting go, transformation

The warm weather over the middle of last week, sandwiched between the cold days that preceded and succeeded it, has jolted the leaves on the trees into transformation. What started as a meandering change from the greens of summer has dramatically accelerated into a color palette of yellows, reds, oranges, some maroons and a multiple hues, tints and contrasts.

In a very short time period, autumn has changed the sphere of the leaves’ existence. Last week, they still belonged partially to summer. This week, they have their feet firmly planted in autumn. Some of them, whose transformation is complete, have found detachment from their sphere of existence among the branches and descended to the ground. Their existence in the sphere where they reached towards the sun, moon, stars and summer skies is complete. After what seemed like infinite grace in their flight between spheres, they now belong to the earth, where they mingle with those from far and near trees. They go from one sphere of belonging to another, creating new richness through variety, to eventually become the soil for new seeds that spring will bring unto them.

It isn’t as if I am watching this dance of autumn leaves for the first time. So what is it about their change in color and subsequent falling to earth that evokes so much child-like glee, awe and sense of wonder within me? Is the awe because the leaves and trees can effortlessly ‘give up one sphere of existence’ and fully embrace another sphere of belonging in the same instant? Is the child-like glee because the witnessing of the change reminds me that when the time comes, I too will be able to let go as easily and accept a different sphere of belonging? Is the sense of wonder because any given leaf represents hundreds of billions of leaves, and in being aware of one leaf’s journey I can experience the journey of all of them?

All of it comes together when I relate it to the spheres of our own belonging. The largest sphere is the one that connects us to the outer world and all of its influences, and encloses our individual sphere. Depending on our level of awareness, some may sense that we belong to the world and each other, while others are convinced that the world belongs to them. Within our individual sphere, we have a sense of belong to our experiences, our emotions, our feelings, our actions, and much more. It is said that there are multiple levels of existence within our individual sphere, which create different experiences of awareness for us. The deeper we descend into our inner levels, the more we transition from belonging to the physical body to the subtle body sphere, and finally the causal sphere of belonging.

With all the possible spheres of belonging available to us in our lives, how do we remain in that sphere where we can have the deepest connection to existence, awareness, and bliss? What can the leaves of autumn teach us about acceptance, letting go, and trust in transformation to a different, more blissful sphere of belonging?

Autumn, in the midst of all her messengers, often asks some questions. I convey some of them to you, along with her seminal message that you belong to the bliss-sphere. Don’t you feel it?

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly twitter chat and gathering with the #SpiritChat community, Sunday Oct 16 at 9am ET / 1pm GMT / 630pm India. We will share some autumn colors and warmth, ask and answer some questions, and take another step towards belonging to each other. Namaste – AjmaniK

By undergoing a change of colors, leaves transition to a different sphere of belonging…

Seeds of Harmony

Tags

autumn, balance, faith, harmony, integration, patience

Autumn is the season of planting and seeding grass in lawns. The cooler weather is an invitation to repair the damage done to the lawn by the heat of summer. You remove the old and dead grass, rake the soil below, add some new dirt, mix in new grass seeds, cover the seeded patches with hay or the like to provide warmth, water adequately.

And then you wait. If and when there is harmony of all the elements — warmth and light from the sun, sustenance and receptivity from the earth, moisture and coolness from the water, expression of life force from the seed, balance of stillness and movement in the air — the seeds eventually sprout when it’s there time.

In some re-seeded patches, it seems like nothing is going to ever germinate. You start to ask questions like — did I use enough of seed? Did I use the right mix of dirt and fertilizer? Did that unusually cold snap in the days right after I planted kill the seed? Should have I watered more? Did I water too much? On and on the questioning and self-doubting goes as the days go by without you seeing any sign of new life in the seeded patches.

Five or six or seven days after seeding, you start wondering how you ever successfully grew grass in every autumn before the current one? The lack of visible external growth makes you forget the belief and hope and faith and grace that you have experienced so many times before. It’s almost as if you forget how this story has ended in every single season in the past.

And then it happens. You wake up on the sixth or seventh or nth day and some seedlings have burst through in the small circular patch that sits in the shadow of where the hydrangea had bloomed into the summer. New grass! The tiniest of new green growth amid the wide expanse of existing green instantly erases all of your questions and doubts that had sprouted while you were waiting for nature’s harmony to do what it does best in your heart — germinate new faith to remind you of your existing faith.

As you watch the heavy dew evaporate off of the new grass-lets in the same way that it evaporates off of the tall grass blades next to them, your faith is somehow re-seeded. One new direct experience, the result of a perfect harmony of nature and nurture, reminds you of all the past experiences of grace in your life.

The simple beauty of every single blade of autumn’s new grass is perhaps a reminder of the harmony between the seeds, the water, the soil, the wind, the sun, and the source that integrates them all into life itself.

What’s your take on harmony? What kind of seeds can we plant in our heart to harness the powers that lies within us? When extended the invitation to do so, what seeds are we actually planting? How may we best harmonize our efforts towards spiritual growth with those of our earthly affairs?

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly twitter chat, Sunday Oct 9 at 9am ET / 1pmGMT/ 630pm India with the #SpiritChat community. We will share on harmony and its value in our lives. Namaste – AjmaniK

Autumn (or Fall) brings with it, ‘seeds’ of Harmony…

On Creating Abundance

Tags

abundance, autumn, fulfillment, gratitude, harvest, prosperity

I found some scissors, and did something I had never done before. I cut the six stems, put them into a mason jar with some water, and brought them with me. I figured that that was going to be it for this years blooms. And yet, abundance had other things in mind. A couple of days later, cutting the grass on that side of the house, I glanced over at the rose bushes, and paused. Every rose bush that I had cut from for the puja, seemed to have been bloomed a half a dozen new roses.

The simple abundance of a rose…

I saw the last minute request for additional flowers for the puja ceremony just as I was about to head out. If I were to try and find them at a store, I would surely be late. What about the roses that have been late-blooming because of the summer-like weather? A quick check revealed that there were at least a half dozen new blooms, which would be worthy of the offering at the ceremony for the Devi.

How was this possible, this late into autumn? I guess I had grossly underestimated the power of abundance, and the energies that create it. At this time of the year, the symbols of the harvest the are everyone. Corn stalks, bales of hay, pumpkins in orange, baskets of mums in various colors, and much more. And then there is the abundance of pies in pumpkin, pecan and apple, along with all the goodies of the season dashed with spices and cinnamon.

A walk through the forest has its own signs of abundance. The riot of colors on the trees, the paths quickly filling with leaves, and bushes laden with berries to help the birds through the winter ahead. If we pay attention to how nature prepares for the seasons, we can learn how to appreciate, and prepare for the transitions in our own lives with abundance mentality.

It is easy, and perhaps even seem natural for some of us to focus on what we want or what we lack in our lives. It is actually equally easy for us to recalibrate our heart, mind and body towards abundance and open the channels for prosperity to flow into our lives. This attitude towards being content and fulfilled, and appreciating the gifts that we hold within us, is often called gratitude.

No matter what the season, we can create experiences of abundance for us. A single leaf, a flower petal, a drop of water, a crystal of sugar, is enough offering, when presented with a full heart. In such simple offerings made with gratitude, we plant seeds of a cornucopia of abundance that can be experienced by our hearts, and the hearts of those around us.

What offerings can we bring our hearts to make, to create abundance this season?

Kumud

P.S. Join our weekly gathering with the #SpiritChat community on Twitter, Sunday October 17 at 9amET / 630pm India. Bring a piece of pie, or a flower to share 🙂 Namaste – @AjmaniK

puja – a religious ceremony honoring a deity by invoking all the five elements, and the body, mind and spirit…

Devi – a deity representing the creative energy of the divine feminine

And just like that, the house has been filling up with gifts of flowers this week…

The Energy of Transformation

Tags

autumn, balance, exploration, transformation, walking

It’s autumn… and the forest welcomes me back…

It was an exhilarating return to the river reservation in the valley, after an entire summer of absence. The overcast skies and a light rain were not enough to deter me from visiting and checking on the health of my good friends. And so, I walked the wet and narrow fisherman’s trail by the river, and was welcomed with a familiar energy. It felt like a homecoming.

The transition to autumn was well underway in the forest, as there was already a thin carpet of wet leaves on the trail. The river nearby was calm and almost still, except for the the sound of raindrops falling steadily and sending ripples everywhere. The bright yellows on the trees were resplendent in the Noon hour, even under graying skies. The orange hues were beginning to emerge among the yellows and their stillness enveloped me, invited me to stand still so that the forest could do its work.

And so I paused, stood still, closed my eyes, and allowed the energy to do what it needed to do. The murmur of the river,

the play of raindrops on my head, the light scent of the lavender blooms, the holding of the earth beneath and the canopy of the trees and sky above – the cumulative energy and effect of it was all a bit surreal. Twenty four hours later, as I write about that energy infusion, my heart is still processing the experience.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t walked the particular part of the reservation, many many times before. And yet, this journey on a familiar path was transformative. I cannot explain why this experience was so different from all the ones I’ve had before. Maybe it feels transformative because this is the most recent experience and I have forgotten about the impact of my precious walks? Maybe it feels transformative because I have been diligent in my daily meditation practice, which in turn has made me more sensitive to the energy of the forest as it undergoes its own transformation? Maybe it is because I went into the walk without any expectation other than to simply walk, feel, touch, listen and immerse in the energy?

Perhaps the ‘why’ of the transformative energy isn’t as important as the direct experience itself. When does the energy flow around us become transformative? The first step is when we take steps to cleanse ourselves of the heaviness of anger, hate and energy-draining emotions – we balance our tamas, our propensity towards negativity. The second step is when we take steps towards proper actions in all our activities – we balance our rajas, our propensity towards outward activity. The balancing of tamas and rajas opens us to creating sattva or purity within, and allows for energy to reach deep into our heart.

In the perfect balance of our three propensities, we are ready to integrate, assimilate and propagate the energy which is forever flowing within and without us. On our spiritual walk, we now realize that every flower, every leaf, every drop of rain, every step on the trail, every living being, conveys energy to and through us. We awaken to discover that the door has been opened for us to transform into Shakti – that divine energy of protection, love, grace, and joy limitless.

And to think that it can all begin with a simple visit with a friend…

Kumud

P.S. Join us Sunday, October 10 at 9amET for our weekly gathering on Twitter in #SpiritChat. Sunday marks the mid-point of the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri, which celebrates the ‘Energy of the Goddess’. Enjoy the transformation! Namaste – @AjmaniK

A station on the trail… time to pause and absorb…

On Emerging into Lightness

Tags

autumn, equanimity, lighness

There is a heaviness in the air as the first dense fog of the season is upon me this morning. Visibility is down to a few dozen feet as I drive out of the neighborhood towards school. However, as soon as I turn on to the Main Street, I barely go a quarter of a mile and it’s absolutely clear. It’s as if I emerged out of a ‘heaviness cocoon’ and into the lightness again. However, my mind cannot seem to shake the experience off that quickly.

The heaviness continues on my weekly walk around the lake after the drop off at school. The grass is heavy with moisture and soaks into my socks. I come under heavy attack by the mosquitoes as I approach the water. The water itself is heavy with algae from shore to shore. A lone mallard duck braves the swamp as she ever so slowly swims in the middle of the green coating formed over the past few weeks. Some of the bushes around the lake are heavy with the last of summer’s berries.

As I cut my walk around the lake a bit short so that my don’t become a feeding trough for the biters, I am beginning to think that today’s walk has been a bit of a wash. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see one my daughter’s teachers coming my way. In all my Friday walks, I have never seen another human on the trail. I feel a bit of lightness at the sight of a fellow traveler. We have a short but nice chat about yellow jackets and mosquitoes, and the scavenger hunt he is setting out for the students.

The encounter lasts for less than a minute, but it helps me turn the corner towards lightness. As if on cue, I notice that the sun is emerging through the gloom. By the time I walk back to my car, the heaviness of a few minutes ago has become a distant memory. All I feel as I journal my morning experience while sitting in the driver’s seat is the lightness infused by the ever-so-brief human interaction with a fellow traveler. The rising warmth from the sun as it crests the tall  trees in the distance confirms my feeling. 

By the time I make the short drive back home, it is as if the fog had merely been a dream. And yet, I knew that it was real because I had seen it with my own eyes, heard its stillness and felt its heaviness in my mind. This wasn’t my first experience of waking up to dense morning fog, and yet I had let it so rapidly blindside my feelings and emotions. How can a single external stimulus send us into heaviness, if ever so briefly? 

And then came more questions. 

What symptoms tend to make us aware that we are in a mental or spiritual ‘fog’? What purpose or message may the energy of lightness our way?  What kind of awareness can we develop so as to preserve our equanimity of lightness?

Autumn is on its way. There will be a lot more fog-laden mornings on the mind’s lake. It’s time for me to find some answers, so that I don’t get blindsided again. How about you?

Kumud

Join us for our weekly gathering with the #SpiritChat community on twitter on Sunday, Sep 5 at 9am ET / 630pm India. We will discuss ways to emerge into lightness… Namaste ~ @AjmaniK

 

The lightness of every rose is unaffected by the thorns that surround it…

A Spiritual Return to School

Tags

autumn, curiosity, delight, discovery, school

The first day of return to school is often a shock to the system. No matter how much you prepare for it, the fact is that you are jolted out of the long sleep of ten or so weeks of summer. The signal of change is unmistakable as all the lights that had been flashing yellow over the past week or so suddenly change to green… it’s time to move forward and meet the early waking hour again.

There is a certain stillness about the world in the new waking hour that I am glad to welcome back. There is a return to a routine, a structure, a familiar purpose that I am glad to return to. And it isn’t just me. The entire household, including the puppies, seem to have been jolted into the ‘return to school’ mode.

Like many mornings this summer, it’s humid, warm, gray and overcast today. It doesn’t quite feel like autumn yet, but our bodies and the trees outside seem to be ready for it. We are ready to welcome the change in color and the chill in the air that makes you clasp your hands around the mug of tea a bit tighter as you first walk out onto the deck to check what kind of weather is approaching from the west.

She is more than ready, though. The excitement of a new grade, new teachers, new subjects, new friends and much more has her bubbling over with enthusiasm. We take our “first day” photos at the top of the steps overlooking the lake — her puppy joins in and they both enjoy some special moments. And then, just like that we’re off for the ride to school.

It’s one of those days where I wish the car ride was a bit longer. She is talking a hundred miles an hour about the subjects and her new teachers – Math, History, Chemistry and more. It’s all pouring out and I’m happy to watch the resumption of flow that had been seemingly at a standstill for the past few weeks.

As I drop her off with a quick goodbye, she has a quickness in her step that I haven’t seen in a while. As much as she looks forward to the beginning of summer every June, she looks forward to her return to school in August even more. It is a sign that the village is raising her well, and that return to school is much more than just the academics, the sports, the extra-curricular and such.

How does all this connect to our inner spiritual life?

Return to school can be a reminder of an embrace of possibilities, adventures, and detours that await us when we are dunked into the alphabet soup of human beings and their variant personalities. It is an invitation to remain young at heart, to embrace every new day with freshness, curiosity and preparedness for the possibilities that will unfold.

We are ready for our return to school. We’ve been ready for a while. A new inner awakening is just a sunrise or moonrise away for us. Let’s simply choose to return to it with childlike joy and delight!

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly chat on Twitter – Sunday Aug 22 at 9amET / 630pm India in #SpiritChat. Bring your open mind and heart. I will bring the tea and cookies and school syllabus 🙂 – @AjmaniK

A walk around the school campus on the first day back..

On Harvesting Every Moment by @merryb923

Tags

autumn, awareness, equinox, harvest, presence

If ever a reminder was needed to fully enjoy and be present every moment, the pandemic that hit early this year and all of the chaos that has followed must’ve had that impact. No longer able to travel, visit loved ones, attend gatherings, see live entertainment, and so much that still hasn’t made its way into the “new normal”, all being replaced with uncertainty, worry, and stress for so many. 

While we learn to be grateful for each moment of happiness, clarity, love and beauty, we also learn to be grateful for the opposite, as all of these moments are the seeds and the fertilizer of our spiritual growth. 

There are days that are easier to be present, such as today, as I sit at a deserted beach on Cape Cod, watching the tide come in fiercely as the sun sets behind me. I sit by the waters edge and listen to the waves, hearing nothing else, I close my eyes and smell the ocean air, taking in each moment that I have here, where tranquility flows naturally. 

Other days, when life is hectic or uncertain, it is not as easy to be present, or it is preferable to instead long for yesterday or wish for tomorrow. But I have realized that on these less than perfect days, the moments that force us to be present are those that shape us for the rest of our lives. These are the experiences that make us who we are. We find ourselves while we are weathering storms.

I have always considered myself “lucky” to have been born on the first day of autumn, the idea of a harvest inspires me. As we gather what nature has provided for us physically, we should also gather what it has provided for us internally. 

The changing of the seasons is a good prompt to reassess accordingly, and during the fall, a spiritual harvest of each and every moment shows us how much we have grown, and to be grateful for it.

— Meredith Bouvier @merryb923

Kumud’s note: Meredith has been part of the #SpiritChat family for many, many years. I am delighted that she will be stepping up to host the weekly chat on Sunday, September 20th at 9amET for the community. Let us join her and support her hosting journey as best as we can. In the moment. Thank you, Meredith! 

A moment by the Ocean – photo by Meredith Bouvier

On Light and Lightness

Tags

autumn, light, lightness, Tran sformation, transitions

More than the change in the early morning temperatures, there is a remarkable stillness that comes with dawn as the season make the turn from summer towards autumn. You can feel the stirring of change in the leaves as the ones that are to yield their greens to the yellows and reds and oranges get ready to lighten the load of the branches with their eventual precipitation.

I have been watching this transition brought about by the change in the angles and intensity of light for many years, and yet, every year the totality of the letting go of the deciduous ones rarely fails to amaze me. It’s almost as if autumn comes to remind me of the benefits of harnessing the change in light within to take another step towards lightness on the path.

There is a sense of urgency that comes with the shortening of the days as the setting of the sun in the distance moves ever so slightly Southwest every evening. Every day that winter comes closer, the physical light that we have access to grows a few minutes shorter. The birds know it, the bees know it, the butterflies and lightning bugs that have disappeared knew it, and yet, somehow, sometimes, us humans choose to forget it.

Maybe it isn’t so much that we forget about the shortening of the days but it is that we have our mind immersed in the past or the future that we are unaware of the transitions. External unawareness reduces the sensitivity of our inner sensors, as they collect dust from living a life of blindness towards the gift of the presence of light.

It has taken me about thirty minutes to write this post on a crisp Saturday morning. The two boys across the lake on their swing set have been going back and forth like pendulums all this while. The stillness of the forest has gone from the steady hum of insects to the awakening of blue jays. The young puppy has gone from calmly sitting on the dew covered cushion to chasing its tail in circles.

I sit here wondering about how the developing of the practice of focusing on the source of light within the heart has improved my awareness of the importance of lightness in my life. Lightness can come when we are lost to the external world in the moment, when light within returns to the source. We often experience lightness in joyous external activity like music, painting, dancing, writing, cooking and the like.

It is when attachment to activity and inactivity stops, when all the colors merge into One, when the letting go is effortless in its completeness, that the immersion in lightness is complete.

No matter the season, spirituality and spiritual practice is perhaps about being in that lightness, carrying the awareness of transformation within us, in every moment.

Onward. Bring on the new colors. I am ready to let go. How about you?

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly gathering and conversation with the #SpiritChat community on Twitter – Sunday, Sep 13 at 9amET/ 630pm India. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Where all the colors merge into One, in that light we can experience lightness…

On Life’s Transitions

Tags

autumn, awareness, celebration, healing, spirituality, transformation

In this last week of September, as it is often its wont, my corner of the world begins a beautiful journey from summer into autumn. The fact that I have been part of this journey every year for over three decades, does not diminish the beauty of the transition. In fact, with every passing year, I seem to look forward to this transition more and more.

The falling of a single leaf, when witnessed with a cup of tea in hand while sitting on the deck, or in the midst of a nature walk in the reservation, is often an event of great silence. It takes me back to my first autumn in Southwest Virginia, and the surprise and immense joy that I felt when I saw, for the first time, all those trees change color. The oranges, yellows and reds and many more colors in between, seemed to create an aura of special warmth in my first season away from home. Autumn seemed to say to me – I feel and see your great transition, and I am transitioning with you. I will be your companion on your journey.

That was then and this is now. My journey, my transitions continue – and so do hers. Awareness informs me that every moment, every breath, every heartbeat is a transition. The loss of a beloved one, the birth of a new flower, sickness and storms, celebrations and new beginnings. The impermanent nature of life as we know it means that transitions are our constant companions. And yet, there is a certain fabric of permanence on which the needle of life’s transitions creates its embroidered artwork. The colors and the thicknesses of the threads may be vastly different, but so what? Is not Autumn present in all her brilliance for all of us who choose to see?

Just this week, I walked two long walks in two separate parts of the reservation – the river valley and the lagoon – three days apart. The river was shallow enough that I could walk into its middle and look back on each of the banks, and upstream and downstream. When the sun rose high enough above the trees on the cliff side of the valley, it shone its light on all that came in its path – every tree, every changing and falling and fallen leaf, every boulder and rock and piece of broken off shale, every flock of geese that let itself be carried downstream by the gentle streaming of the river, and more.

I observed that all they needed to do to be illumined was to be present to the sun’s light with patience – for the play of light and shadow changes day by day, hour by hour, instant by instant – such is the nature of transition. And what about those who seemed to be in ‘permanent’ darkness? I am sure that, in a different season, when the sun’s angle changes, or they choose to bend ever so slightly towards the sun, they would find luminosity too.

So, if you are like me, and you love and cherish autumn as much as I do, you are already well equipped to be in harmony with life’s transitions. If you are like some, who are in love with the idea of an eternal summer, you may want to consider taking a walk into the beauty of autumn.

Go. Stand in place or walk into the middle of a shallow, softly flowing river. Open your heart and take in a 360 degree view. Did you see any transitions?

Kumud

P.S. Join us Sunday, September 30 at 9amET in our weekly gathering on Twitter. I will bring some fabric – you bring some colored threads – we will create some transitions. Namaste – @AjmaniK

In the middle of transitions