On Joyous Surrender

Tags

empathy, journey, joy, solstice, surrender

The topic of “surrender” has been in and out of my brain box on several occasions as a possible subject for our weekly conversations. However, it wasn’t until this week, as I recorded and then reflected on the effects of “surrender immersed in joy” during one of my walks in the local reservation, that the subject moved from my brain to my heart. I share part of my “live recordings” in lieu of my weekly blog post… a long-form poetry, a gift wrapped and presented to all who are part of our wonderful community called #SpiritChat…

Where winter descends on water / and ice forms over the layered rocks of millennia / the slightest of warming forms cracks / like Thor’s hammer launched into a mirrored river

the river flows with a new urgency / to a different cadence and rhythm / her banks constricted by sheets of ice / floating floes create new meanderings

eddies near banks lay frozen / a slight shimmering off of their layers translucent / greeting the sun finally cresting low / over the tall trees mostly bereft of leaves

and the longest shadows of the year / draw me closer to the solstice / from whence the northern days shall only grow longer / and the lights shall only grow stronger / and the hearts shall only grow lighter

slowly, gently, softly – glowing warmth rises / rescuing my freezing fingers on the screen / welcoming the parting of the clouds / for relief to seep through them / from the late-morning sun’s emergence …

Silly me – I should have brought gloves / but it was perhaps for the best / for how else would I have felt the floe / in my fingers freezing and thawing

how else would I have written mundane poetry / while ascending the steep hill by the lagoon / as the winter wind blew from the other shore / over the thin layer of ice on waters stilled

how else would I have witnessed live / the last of autumn’s leaves fallen / chasing each other in play over the ice / driven by the very wind / that melted the waters in my sinuses

That shrill cold gave breath to empathy / for those who brave entire winters / huddling on street corners — waiting for grace / for they have no gloves to bring

Who knows where the sky begins / or where their earth ends / where their water begins / or where the thin ice ends / where the forest begins / or when the next call shall come

And yet this much is certain / that when we walk enough trails in faith / with hearts wide open to light / even on the darkest, longest night

we are bound to discover

that it is towards truth, justice and warmth / the radiant arc of the loving universe / shall guide us when we choose / to walk each day in joyous surrender….

and the light shall become stronger…

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly twitter chat. Sunday, Dec 15 at 9amET in #spiritchat ~ And yes, those from the Southern Hemisphere are welcome too 🙂 Namaste – @AjmaniK

Simplicity and the Path

Tags

complexity, grandparents, journey, path, simplicity

Simplicity is such a straightforward concept. When I hear the work, it evokes an immediate feeling of lightness. In my native hindi, the word that perhaps best describes it for me is saadagi (सादगी) – a certain straightforwardness, a “what you see and hear from them is what they truly are” quality in a person. I am often in awe of those who can live their lives in a simple (yet not simplistic) manner.

My maternal grandmother was a great example who modeled simplicity. There was a certain softness, a gentleness, a kindness about her, which belied the very tough life that she had lived up to the point where I truly got to know her as a young person. She may have been a product of her generation, one that was a refugee of partition (of India), and who went very quickly from living a life of luxury to a life of great hardship. But, even during her life of luxury, I am told that she preferred simplicity in her actions and her attitude.

Her simplicity manifested in her language, in her cooking, in her daily practices in the shrine at home and the local temple. A cup of water, a fresh flower, a tulsi (holy basil) leaf, a soft prayer was all she used and needed to express her belief, her devotion and her faith. Her great wisdom was held close to her heart, and she only spoke in metaphors and parables in her native tongue when it was absolutely necessary to impart some deep truth. I can scarcely ever remember raising her voice to anyone, even though us grandkids were often more than a handful on many an occasion in her small home.

I often wondered how one could possibly live their entire lives in the embrace of such simplicity by choice, and yet accomplish so much and be so loved by so many who came in contact with her. Twenty or so years after having met her over a few days on our visit to India, my good friend here in the USA still talks fondly about her grace. Her love was expressed through her simple greeting as soon as you walked through the door. Age may hae bent her frame and caused her hands to shake. But it rarely ever stopped her from asking us, her grandchildren, as soon as we walked into her home – what do you want to eat and drink, as she made her way out the door, clutching her cloth satchel, to the local market. We learnt quickly that ‘nothing to eat’ was not a good answer. For then she would return with a whole smorgasboard of cookies!

Deep down within, we all have probably known people in our lives who have graced us with their simplicity. It is the path that they walk, and one that they walk of a joyful choosing. There was (and is) an effortless grace in their walking, by which their simplicity forms a deep impression on our heart. The lessons that they taught (and teach) us are living examples of what is possible if we were to (occasionally) choose simplicity too.

These lessons of simplicity are particularly relevant in our increasingly attention-scattered lives. Our dust laden paths of complex interactions and multiplicity of engagements tend to crowd out our innate propensity to simplicity. Oh no. What a complex sentence, yes?! The path to complexity is motivated by societal ‘progress’ and ‘evolution’, and yet it often weighs on our own ‘spiritual’ progress. How much more complexity do we need in our tools, methods and practices, to create simple, inner joy within us? To create better awareness? To connect with our soul consciousness? Is our simple commitment to a focus on the heart not enough?

Maybe we can return to, rediscover, revisit the gift of simplicity. It will take some effort to take the first few steps, to wean us away from the inertia of the walking the ego’s self-created path of complexity. What will determine whether we take that step to simplicity? Therein lies a decision. As @JanetNestor said in her beautiful GLOW webinar for #heartfulness this morning – will we decide to “Just Be” and rediscover the simple beauty of our “Spark of Life”?

Before I close, I say namaste to Grandma. Thank you for all those fresh treats that you bought for us from the stores at every visit. And yet, the ones I remember best are the simple ones that were cooked by your shaking hands, moved by your loving heart, straight from your kitchen. I have truly lived your simplicity because I ate so many of those brown-sugar-and-clarified-butter-encrusted flat-breads that came straight off of your cast-iron griddle.

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Please join us for our weekly gathering of the #SpiritChat community on twitter – Sunday, August 12 at 9amET USA / 630pm IST India. We will chat about simplicity and its role, its relevance in our lives. Namaste.

Simplicity on the Path (Rocky River Reservation, Cleveland OH)

On Traveling Light

Tags

journey, lightness, travel

The metaphor of traveling is often used to describe our passage through daily living, and our lives in general. Some folks take naturally to traveling, and even have a strong affinity and liking to it, while others are more ‘meh’ about the whole idea. Regardless of our preferences for travel itself, our experiences have taught us that ‘traveling light’ is much easier than traveling with ‘excess baggage’.

In the life-metaphor context, traveling light takes much practice. A lot of it. We tend to accumulate, to collect, to even hoard things like feelings, experiences, judgements, rejections and much more. Every so often, even on a single day that might have started off on a ‘light-hearted’ and upbeat mode for us, we find ourselves ‘weighed down’ by the end of the day. Sometimes we barely reach mid-morning and we are already ‘traveling heavy’. Have you ever had this experience? Have you ever wondered why?

It is easy to assign blame to the external world when we feel ‘weighed down’. Then again, the world is relatively agnostic to our inner state, i.e. our traveling preferences. The outer world provides us with all kinds of opportunities – both positive and negative – that can help us subtract from or add to our cumulative traveling weight. For example, the choice to take a short, brisk walk outside at some point in our day is as much available to most of us, as is the choice not to take that walk. In this case, our choice will determine whether we lighten our load or not.

What are some other daily life choices that can ehlp us lighten our load and travel light? Here are a few choices to consider…

1. Invoke Joy. When the world begins to weigh heavy on us with its demands, we can remind ourselves to invoke Joy in our heart. “I choose to do this with Joy” can instantly lighten our load.

2. Grow your Peace. When the world swamps us with its heaviness through discord and dissonance, we can choose to continue to plant seeds of peace within. This is where our commitment to our daily (spiritual) practice(s) can play a significant part.

3. Observe your patterns. Our thoughts, our food intake, our media consumption, our spending habits and more. They can all reveal the ‘traveling habits’ of our lives. Are our patterns trending towards increasing or decreasing complexity? Heaviness or Lightness?

4. Choose your energy footprint. Are we brightening or darkening the space that we enter? Does our presence weigh heavy or light on those we connect with on a daily basis? A quick self-check of our heart-state can often inform us if it is light or heavy. Rest assured that it is that very heart-state that becomes our energy footprint.

I am sure that you can think of many more choices that put you in a ‘light’ state of travel. The more aware we are of these choices, the better our odds of ‘traveling light’. And when we choose to travel light, those around us appreciate us more, we enjoy the journey more, and we arrive rested and relaxed!

Namaste, and happy travels!

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Please join me and the #SpiritChat community as we explore ‘Traveling Light’ – Sunday, December 3rd at 9amEST / 2pm UTC / 7:30pm IST on twitter. Thank you!

‘Traveling Light’ on a walk through the local Metroparks…

Our Freedom Journey – What’s Your Story?

Tags

freedom, journey, stories

Sleeping in – Will Today’s Journey Even Begin?

It’s Saturday morning and I am half-awake, Lazing in bed, hoping to catch a few extra minutes of sleep before I get going. I know what time it is by looking out the bedroom window at the amount of sunlight reflecting off of the trees laden with leaves. Just to make sure, I flip over the phone. It’s six twenty nine. I really have nowhere to be this morning, and I have already missed the pre-sunrise window’ to ‘sit’. Sleep a bit more, I tell myself. Everyone else in the house is still fast asleep…

Setting Up for the Journey

The next time my eye opens, the phone says it’s five past seven. (No, I do not have a ‘real’ clock in my room. I have tried that, and it made a ‘clock-watcher’ out of me. So, it now sits in the bedside drawer). Now, it’s decision time. I am either going to literally drag myself out of bed and ‘sit’, or… well, there is really no alternative. Today’s journey needs to begin ‘right’. So, in the next few minutes, I am all set up on my favorite handloom-woven mat, my back-pillow and my blanket. One final glance at the phone sets the beginning time for me. It is twelve past seven. I am ready for today’s freedom journey. I begin with a ‘full-body’ relaxation, sitting in a cross-legged pose, grounded.

Energy surge – Sitting up

Grounding is an essential part of this freedom journey. Some days, that comes through physical connection to the earth. Some days, it comes from this current that flows through you. Today, it was both.
I ‘told myself’ to sit up straight as I began, and almost immediately, the energy flow started from the ground up. This ‘double-grounding’ was very welcome, as I had begun today’s journey with a very low physical energy level – sleepy and a bit grumpy – but that was soon to be history. The grounding flow continued. It was as if Mother Earth had opened up a special geyser, just for me – I could tell that this was going to be a special journey. But wait. What’s this? My thought orchestra was also being energized, drawing from this energy boost, Tuning up! What am I supposed to do now? Help! Anyone?

Give me sixty seconds

No sooner had I ‘asked for help’, that the guide appeared. I have done this before, so I knew that a response would be forthcoming. Over time, I have trained myself not to be shy or afraid to ‘ask for help’ when needed. I am among those who no longer believes that I can negotiate all the obstacles on my own, be my own guide. Today, I needed help to ‘tone down’ the orchestra a bit, or at least harmonize the different instruments. “Give me sixty seconds,” – came the response – “of silence uninterrupted by thought.”

Sixty seconds of uninterrupted thought? That’s it. That should be easy peasy. Here we go.

I am not sure how long it took me to string together sixty seconds, but the only way I could do it was to countup to sixty. One thousand one, one thousand two… and so on. One thousand sixty. Well, that didn’t work. Let’s go again. Finally, there was a countup where I did not make it past thirty… I was immersed. Then I seemed to be dissolved . And all that was ‘left’ was my grounded connection to Mother Earth. Aha. Maybe that is why ‘grounding’ is important – so that you can ‘return’.

On the return, among a sense of serene light, I was asked – see what happens when you ask for help, sit still to receive, and give the sixty seconds you are asked for?

Sixty seconds – Reprise

I figured I was all done with today’s journey. But, before I opened my eyes, I wanted to relax out of the journey – slowly. So I did a very slow count – again to sixty – one thousand one, one thousand two, and so on. I tried to slow down the count as much as I could, but finally, there I was. One thousand and sixty. That’s all.

I opened my eyes, searched around me for my phone, flipped it over, and glanced at the time. Twelve minutes past eight.

I had journeyed into freedom for exactly sixty minutes.

Even though I had ‘given away’ sixty seconds when asked, they had been returned to me. As sixty minutes. A pretty good return on investment, don’t you think?

Kumud @AjmaniK

The Story Continues – #SpiritChat Sunday July 10th

The story above is part of my freedom journey for today. Journaled immediately at journey’s end. Mostly unedited. What’s your story? Will you share a bit of it with us? Where did you begin? Where are you now? Whom are you traveling with? Who have you become? Where are you going? What is your biggest distraction? Who or what inspires you to continue? What ‘bridges’ have helped you on the way? If so inclined to share, do join us, Sunday June 10th 2016 at 9amET/1pmUTC in #SpiritChat on twitter. I will host on the topic of “Our Freedom Journey” as we continue the theme of #Freedom for July. Thank you for reading. Peace and love to you and your friends and family. Namaste.

Bridge in Rocky River Reservation (photo by @AjmaniK)

Spirituality – The Journey Home

Tags

home, journey, spiritchat, spirituality

A few weeks before I actually made the (very short) trip to India in mid-January, I had stumbled upon a TED talk by Pico Iyer titled – “Where is Home”. There was something about that question posed by him that got me thinking more than usual in the context of this particular trip “home”… Why?

I was born in India, moved to the USA in my twenties, went to graduate school in Virginia, moved to Ohio, have extended family in Brazil and India… you get the picture. I am sure that some, if not a lot of you, have had similar journeys in the course of your lives. While some of you may feel perfectly at “home” where you currently reside, some of you may often wonder – “where is home”?

But before we explore this question further, there is perhaps another equally important question to consider – why is this concept or notion of “home” even important? Is it because the idea of “home” somehow establishes a fundamental identity for us, in the form of “roots”? Or is it something that connects us to our childhood, our upbringing, our culture and our values? Is this idea of “home” even relevant in this world that is becoming rapidly mobile?

So, once we establish why the concept of “home” is important to us, we can go back to examining the original question – “where is home”? We often hear the adage – “home is where the heart is”. If true, it begs the question – “where is our heart” – in the emotional, psychological and spiritual sense of the word. Or, perhaps, I should expand that question to ask – “where is our heart, and where does it feel the most full of love”? Is that the question that we should be really asking?

If it may seem that I am suggesting that the idea of a physical home is not as important as the notion of a spiritual home, you are partly correct. While a physical home, and our identification with it may be important, it is perhaps our spiritual “home”, and our journey to it, that is perhaps more significant. It is that journey, along the path of spirited action, inspired by knowledge, fueled with our higher dreams, that will perhaps lend true meaning and purpose to our lives.

I invite you to join the #spiritchat community on this journey – Sunday January 26th at 9am ET. We will meet on twitter, and have a conversation about “home”.

Namaste!

Kumud

P.S. As I left the USA for India, I had this feeling that I was leaving one home to travel to another home. As I made the return trip, I had the exact same feeling. I realized that I was carrying this notion of “home” with me – have you ever felt that way?

http://embed.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_where_is_home.html

The #storify summary of the chat can be found at http://storify.com/ajmanik/spirituality-the-journey-home and the questions are listed below. A full, complete transcript is also available at the hashtracking site (2125 tweets, 534 contributors, 36.2M timeline deliveries, 3.00M reach). Enjoy!
Enjoy!

Ready? Q1. Can you describe the sights, sounds, feeling(s) of #Home? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427442356208824320

On to Q2. Why is this notion of #home even important in today’s mobile, changing world? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427443985385529344

Q3. Can the idea of #home be a moment in time? Or a person? Or… #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427445894624321536

Q4. We can never leave home – Maya Angelou. We can never go home – Thomas Wolfe. So, which is it?? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427447371656462336

Q5. Do you relate to the notion of a spiritual #home? Is yes, what is it? If no, why not? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427449096907923457

Q6. How does “letting go” help us on our journey to our spiritual home? What else helps? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427450578835214336

Q7. On your spiritual journey home, what important discoveries have you made? Do share 🙂 #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427452296058773504

Q8. What message(s) would you send to those feeling (a bit) lost on their journey home…? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/427453526017441792

Equanimity and Simplicity on the Path

Tags

equanimity, journey, path, simplicity, spirit, spiritchat

We kicked off our second year of weekly discussions in SpiritChat in the month of August as we discussed the spirit of equanimity – what it means to us, how we practice it, the connection between equanimity and inner peace, and more. One thread that emerged from this discussion was that the continual development of equanimity is an important part of spiritual progress, and goes beyond mental calmness. The takeaway (reflection) question from this week was:

What practical steps can we take to strengthen our equanimity in the coming week?

The second topic for August was the simplicity and the spirit. This topic addressed the importance of us developing an attitude of voluntary simplicity and an exploration of how that influences our spiritual growth. The major thread that emerged from this discussion was that voluntary simplicity requires concrete action, and that simple action steps can put us on the path towards greater simplicity. Our takeaway question from this discussion was:

What action steps will you take towards greater simplicity in the future?

The third Sunday of August was a discussion about our spiritual journey, our spiritual path in life. This topic brought out some interesting perspectives in that some folks believed that the path emerges as we move forward, while others stated that a firm foundation and guidelines which define the path are necessary before we undertake the journey. What do you think? Here was the takeaway question from this topic:

What area of your spiritual journey needs the most work? How will you work it?

So, that brings us to the final Sunday in August – as has become our tradition, the final Sunday of the month is when we look back at the month’s discussions, weave them together, and lay the ground-work to look forward to the month to come. Is there a connection between equanimity, simplicity and the spiritual journey we all are undertaking? Well, of course there is! But what are the specifics of this connection? What can we learn from it and how can this connection help us as we move forward on the journey?

I invite you to join us in SpiritChat on Sunday, August 26th at 9am ET / 1pm GMT / 2pm UK / 6:30pm IST to reflect on the month of August and plan for the month of September.

May our journeys be peaceful as we embrace equanimity and simplicity.

Kumud

P.S. I invite you to send me your questions or add them in the comments below – I would love to include them in future conversations. Thank you!

Update: Here is the – link to the transcript for Sunday Aug 26th chat. The questions (as they evolved during the chat) are listed below:

Ready? Q1. Why is equanimity important to our spiritual life? Or is it? #SpiritChat

Q2. What are some sources that increase/decrease your equanimity? #SpiritChat  

Q3. What is the relationship between equanimity and simplicity? #SpiritChat 

Q4. Did you take any steps towards more simplicity recently? In what way? #SpiritChat 

Q5. How do simplicity and/or equanimity fuel your spiritual journey? #SpiritChat

Q6. Describe your spiritual path in seven words. #SpiritChat 

Q7. What area of your path are you planning to focus on more in September? How? #SpiritChat 

The Journey of the Spirit

Tags

journey, path, spirit, spiritchat, travel

Summer is always a season when families (and individuals) tend to take some time off to relax, unwind and spend some time taking vacations. Some folks may even travel away from home – within the country or overseas – to explore new lands and destinations and engage in the joy of discovery. It can be an educational experience indeed to encounter new or different cultures with their unique perspective and ways of doing things. Food, clothing, housing, family life, community life – even minor differences between our ways and their ways can be an enriching experience for us.

The journey that our minds and hearts make as we travel, influence our inner core – our spirit – in different ways too. Some of us find inspiration in the mountains, while some may find it near the water. Some may find it in the simple things close to home, some may have to travel tens of thousands of miles to find it. Some may find it in solitude while some may find it amongst crowds of people. 

Whatever the case may be, our travels on the outside perhaps reflect, in some way, the journey that our inner spirit is seeking to make. Our spirit may have found its path, or it may still be in the process of seeking the path. Have you found the path that nourishes your spirit? How do we know when the path that our spirit has chosen is right for us? What recent “sights” have you discovered in your spiritual journey? What “travel tools” does your spirit use or need on its journey? Do you have a “road-map” for your journey with a destination in mind?

Join the #SpiritChat community on Sunday August 19th at our regular time of 9am ET / 2pm UK / 6:30 India as we explore some of these questions and examine our spiritual paths and the journey…

As always, travel well!

Kumud

Update: Transcript for #SpiritChat chat held from 9-10amET Sun Aug 19th. http://bit.ly/sc-tr-0819 . Here are the questions asked during the live chat. Feel free to respond in the comments. Thank you!

Ready? Q1. What does the phrase - to be on a spiritual journey - mean to you? #SpiritChat

Q2. Do we need a specific spiritual path or not? Why or why not? #SpiritChat  

Q3. What specific practices (sign-posts) help you along your journey? In what way? #SpiritChat 

Q4. What is most important fuel for your spirit - knowledge, action or faith? Why? #SpiritChat 

Q5. When you feel you are at a spiritual crossroads, what moves you forward? #SpiritChat

Q6. What insights has your spiritual journey revealed to you recently? #SpiritChat 

Q7. How does community impact your spiritual journey? Or do you walk alone? #SpiritChat 

Final Q8. What area of your spiritual journey needs the most work? How will you work it? #SpiritChat