Do You Remember?

Tags

clarity, memory, mental health, mind matters, nutrition, purity, remembrance

As I was doing some early spring cleaning of the audio recordings on my phone, I came across a Vedanta lecture titled “Do You Remember?” from a 2017 visit by Swami Tyagananda to Cleveland. I remember his visit clearly, and the impact it had on me, and so, in this week of remembrance of my Mother’s transition, I decided to listen again. Allow me to share some highlights from the talk.

The phrase ‘Do you remember?’ was often used as a greeting by a particular senior monk when he met other monks. The question served as a reminder to the monks — to think back to their energy, enthusiasm and idealism when they first decided to become a monk. Of course, the analogy can be extended to us – do we remember the excitement when we first stepped into a project, relationship or spiritual journey in our lives? How does our current enthusiasm compare with that of when we began?

The opposite of remembrance is forgetfulness. What makes us forget? Let us examine. As humans, we tend to form attachments because they make us feel more safe, give us security. With attachments, come desires and expectations – we want people to act and behave in certain ways. When these desires aren’t met, we tend to respond with irritation, and then anger. Anger changes us, and causes us to act in ways contrary to our nature — we can become anger itself. Anger creates delusion — a state of mind where we lose awareness, forget what is appropriate, forget how to live and how to think.

This is the process of forgetfulness according to the Bhagavad Gita. Attachment, unfulfilled desires, anger, delusion, forgetfulness, loss of memory — we forget who we are. So how does one strengthen the memory and the mind? We strengthen the awareness of what we feed our mind. We are often very mindful of physical health, and the quality and purity of what we feed our body. The mind-body connection also gives us feedback from our mind about what we are feeding the body.

But what about what we are feeding the other senses that directly feed our mind? What is the purity and quality of the books we read, the media we consume, the conversations with our friends and family, and such? In order to strengthen the mind, the mind needs our commitment to purity in all the ways we feed it. It is that daily commitment through our spiritual practices, of awareness of the ‘junk food’ we feed our mind, that will help keep the mind in good health and keep our memory strong. With a strong memory, we won’t easily yield to delusion, anger, desires and attachments, because we will have clarity of mind. With clarity of mind, remembrance of our values, our principles, our purpose, and our path, will become our lifestyle.

May our practices be such that they yield an unqualified Yes to the question – ‘Do you remember your true Self?’

Namaste.

Kumud

P.S. Join us in our weekly twitter chat with the #SpiritChat community, Sunday February 20 at 9amET / 730pm India. I will remember to bring tea and questions – you bring the cookies! – @AjmaniK

The rose – a great example of the mind and its thorns…

A New Spiritual Clarity

Tags

clarity, exercise, nutrition, spring, stress

It isn’t very often these days that I sleep much past first light. My mental clock is set to wake me up around 6am on most days, and I often switch off my 6am alarm at 5:59am. The one exception seems to be Saturday mornings, when I often tend to get an extra hour of sleep…

Such was the case this morning where my wake up call (at 7:15am) was the sound of migrating geese arriving in the open field and lake by my house. I have noticed over time that their arrivals usually coincides with sunrise, or just after. I checked while writing this post… sunrise today at my location was 7:08am. The forest behind my home at that hour was virtually invisible – fogged over by the cold front that crept in during the night…

Our mental and spiritual fog usually descends on us in a similar way. Silently, quietly, surreptitiously, as our inner temperature changes with respect to, and often in response to, the outer stimulus of life, a mist descends. The quicker our inner environmental change (due to sudden loss, trauma, pain, or any extreme emotion, even happiness), the greater the thickness of the fog seems to be.

The result of inner fog is that we may be forced to seek clarity. We may need to pause on the path, for we are unable to see the forest for the trees. If we don’t take some action, any action, the inner fog may keep thickening, to the point that we are unable to see the hand in front of our face. Now, we are at a complete inner standstill. Some call this a mental or nervous or spiritual breakdown.

So, what can we do on a regular basis, so that we do not come to a complete standstill? We know that the rising sun is nature’s answer to burn off the fog. So, what would be the equivalent of the “rising sun” for us to resolve our inner fog? But sometimes, nature needs our help, particularly when fog is converted to smog. The solution may lie in “clean(er) living”, so that we are in harmony with nature, instead of (temperature) conflict…

In the book, “Better Brain Solution”, Steven Malsey suggests three pro-active things we can do for better mental health. I share them with you, as they seem like “common sense” approaches that can help us improve spiritual clarity.

1. Better nutrition

– Choose to eat better. Yes, I joke a lot about “cookies” in #SpiritChat – let us talk about “better” cookies. Oatmeal, anyone?! Or do we need to totally ditch the cookeis?! Better Nutrition. More Clarity.

2. Better exercise

– No, we don’t need to become Olympic athletes. It may be as simple as a choice to get moving. Most of us move a lot less during the day than we think we do. This is where technology can help us. Regular reminders like “it is time to stand” have created a new awareness about moving for me. Better Movement. More Clarity.

3. Better stress management

– This is third leg of the Clarity stool. It is often in disrepair, and perhaps the most neglected part of our Clarity strategy. This is where the “fog rolls in” and we come to a standstill. The good news is that better nutrition and exercise contribute to lowering stress! Add a daily, non-negotiable meditation practice to the mix, and watch clarity appear. Better Stress. More Clarity!

What do you think? Have you experienced periods of mental and spiritual fog? How do you prevent regular occurrences of fogginess? How do you “lift the fog” when it descends on you? What are your sources and resources for Better Clarity? Which of the three areas mentioned above do you need to work on NOW?!

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. I invite you to join us to discuss ‘A New Clarity’ – Sunday, February 25th 2018 at 9amET/2pmUTC on twitter. Namaste, and thank you, for contributing your ideas for clarity to the #SpiritChat community -Kumud

Seeking Clarity on the Path…

On Spiritual Nutrition

Tags

food, nutrition, purity, spirituality

We often hear the adage that “we are what we eat”. If we believe that there is any truth in this adage, it is perhaps useful to (occasionally) examine “what we eat”. If we can honestly examine our “eating habits”, we can correlate our observations to our moods, our energy levels and our general health. An examination may reveal answers to questions like “who are we”? What are we eating? What nutrition is our ‘food’ providing us? Are our ‘food’ habits sustainable for the health of the individual, for our communities, for planet Earth?

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

The relationship that we have with food is indeed complex. It is influenced by our upbringing and what we were fed as children. The eating habits formed during childhood can be difficult to change in adulthood. It is often a health crisis or the onset of a chronic illness, accompanied by chronic pain, that may pull us towards change. However, food and nutrition are often neglected in the healing cycle in favor of modern medical intervention. We often pay scarce attention to the nutritional profile of our food as a link to illness.

Growing up in India, a large part of my diet – almost 99% of it – was based on fruits, milk, vegetables and plant based products. As a resident of the USA, the balance of my food habits shifted. I often oscillated between ‘pure vegetarian’, ‘no red-meat’, ‘chicken and fish only’ and (currently) back to ‘100% vegetarian’. It has been a long journey, but I can say with reasonable certainty that I feel most at ‘home’ with my current ways of eating. My energy level and overall health, not to mention my emotional and mental well-being seem to be uplifted, ever since I returned home to my ‘eating roots’.

But what does ‘food and nutrition’ have to do with spirituality? It is no secret that if we eat well and feel physically well, it can have a remarkable impact on our spiritual practice. It is very tough to focus, to meditate, when the mind is being attacked by (physical and emotional) pain signals. In addition, the states of health of our immediate family members affect our ability to create time and space for spiritual practice(s). Our state of health affects all those we are connected to. Our personal ability to maintain a good state of health frees up community resources, and we lighten our ‘footprint’ on the planet.

Please indulge me as I ask some ‘nutrition’ questions. What is the state of the quality, the vitality, the purity of our food and nutrition intake? Are we mindful of the impact of our consumption habits on our own selves? How much awareness do we have of the sustainability of our (re)sources? What aspect(s) of our ‘nutrition’ could we change to make ourselves feel physically, mentally, emotionally (and spiritually) better TODAY?

As is often the case, asking one question leads to many. The ‘easy’ way out is to simply bury that one question. But you didn’t read this far to take the ‘easy way out’, did you? Your well being, the well being of your family, your community, of the planet depends on asking the question – what am I eating?

Ask the question. Keep a ‘log’ of the answers. Change one habit. Observe. Ask the question again. Compare with your previous answers. If you observe a positive change, change another habit. Repeat the observation. Who knows. In the short span of a few months, you could create a “circle of health excellence” around you.

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. I want to acknowledge and express gratitude to @VegyPower on twitter, who inspired me to return to the 100% vegetarian habit about two years ago. Thank you. Please follow them, if you aren’t already. If you are in the Chicago area, please visit the upcoming @VeggieFest (August 12th and 13th). And yes, do join the #SpiritChat community on twitter, Sunday August 7th as we ask some questions about Spirituality and Nutrition. Perhaps this topic will become the theme for the month of August. Namaste.

Planet Earth Blooms. Keep it blooming!

Let us walk lightly, gently…