Connecting with Calmness

Tags

calmness, creativity, energy, peace, serenity

It takes calmness to produce stillness in a way that makes the mist rise in a surreal way on the lake on an unusually cold, final day of September, as the leaves seem to fast forward into their journey of color change.

It takes calmness to decide whether one’s leap is going to be long enough to fjord the puddle at the bottom of the hill, so that one may not have to walk with wet socks for a large portion of the walk.

It takes calmness to notice that the mist is rising faster off of the lake with every few passing minutes as the sun rises among the trees, scattering gold among the leaves as it stretches towards the blue firmament holding flocks of migrating geese.

It takes calmness to confirm that the two objects you saw at a distance, submerged in the mist on the lake surface, and thought to be a pair of ducks, are indeed so — scattering them to the other shore as they sense you approaching them.

And as you stand there at the end of the walk, with the sun now finally fully risen above the tree line, as it shines in all its glory and warms your face, tears up your eyes with its loving intensity, it dawns on you that it is difficult to separate its streaming rays scattering the ether from the mist that is rising off of the lake. The mist that is coming out of your mouth with every breath is part of the same calmness.

You turn around in place to perambulate about the axis of peace that runs vertically through you, and notice your shadow becoming shorter with every complete circle. You are now chanting the invocations that describe the qualities of beauty, peace, protection, serenity and much more that celebrate the energy of the divine feminine – Shakti. She manifests her great power only when necessary, but when she does manifest it, the worlds are realigned towards the merger of existence with a new consciousness of calmness and bliss within.

So what is it that truly calms you, connects you with peace, brings awareness of the divine to your heart? After the storms of life perturb your energy state, how do you revert to the energy of calmness? What does the energy state of calmness help you create?

It is said that calmness is our ‘natural state of being’, and that it manifests through a sense of greater equilibrium within. If so, calmness sounds and feels like a wonderful state for the heart to reside in, doesn’t it?

May we find a home there. Peace.

Kumud

Join us for our weekly gathering and conversation on twitter with the #SpiritChat community, Sunday Oct 2 at 9amET / 1pmGMT. We will connect and share our calmness with each other. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Bridges have a special ability to connect us with calmness, don’t they?

Messengers of Peace

Tags

celebration, peace, remembrance, spirituality

I decided to change course, and return to one of my favorite birding trails for my weekly Friday morning walk. Although it is less than ten minutes from my home, I hadn’t been there since spring. Now, with autumn at our doorstep and the migratory season underway, I figured it would have some new gifts of peace for me.

Two things typically happen when I step into the walking and birding trails in the various reservations around my town. First, and almost instantly, a sense of peace embraces me for it feels like I’m transported back into a cocoon of grace. Second, and this can take a few minutes, the poetry and prose muse returns and gets me writing. As I walk, I do my best to gather the messages that the messengers send my way in my memory, so that none may get lost.

Today’s first message was from the bridge spannning the pond covered with thick green algae. The excessive rain this summer has created such dense foliage and shrubbery everywhere that the bridge was barely visible from the trail. And yet, its welcome was as warm as always. And so, I did the ritual that I often do midway through every bridge crossing. I chanted an invocation, a mantra, asking for peace to radiate to all of humanity. Sarve bhavantu sukhinah. May all be at peace.

The bridge led me to the major section of the trail which winds its way through a canopy of woods. The sun was rising slowly and there was plenty of opportunity to simply stand and stare every so often for a few minutes at the play of orange and yellow streaks backlighting the leaves. Another peace chant. Bhumi mangalam, Vayu mangalam, Gagan mangalam. May the earth, wind and skies be filled with peace and prosperity.

The half or so mile under the canopy opens up into a trail that is flanked by two huge bodies of marshy water. Giant egrets, standing as still as the Sun in the sky, dotted the waterscape on both sides. Parts of the marsh had been taken over by natural fields filled with yellow flowers. Another peace chant followed. May the peace of the fauna and the flora find its way to us.

On my way back through the canopy, I asked myself the question – does nature instill new peace within me or does it serve to remove the clouds that often form the canopy that block my view of the peace within me? Perhaps nature is the mirror that reflects, maybe amplifies the level of peace that we bring to her. Our perceived lack of peace is perhaps merely our heart looking for someone to listen to us with love, and make us aware of all the prose and poetry that we already carry within us.

No matter the medium, the messengers and messages often repeat themselves. Truth. Kindness. Silence. Stillness. Joy. Consciousness. All the messages are simply reminders that all of the Peace that we need or desire is already within us.

May we remember.

Kumud

Join us on International Day of Peace, Sunday Sep 19 at 9amET / 630pm India for our weekly gathering on Twitter. Bring your message of Peace to share with the #SpiritChat community. Namaste ~ @AjmaniK

Nature’s Messengers… radiating peace…

Towards Peace Supreme

Tags

justice, peace, source, spirituality, supreme

Monday, September 21 was the observance of the International Day of Peace (IDP) sponsored by the United Nations and celebrated with various events held by organizations across the world.

I became aware of IDP through the Heartfulness organization’s effort called “Connect for Peace”, whose goal was to connect 40 million people in meditation over a period of 24 hours on that day. In order to understand “what does peace mean?” to different people (kids, athletes, change makers, spiritual leaders and more), a video of responses was compiled and shared (see link in the footer… highly recommended)

So, what does peace mean to you? How and when and where do you best experience it? How often do you seemingly lose it and how do you restore it? How can we experience Supreme peace, and be established in its awareness in the majority of the moments of our daily lives?

Some of you may have heard the story of the monk getting ready to meditate by the river bank who sees a scorpion drowning in its effort to swim. The monk picks up the scorpion from the shallow water, and as she is about to put him down on dry land, the scorpion stings her. The monk is unperturbed, and gets ready to meditate again. The scorpion wades into the water again, starts drowning. The monk rescues it again, and gets stung again. When this happens a third time, an observer sitting by the bank cannot resist asking the monk – why do you keep rescuing the drowning scorpion when all it does is keep stinging you in return for your kindness?

The monk replied – the scorpion, one of apparently much lower awareness than me, is holding true to its nature, which is to sting. I, of higher awareness, ought to also hold true to my nature, and which is to be kind and perform kind actions, don’t you think? Why would I give up my peace, my serenity, my stillness, my Dharma (way of being) in response to the scorpion’s sting?

Such is the nature of our living in the world. The world stings us when we do kind things. Let us not forget that sometimes we may be the scorpions – maybe not in action, but with our thoughts and words. Often, the stings are unprovoked, undeserved, unexpected, unjust and unfair. How do we respond?

We respond to the stings of the world in accordance with our height of inner awareness and depth of inner peace. We are not all monks (yet), but some of us are on the path to becoming aware again, remembering again that supreme peace is our intrinsic nature. By associating with those people, places and practices that evoke peace within us, we connect with our peace within. Through regular connection with supreme peace, we raise our awareness to the point where we lose our sting, and the world, our mirror, loses its sting too.

Have you ever wondered why new born babies tend to make everyone around them happy? One reason is perhaps that the new born is still immersed in its connection with the peace supreme. The newborn hasn’t had an opportunity to forget that It is That or that That is all there Is. The newborn isn’t questioning whether it is the drop or the wave or the ocean. It is simply being peace.

That is the state of newborn peace which our spiritual practices can return us to. When you and I practice peace, we contribute to creating supreme peace for all of us. Why create peace? Peace creates a channel to convey natural justice based on natural law and order, which is indeed supreme.

Spirituality teaches me that peace supreme is above all and within all. There is no journey towards it, because I am already there. It is infinite, and that is enough for me. How about you?

Kumud

P.S. Join us in our weekly community gathering on Twitter with #SpiritChat folks – Sunday, Sep 27 at 9amET. We will gather in peace and play with some questions and answers. Namaste – @AjmaniK

YouTube link for compilation of answers to “What does peace mean to you?” – https://youtu.be/TEKSFltSsvs

When the bee meets a flower – Peace flows Supreme

On Inviting Peace

Tags

inner peace, invitation, peace

It had been a more than usually stressful drive to work that morning. It seemed like one of those days that folks were determined to do their best to annoy me with their driving antics. The closer I got to my exit, the more my inner temperature and dissonance was rising. And my ride to work is perhaps a walk on the park as compared to some folks who have long commutes in bumper to bumper traffic.

As I headed onto the exit ramp, a thought crossed my mind. What if, I were to experiment with not letting traffic annoy me so much? What if, I were to simply let people flow in and out of my path, and simply be witness to their journey? How much emotional energy would I possibly conserve by choosing to remain on my island – the very same island of peace that I often began my journey to work on?

And hence, I began the process of being a witness to the peaks and valleys that my inner peace traversed on a daily basis.

If I were to ask you – when is the last time that you accepted an invitation from peace – what would you say? Or, when is the last time that you extended an invitation to peace?

There are so many reasons that we get distracted from our Inherent peaceful nature. When we experience a truly restful sleep, it is because we have been in reconnection with this deep inner peace. The mere act of living in the world around us, the daily tugs and pulls of life, of relationships, of expectations, of our emotions, of our to-do lists and our goals and deliverables – can drain our peace. We feel the need to refill and reconnect with peace again.

How do we reconnect and refill?

There is an Inbuilt awareness in each one of us which Informs us that peace Is. Peace Is ours if we decide to accept, yield to Its Invitation. Peace Is in the knowing that in every Instance that It trends away from me, I can Invite It to return. Peace Is like breath. In every breath that leaves me, is Inherent the Invitation to breathe It back within. Peace is hence the thread of Life Itself.

So, let me ask you to consider your response in the next Instant in which you are presented the peace choice…

What will It take for you to Imagine, Invite, Immerse In, Invoke, Inspire and Incentivize peace? Will you decide to make peace Imminent or will you decide to postpone it?

Take your time. I will wait for your answer. But don’t hold your breath (or your answer) for too long.

Peace is your Invitation to receive, yours to receive, and then give away. Breathe deep. Inhale it. Then exhale it.

I invite you to make Peace your IAP – your Individual Action Plan. Will you declare that #IAmPeace?

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. It has been two weeks since I decided to be witness to the peace disrupters of my daily travels. Gradually, I have yielded a bit more space, slowed down or sped up to facilitate easier merging, changed lanes in anticipation, and more. My daily commute is becoming more peaceful by the day. There are trips when my peace island departs and arrives, virtually undisturbed.

What area(s) of your daily activity could benefit from an invitation to peace? Are there any relationships that could use a peace invite? Could you be a third-party agent to invite others to the table of peace?

Join us Sunday, March 31 at 9am EDT / 1pm UTC / 630pm India, to discuss #IAmPeace. A cup of tea and some cookies await you. Namaste – Kumud.

The sunset’s daily “invitation to peace”

On Passion and Peace

Tags

passion, peace, practice, purpose

What is my foremost passion in life right now?

Some of us can instantly answer that question. Others may need some reflection to arrive at an answer. Regardless of which category you may find yourself in, it may be useful to try and define the word…

passion: a strong or barely controlled emotion… a state or outburst of strong emotion

The thesaurus suggests some synonyms as fervor, ardor, enthusiasm, fieriness, zeal, spiritedness and fanaticism. It seems clear that our passion, whatever it may be, has the ability to connect us to a relatively high state of energy, action, and emotion. Passion also has the ability to bring us to the edge of, the tipping point of energetic balance in our lives, and leave us there. It can almost seem like the edge of a precipice on our journey.

Whether we go towards higher plateaus in life or fall off the precipice, perhaps depends on our ability to remain focused on our purpose. We have a choice. We can use the energy of our passion to lead us towards the higher ground of compassion. Or we can let the strong emotion of unbridled passion lead us towards anger. We are all familiar with what compassion can produce. So, let us examine what anger creates…

Anger creates a state that steals our Joy. It is like the autumn wind that makes the garden barren. When Joy leaves, we lose perspective. We tend to find ourselves in inner turmoil, as we find that peace is departing too. Anger fueled by frustration, lack of control, leads the passion train. Joy and Peace follow the anger engine. And before we know it, our entire inner emotional train has derailed. The casualties are many.

So, how do we position ourselves so that, at the edge of the emotional passion precipice, we can move towards compassion instead of anger? I believe that it is through practice. With observation comes learning. Repeated and regular observation of our passion(s) and their propensity can become our personal practice. With practice, we can learn how to turn the energy of passion — away from the feelings of unfulfillment, undeservedness, unlovedness, and their likes.

In that great turning away from the precipice, we can then use passion to walk our path of purpose, upwards towards the summit, with joy in every step. And before we know it, the nature’s justice will have returned our gardens and valleys to spring-like bloom. Passion would have then produced three things worthy of celebration – Peace. Peace. Peace.

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. What’s your take on passion and peace? Share with us in the comments below. We also invite you to join our weekly twitter chat on Sunday, December 10th at 9amET/730pmIST in #SpiritChat ~ Do join us!

Walking the Cuyahoga Valley – a celebrated passion of mine…

Peace as a Spiritual Practice

Tags

peace, spiritchat, spiritual practice, spirituality

There is an unmistakable hint of autumn in the air this morning. As a matter of fact, it is more than a hint. There is a definiteness of purpose in the breeze as it rustles the leaves on the trees who have enjoyed an extra-long stay on the branches due to the grace of a longer than normal summer. Most of the leaves are still adamantly green, steadfastly oblivious of the cycle of nature that is imminently at their doorstep.

Watching this play of wind, earth and clear-blue sky that is pure as the driven snow that is yet to come brings a wonderful sense of peace to my being. The serenity seems to merge well with the theme of peace observed as the “International Day of Peace” earlier this week by the United Nations. In this moment, as I sit here and write, this is my reality. However, in the moment that you read this, your reality may be far from the peaceful easy feeling that I currently am feeling.

So, let me step back and acknowledge that we perhaps most appreciate the peace-filled moments in our gardens when we have experienced moments that lacked any semblance of peace. When we are engaged in our ‘daily struggles’, when we watch the pain of those we love, when we hear the despairing cries for justice of those we barely even know – in some or all of those instances, peace may be the furthest thing from our hearts and minds. In fact, we may even question the value of, feel guilty of owning our “inner peace” when it is clear that there are many – sometimes in our own families – who are lacking of it.

In the book, “The Heart’s Code”, the author suggests that we humans tend naturally towards pessimism because that has served us well on the road to survival as a species. So, one may non-scientifically extrapolate that we would be naturally pessimistic about creating “sustainable peace” in our world. If we engage in even a cursory reading of history, the incidences of our less-than-peaceful attitudes and actions towards each other provide enough evidence to support this extrapolation. Current events further seem to support that the idea and ideal of “sustainable peace” may not be the best solution for humanity at large.

The fact is that we are at a crossroads in our journey. On the one side lies the path of (sustained?) disharmony, violence and destruction. The ones who are fighting for justice, for equality, for representation and more seem to have grown weary of waiting for hope to deliver. On the other side, the path of a (fragile?) peace and the voices counseling non-violence, love, patience and more. Which way shall we walk? Or may we need to discover an alternate ‘middle way’?

I propose that we put our natural pessimism on hold. History is replete with examples of those who, even though they may have started their walk down the path of violence, ended their walk on the path of peace. Let the theory of “sustainabile peace” state that if there exists a single instance where a commitment to peace has produced long-term harmony for a family, a community, or a nation – then, yes, peace does have a chance. It may take extraordinary courage and extraordinary spiritual force of leadership to propose a plan, act upon, and maybe even ‘fight’ to remain on the path of peace. Yes, it may take an extraordinary amount of work to create ‘sustainable peace’. But, I ask you. What other alternative is there for the heart to thrive?

Where do we begin? You know the answer. It begins with you and me. The path the ‘sustainable peace’ is to bring back sustainable joy into our heart. I hope that we all have (or are diligently working towards developing) a sustained, consistent, non-negotiable spiritual practice that is positively impacting our inner-peace on a daily basis. For me, it is a combination of meditation, walking in nature, and staying connected with positive energy people (through books, music and community) that help me build a spiritual practice of ‘sustainable peace’. How about you?

I invite you to share your thoughts on this topic of “Peace as a Spiritual Practice” in our weekly chat – Sunday, September 25th at 9amET. The community would love to hear from you.

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. In observance of ‘International Peace Day’, we will have a special #meditation ‘sit-in’ at 8pmET on Sunday, September 25th. The meditation will be led by @amalik1818 and serves as an invitation to those who would like to experience #heartfulness (see heartfulness.org) – a ‘sustainable peace’ activity 🙂 Do join us!

A Peace Bench on one of my walking trails

On Spirituality and NonViolence

Tags

agression, nonviolence, peace, spirituality

Two years ago to the week, we had a conversation about #nonviolence in our weekly #SpiritChat on twitter. The topic was a remembrance of the birth anniversary of the man, Mohandas Gandhi, who is perhaps best associated with the principle of #nonviolence. A few weeks ago, as I looked ahead to the first week of October, and a possible topic for our weekly chat, I felt that it may be appropriate to revisit the topic. Little did I realize at that time that we would be talking about #nonviolence in the wake of yet another senseless, violent tragedy in one of our communities…

In order to put Gandhi’s principle of #nonviolence in context, it may be apt to quote his interpration of it:

“Non-violence is not a material thing. It does imply not to (simply) hurt anybody. Evil thought is violence. Impatience is violence. Jealousy is violence. To tell a lie is violence. To wish ill of others is violence. To possess what is necessary for the world is also violence.” – Mohandas Gandhi

Let me expand on each statement. ‘Non-violence is not a material thing’. My interpretation of this statement is that Gandhi is talking about more than mere physical violence. Many of us think of what we see and experience in movies, on television, in the media, in reports of war and terrorism, and such, as the primary form of violence. However, Gandhi wants to think beyond. Most of you who are reading this, have probably not committed any physical violence against anybody in the recent past, or as far as you can remember. And that is a wonderful start. But let us examine further…

‘Evil thought is violence.’ We may not realize it, but once in a while, an evil thought may surface into our mind from seemingly nowhere. The boss who has been giving us a hard time for months about that project deadline, the client who throws ‘out of the blue’ unreasonable requests for work at us or does not pay us on time, the neighbor who mows the lawn at ungodly hours of the day or lets his barking dog out at 5am, the family member who does not take his or her share of responsibility to care for aging parents… should I continue? How many of us can claim abstinence from a smidgeon of evil thought in such situations?! But we are not done yet. There is more…

‘Impatience is violence. Jealousy is violence.’ Why can’t my business grow faster? Why am I so far behind on my list of goals for the year? Why is my dream, that I have been working so hard towards, not manifest sooner? Impatience at play. A manifestation of violence. Why is that person, who I know so well, and who works half as hard as me, getting that award instead of me? How come my parents left me less of an inheritance than they left to my siblings? How is it that that half-as-good-looking person as me is so seemingly happily married to (or together with) that twice-as-good-looking person as them while I cannot seem to find anyone to love? Jealousy at play. Are we not sending out the energy of violence? Should I continue?

‘To tell a lie is violence. To wish ill of others is violence.’ We have often heard that it may be better to ‘tell a (white) lie’ in order not to hurt their feelings. In fact, our recent conversation on “Truth and Balance” addressed many issues in reference to truth and its telling. Gandhi proposes a very high ideal, and if you read his “Experiments with Truth”, you will find that he held steadfast to this ideal from a very young age. “A right cause never fails; A true word never fails in the end”. When we wish ill of others, we ourselves become ill, in addition to dissipating vital life energy that is needed for us to grow spiritually. Can you think of any instances where you wished ill of others, for them to fail, for them to experience pain because they had somehow caused you pain and hurt? It is a sign of spiritual progress when we can say – yes, I used to do that, but like a tree shedding its leaves in autumn, I shed that tendency from my life…

In closing, Gandhi says about non-violence: ‘To possess what is necessary for the world is also violence’. We are guilty of violence when we lose the ability to discern between our need and our greed. For, when we operate from a lack mentality, from a thought process that possessions equal prosperity, we often end up hoarding resources in our lives which may better serve the larger majority. One example of possession violence is the amount of food that we buy, store, do not use, and then throw away. Can you think of any other examples of ‘possession violence’?

So, in summary, the good news is that we have identified the ways that we may indavertently find ourselves committing violence against ourselves, or against others. The spiritual work that we choose to do, to steer clear of evil thought, impatience, jealousy, untruth, wishing others ill, and greed, is clear. The even better news is that we may already have overcome most or all of these tendencies in our daily living, which means that we are shining lights to others who are also committed to more goodness, more truth and more nonviolence in their lives.

The intent and focuse of our conversation on Sunday October 4th at 9amET/1pmUTC in the #SpiritChat channel on twitter will be framed around some of these areas of incorporating nonviolence into our lives. I hope you can share with us in the live hour and beyond, and share your light, love and peace with the community.

Thank you for reading, and Namaste!

Kumud

What Is Our Message? from Kumud Ajmani on Vimeo.

As I walked along the river bank this week, I could not help but reflect on the question – if “my life is my message”, what is it conveying in the now? What will it convey in the future? I invite you to take a minute, and reflect with me…

On Inner Calm and Peace

Tags

calm, peace, spiritchat, spirituality

It is three o’clock in the afternoon and I have snuck out into the backyard with my cup of tea.

A gorgeous day has unfolded among the trees as the wind rustles the leaves and plays with their hair…

The birds, who were so loud at daybreak, are silent in their repose, as they enjoy, what is perhaps going to be, one of the last warm afternoons, before autumn begins her unstoppable march…

Yes. An active calm brought about by nature, puts me immediately into a state of outer calm. And slowly, as the afternoon turns to evening, and I get caught up in the life of work and the workings of life, I will carry some of this outer calm within me, to transform it into an inner calm. An inner peace.

Many of us have experienced similar moments – of active or passive calm, of active and passive peace. Some of these actively calm moments may have come in the middle of a hike through a forest, a morning walk in the middle of a winter storm, in watching the waves crash on the shore as the ocean brings the tide home… Other moments, of passive calm and peace, may have come while watching a baby sleep peacefully, and wondering – where does that smile that flits across the sleeping baby’s face come from? Calm moments can also come in the freshness of the crisp air as you walk out the front door, and pause, to admire the perfectly placed drops on dew on blades of grass, or the fragment of the ocean resting on the flower slowly opening to welcome the rising sun…

Moments of active calm and peace can be experienced while we engage in active living, in being in a calmly active state. Yes, when Parmahansa Yogananda, in his book, Inner Peace encourages us to be so, I want to believe him. I do believe him. When he says,

You cannot buy peace. You must know how to manufacture it within, in the stillness of your daily practices…

Yes. Stillness! A conversation we had in the #SpiritChat community just last week! Yogananda goes on to say…

Everything in the phenomenal world displays activity and changefulness, but tranquility is the nature of the divine…

It seems so simple – our own innate divine nature, our truth of tranquility, is calling to us. How do we return to it? He suggests a way…

In our consciousness, we need to learn to level and still the three mental states of upheaval – the waves of sorrow and gladness, and the dips of indifference between them…

And then, when we learn to do that, to be level and still in our consciousness, what will be our reward?

In stillness, we will perceive within ourselves, the placid ocean of spiritual soul-calmness expanding into the boundless sea of tranquility in Spirit

It is certain that Inner Calm and Peace can be ours. We will have to work for it though, through diligent practice. Our spiritual practice – whatever that may be, whether meditation or prayer or journaling or Yoga or service or… If the practice is increasing our Inner Peace, we could say that it is working well for us. If it isn’t, then we may need a change, or an adjustment, a re-evaluation with a friend who can give us a new perspective.

It is time for me return to my cup of tea, and listen to the dance of the wind in the tress. But before I go, let me invite you to share with friends, old and new, your inner calm, your inner peace. Sunday, September 21st at 9am ET 2pm UK / 6:30pm IST on twitter, in the circle of practitioners called #SpiritChat.

Namaste. OM. Peace. Peace. Peace.

Kumud

Q1. "Inner Calm and Peace" - share your feelings about this phrase... #SpiritChat 

Q2. What seems to talk you away from that 'peaceful, easy feeling'? What brings you back? #SpiritChat 
 
Q3. In the midst of so much (outer) noise, violence, why work on "inner peace"? Is it a losing battle? #SpiritChat 

Q4. What qualities need one develop, before inner peace and calm find a (permanent) home within? #SpiritChat 

Q5. Preserving our "Inner peace" may be an excuse for apathy to the outer... Agree or disagree? Why? #SpiritChat 

Q6. Why is it that making peace with ourselves can seem so tough? Why is it important? #SpiritChat 

Q7. Work of inner peace. How is it best done? What kind of help do we need? How can community help? #SpiritChat 

Q8. Being actively calm, or being calmly active. What would you prefer? Why? #SpiritChat

Q9. Time to send an #InnerPeace message to the outside world. What do you have to say? #SpiritChat 

Q10. What would you like to ask the community about #InnerPeace, #InnerCalm? #SpiritChat 

Full Transcript (with stats)

A Unifying Spirit

Tags

peace, spirit, spiritchat, unity

If the measure of greatness of a life well lived is measured by the tributes that pour out from around the world on their passing, then, President Nelson Mandela was indeed a great man. At the age of 95, surrounded by family, in the country of his birth, the country which he helped end racial discrimination (apartheid) in, the country which he was imprisoned in for almost thirty years – and of which he then became President(!) – President Mandela passed peacefully onto a higher plane.

But his life was anything but full of peace. Most of us know (or can learn more) about that with a stroll over to Wikipedia. The struggle, the challenges, the set-backs, the physical and mental battles – they are all well documented in many many books and websites. However, that all became “history” in the early 1990s when Madiba (as he is affectionately known by many) was eventually freed, and his lifelong struggle for his ideal (an ideal that he was willing to die for) – that ALL the people in South Africa – blacks and whites alike, should be treated equally – came to a victorious conclusion.

However, I believe that what made “Madiba” stand apart, and be respected universally as a “giant among men” was his willingness to forgive to Unify. He forgave those who imprisoned him for the larger part of his “productive” life (from age 44 to age 72) and turned them into his partners! He understood that in order to build a nation that would have long-lasting peace – a unity of hearts, minds and spirits was essential. His love for love, peace, unity and harmony made him recognize that, above all, we all have more within our spirit that unites us, than divides us.

Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished – Nelson Mandela

It is perhaps that – his Unifying Spirit – that inspires so many to celebrate a life well lived, lived fully, lived with purpose, lived to bring Peace and Unity across the world. Isn’t that what all of us are trying to do ourselves? So, thank you, ‘Madiba’ – for being the mirror, being the light to many. Your light will always shine in millions of hearts, and encourage us to be live our lives so we can be Unifying Spirits too.

Kumud

P.S. It is no coincidence (or is it?) that my daughter’s Christmas concert on Saturday concluded with a rendition of the song… “One Song for Peace” – yet another reminder of all that unites us.

P.P.S. This framing post was written for our live twitter conversation on Sunday mornings – Sunday, December 8th at 9am ET. Join us on twitter or at at http://chat.spiritchat.org as we discuss and celebrate all that unites and unifies us. Namaste!

Postscript: Full transcript (including statistics) for #SpiritChat held Dec 8th 2013 via #hashtracking – Thanks to all who shared 🙂 bit.ly/sc-tr-1208. In addition, A Hand-Curated Transcript – with love, for better reading, is available via #storigy at bit.ly/sc-st-1208 – Namaste 🙂

Q1. Those who have the effect of a “Unifying Spirit” on our world – what makes them so? #SpiritChat

Q2. What is the essence of Unity? Thoughts? Words? Actions? Or… #SpiritChat

Q3. What KIND of Unity adds the most value to our daily life, our spiritual growth? #SpiritChat

Q4. Is dissent an indication of the lack of a Unifying Spirit? Why or why not? #SpiritChat

Q5. “World Unity is merely the dream of romantics.” Agree/Disagree? Why? #SpiritChat

Q6. Is it possible to have Unity of faith? Is it even necessary for spiritual growth? #SpiritChat

Q7. What is the connection between Unity, purpose and living a full life? #SpiritChat

Q8. Three action steps will you take – to be a Unifying spirit in your family, community… #SpiritChat

Nonviolence and the Spirit

Tags

nonviolence, pacificism, peace, spiritchat, spiritual

Every year on October 2nd marks the birthday of Mohanadas Gandhi – fondly referred to by many as Mahatama (great soul). One of Gandhi’s legacy is widely accepted as his well-known adherence to the principles of non-violence. He stuck to this core value of non-violence, even in the face of the overwhelming force exerted by the formidable British empire. Gandhi was influenced by Thoreau, and in turn, influenced Martin Luther King, Jr with his mantra on non-violence as a primary and ethical means of living our lives.

Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being.- Mahatma Gandhi

From a spiritual growth perspective, adherence to non-violence seems like a natural path to follow. Consider the ethical concept of non-injury to others – it can perhaps only be complete if we practice it in the three-fold domain of body, mind and spirit. If we engage in causing injury to others with our thoughts and feelings of anger, hatred and judgement, it will only be a matter of time before we cause injury with our words, and possibly, even with our actions. It is perhaps no accident that conflicts, on small and large scales, begin due to an intent to injure the other in thought. An intensification of thought creates feelings, which form words, and then actions.

I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. – Mahatma Gandhi

For those who participated in last week’s chat on the spirit of experimentation, the experiment continues. This week, we experiment with the idea that nonviolence remains a viable means of living our life – a life of high quality, high value, high degree of love and service, high level of faith and hope, high level of trust and willingness to communicate and compromise.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. – Martin Luther King, Jr

Some may argue that nonviolence is a form of fear, in that it is an escape from a willingness to fight. Or that nonviolence is a form of pacifism or passivity, adopted by those who lack the courage to do “battle” in the battleground of life. What do you think? Is it really a sense of fear, a lack of courage, a propensity for passivity, that attracts people to nonviolence? Are there circumstances under which “violence” may be necessary, or even justified? When in conflict with another, who insists on being combative, what is an appropriate response? How can inner and outer peace be preserved with a commitment to nonviolence?

I invite you to join me as I host the #spiritchat community in a live conversation on twitter about non-violence. Sunday, October 6th at 9am ET, our experiment continues.

Be well, Be in peace. Namaste,

Kumud

Update: Here are the questions asked during the chat on Nonviolence. Enjoy, and feel free to answer in the comments… The full transcript and statistics are available at http://bit.ly/sc-tr-1006 . Thank you for sharing!

Ready. Q1. Imagine a state of complete nonviolence. What does it look, feel, sound like? #spiritchat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386839877419298816

Q2. How is practice of nonviolence relevant to you in your current life state? Or is it? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386841522240774144

Q3. How can we continue to practice nonviolence when faced with violence, injustice? Or can we? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386843436311003137

Q4. What is the connection between nonviolence and faith? Or is there one? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386845571056947200

Q5. “In some cases non-violence may require more militancy than violence.” Agree or disagree? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386847284668809216

Q6. Does a practice of nonviolence preclude us from practicing “resistance”? What is our spirit resisting? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386848973979680768

Q7. How does our inner practice of nonviolence impact our families and communities? #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386850422704463872

Final Q8. Going forward, we can integrate nonviolence in mind, body and spirit by… #SpiritChat
http://twitter.com/AjmaniK/status/386851573420531713