Our New Spiritual Earth

Tags

commitment, earthday, healing, simplicity, spiritual earth

Earth Day celebrations this year followed the trend of so many events that have gone virtual or online over the past month or so. It has been a month where every day seems the same, and some days we are hard-pressed to remember what day of the week it actually is. In such times, one would have ample reason to forget about Earth Day, let alone celebrate it in any meaningful way. 

On the other hand, this is a year where the fiftieth Earth Day and Earth month observances could not have come at a more appropriate time. The incidence and spread of the SARS Covid-2 Virus or the Novel Coronavirus has brought large parts of the world to a virtual standstill. Some are referring to these times as “The Great Pause”. Country-wide “lockdowns” and “stay at home” orders have entered the vernacular of our awareness. 

There have been many visible and measurable effects of the pausing, the slowing-down, the stopping of everyday human activities on our planet. Early on in the pause, we saw satellite imagery of noticeable reduction of pollution over countries like China, large parts of Europe, India, and more. Residents of a city in northern India woke up to a new landscape of reduced air pollution. After almost three decades, they could now actually see the snow-capped peaks of their neighboring  Himalayas. Scientists have reported that the great pause had actually changed the level of seismic activity, the way the Earth was moving.

It is reasonable to expect that the effects of this unprecedented, large-scale pause in human activity are going to be short-term in nature. However, if seeing is indeed believing, then these changes have shown us how rapidly and dramatically we humans can effect change on our planet. One may argue that we are in extraordinary times, and that the current drastic reduction in human activity is a blip on the radar. That argument is probably correct. However, even small, incremental, persistent changes in our behavior can eventually change the energy and the vibration of our planet. It is like boiling cold water – it often seems like it is taking forever for the water to warm up. Once the water reaches 211F, it only takes a single degree of change, for it to change state and becomes steam. Massive change often comes in slow increments, from small commitments.

The newly minted weekly video gathering of #SpiritChat folks occurred on Earth Day this week. Four of us gathered briefly, and contemplated asked the question – what does Earth Day mean to us? Sharon (@awakeningtrue) offered that her hope was that more folks would take the opportunity to meditate on Gaia and her warm, golden, healing energy. Julie (@juliejordanscot) said that she was going to act on a challenge to hug a tree deeply, with a warm loving embrace, and feel its energetic, inner vibration. Quratulain (@iquarattariq) spoke about how the great pause has led her to ‘reduce her footprint’ on this One Earth, and to be grateful for her abundant life, when compared to so many others’ lives. On behalf of the community, I offered a reading of a short poem by Emily Dickinson…

Nature rarely uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets, —
Prodigal of blue;

Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover’s words.

– Nature XXXI #EmilyDickinson #CollectedPoems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset in the backyard (Fall 2018) 

What may Earth Day mean to you? We have a few more days left in this Earth month of April. We still have time to consider some small changes that we can make in our lives — changes that will eventually make a huge impact on all the elements of our planet. The water we drink, the earth we plant seeds in, the air we breathe — all these elements, this ecology, is looking forward to helping ensure for our healthy, long-term survival. On this Earth day, in this Earth month, we can perhaps commit to meeting the planet and its elements at least half-way, can’t we? And yet, we have something greater to do.

The greater commitment we can make on this Earth Day is to take a great pause, and examine the state of our inner Earth. What can we do to cleanse our inner Earth’s elements of the toxic pollutants of fear, anger, jealousy, prejudice, and the like? How can we create a sustainable, rare Earth that embodies the five elements of simplicity, purity, peace, amity and compassion? If it is true that the outer world reflects the state of our inner world, then let us accept the invitation to begin within.

Let us embrace the opportunity provided by the great pause with a sense of urgency. The time to act is now. We have the heart and soul of the planet to heal. 

Kumud

P.S. Please join us on Sunday, April 26 at 9amET / 1pmUTC / 630pm India for our weekly gathering of the #SpiritChat community on twitter. We will discuss our commitment to action to the Earth within and without. Thank you for reading. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Do the best you can, until you know better; Then when you know better, Do better — Maya Angelou

On Voluntary Simplicity

Tags

healing, simplicity, volunteering, walking

A thirty minute walk around noon – the wind was calm when I embarked, and was even behind me a bit when I went out. But as I turned around in the far cul-de-sac in the new phase of the development, there was a distinct shift… and I was suddenly walking uphill, the wind picking up and biting into my cheeks, scuffing my lips, tearing up my eyes till they bled salt. And yet, in the midst of all this, I noticed that the mind had been strangely be-calmed, focused by itself without any effort on my part. It seemed like the mind had been frozen into a simple single thought, a single goal, a single ideal.. to somehow will the body, make it endure so that I would get back home, walking head-first through this freezing change…

Voluntary Simplicity and Walking Practice

And as I made the turn to home in that half circle that has the infinite at it’s center, I somehow decided to keep on walking, still head-first into the biting wind that might have now even picked up a notch… for I knew, or at least hoped, that the worst was probably behind me. I voluntarily walked in the belief that most of the rest of the walk that would unfold, unplanned as my ‘route’ often is, would be filled with the grace of the full-moon rising. I took refuge in the knowing that there are two phases to every journey…

The two simple phases of life are of light and darkness, like the waxing and the waning fortnights of the moon. The two phases are like the wind beneath your wings that uplifts you, and the same wind that turns on you and cuts delicate icicles on your face. Very often, we voluntarily keep walking, knowing that at the end of every phase, is an opportunity to change direction. On that thanksgiving morning, I walked with the simple truth that there is indeed a finite end to every waning, and even to waxing.

And as I walked with a half frozen smile, it dawned on me that every big and small journey, every walk that I choose to take, unfolds for me, something new. It is akin to every walking and sitting meditation that is now a part of my spiritual practice. How much more simple can a voluntary practice be? You wake up, you sit in a comfortable space, you relax the body, you focus on the heart, and… that is all. Voluntary simplicity. Every walk becomes a cycle within a greater cycle…

Simplicity of practice comes from what guides us, who we sit and walk with, and what we walk towards, or away from. Simplicity is when we become volunteers in working for, and with, joy, peace and light. It is the wholeness, the holistic nature of the process, that heals and uplifts us, and those around us. It is in volunteering, that we become like the light of the full moon, which finds its best expression when it is reflected in the clear blue lake of our arisen, awakened, conscious heart.

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. What do you find simplicity in? Is your practice simple or complex? Does your practice feel voluntary or…? Join me as I host a twitter conversation on “voluntary simplicity” with the #SpiritChat community – Sunday, November 25th at 9amET / 7:30pm India. Dress warm, as we will walk some old and new paths… and who knows, we may even share some Thanksgiving day stories…

On Healing and Service

Tags

healing, mathematics, sacrifice, service, simplicity

The upcoming week will be the week of September 11th observances across the USA. The events of seventeen years ago, and the heroic acts of courage and service that transpired on that day, and in the weeks and months that followed, will be recounted and remembered. The countless stories of those who answered the call, chose to serve and respond in order to rescue those in need, will forever remain with us and inspire us.

The healing continues to this day. Some of the first-responders, volunteers and health personnel who served in the immediate vicinity of the towers suffer long-term health consequences. Many others who were witness to the events, in person or in cities across the USA, are perhaps still healing. The ones who personally lost friends and family and acquaintances – their need for healing is perhaps the greatest.

Regardless of the breadth and depth of healing required, it is perhaps our commitment to remembrance which has the greatest power to heal. Remembrance does not mean that we dig up old wounds with anger, hate and recrimination. That only serves to reverse our healing progress. Remembrance can mean a re-commitment and a re-affirmation to walk in loving action of the path of those who inspired us to serve.

One hundred and eight years to the day before September 11 2001, there was another event in Chicago, where a hitherto unknown monk representing India said:

As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.

– Swami Vivekananda, September 11 1893

It is often that the mind tends to forget the stream of love and goodness that runs through the hearts of those who serve for the sake of purity of service. When the mind’s focus is on those who use arithmetic progression to increase evil, the heart tends to forget the embrace and sacrifice of those who employ service as a means of geometric progression to propagate healing goodness.

Geometric progression of healing begins with you and me. Progress is sustained by our orientation towards serving with an attitude of gratitude – gratitude for our ability and awareness to serve, and for being given opportunities to serve the greater good. It is through our loving attitude towards service that we can plant the seeds of healing in those we serve, and equally importantly, within ourselves.

I often wondered what my high-school motto of ‘Service before Self’ really meant. The history of two events, on September 11th, one hundred and eight years apart, have given me a better understanding. Service before self is an opportunity to heal. Service is a geometric progression whose common ratio is greater than one, and whose sum brings us closer to the infinity of Self with every action.

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Join us for our weekly conversation with the #SpiritChat community – Sunday September 9th at 9amET / 630pm India on twitter. Share your thoughts on service, healing and (geometric) progression… Namaste.

Nature heals… through ‘service’

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)

Returning to Simplicity

Tags

practice, simplicity, spirituality

Whether we are ready or not, the cycles of nature and nature’s rhythms can lead us to re-examine certain aspects of our (increasingly complex) lives. One such change in rhythm is the gradual transition from autumn to winter (at least in the northern hemisphere). The days tend to get shorter and we begin to retreat indoors after having enjoyed the long daylight hours of summer. As the seasons change, the opportunity arises to ask the question – how do we prepare for what is ahead? I have been lately asking the question – how do I reduce the complexity in my daily life and return to more of simplicity?

One place to begin to answer this question is to examine the areas of my life that are unnecessarily complex. How much technology do I really need in my life? I was shopping for a cooking range and my seaarch yielded a ‘smart range’. Do I really need something that (mostly) cooks rice and vegetables, and boils water for pasta, to be equipped with WiFi?! I deem that as unnecessary complexity. Do I really need my new car to have five to seven different ‘safety’ technologies to beep at me, apply brakes and even steer the car for me as I change lanes without signaling? I am not sure. The list goes on, but you get the idea. If we let it, complexity will take over our lives as surely as the leaves fall when autumn comes.

So, what are some alternatives to reduce complexity? Consider this. We can choose (to return to) simplicity in the (most) important areas of our lives. First, we get to choose, to identify the (most) important areas. Then we identify the (unnecessary) complexities in that life area, and either reduce them or eliminate them. For example, consider the important area of food. Do you (mostly) live to eat, or do you eat to live? Open your refrigerator or your pantry? What does it look like? Can you simplify his aspect of your life?

Another (important) area that can use reduction in life-complexity is our ‘mental’ food intake. Every piece of information that we ingest has the ability to influence our thoughts, and requires mental energy to process. How much ‘information’ and from how many ‘sources’ do we really need in our daily life? Are we at risk of creating inordinate mental complexity for ourselves due to our constant ‘junk food’ like information intake habits? Is that why the levels of stress and anxiety across many of society’s demographics are approaching all-time highs?

I hope you get the idea. I only touched on life-complexity, as related to our physical and mental ‘intake’ patterns above. As we identify the complex patterns that we would like to change, adjust or maybe even eliminate, we create internal awareness. The next time we have to make a decision or a choice in that life area, we can make a better-informed decision. How much ‘smarts’ do I really need in that cooking range?!

As we make better decisions, which may coincide with a return towards simplicity, we will find that we create time and space for ourselves. We may ‘discover’ time for the activities that we have been meaning-to or wanting-to do for a while. Time for ctivities like (daily) writing, exercise, reading, meditation, slow cooking, calling (on) people and listening, taking a nap in the mid-afternoon on a rainy Saturday, and much more.

There are many gifts that returning to simplicity can return to us. Who knows? They may be some of the most important gifts that we give to ourselves in the coming season.

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Join me and the #SpiritChat community as we explore a return to simplicity – Sunday, November 5th at 9amEST / 2pm UTC / 7:30pm IST on twitter. Please note that due to the one hour time change (USA ‘falls back’ to ‘standard’ time!), the chat may occur an hour later than usual in your time zone. Namaste.

Wishes and Simplicity

Tags

desires, goals, simplicity, wishes

The world often encourages us to ‘dream big’. The purported intent is to encourage us to ‘aim for the stars’ so that we can accomplish great things with our lives. In and of itself, the act of dreaming big can give us a good, positive outlook on life. When dreaming leads to action and action leads to higher self expression, it can indeed elevate us and all those connected to us.

In a spiritual context, the act of dreaming big or ‘wishing’ for a particular outcome of our spiritual practice(s) may need to be approached with some introspection. The very act of ‘wishing’ for something can create attachment to the outcome. And such attachment can inhibit true freedom – even if the desired outcome is that of more simplicity in our lives. THe story in the Upanisads talks about how the spider weaves its web from material secreted from within its own body. It literally creates its own world from withn.

The world that the spider creates becomes an enslavement for the spider. It is a complex maze which not only traps its prey, but the spider itself. In some ways, we humans follow a similar pattern. We create a complex world of feelings, judgements and reactions with our own thoughts. Eventually, we are so enslaved by our own thought process, that we yearn, we wish for simplification. For simplicity.

Simplicity can emerge from complexity either voluntarily or involuntarily. Voluntary simplicity can keep our maze of thoughts from becoming overly complex. Simplicity can help us to avoid the death-spiral of self-perpetuative negative reinforcement. Simplicity, when chosen voluntarily, can become the doorway to higher states of inner existence.

Let us explore simpicity some more in our weekly Sunday twitter gatherings. Join our #SpiritChat community (Sunday 9amET on April 9th) and share with us on this topic as we try and simplify the complex world within and without us.

Kumud @AjmaniK

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 

Simplicity and the Spirit

Tags

complexity, simplicity, spirit, spiritchat

As an engineer by training, I deal with a lot of technical complexity (or so it seems) in my daily life at work. I am sure a lot of you reading this have your own versions of complexity – at work and at home. In today’s world, complexity seems to follow us wherever we go. We are surrounded with, and sometimes immersed in, all kinds of technological gadgets which promise to make our lives more convenient, if not better in some way.

We also have all kinds of other material complexity in our lives which we explain or justify as the “stuff” that we need to live a “happy” life – homes, cars, closets full of shoes and clothes and (gasp!) cosmetics, kitchen pantries full of foods and spices, basements and garages and attics full of stuff that we may need some day. And then there are bookshelves and books (yes, I am guilty!) that we are attached to. Some may have their favorite DVD or music collections (guilty, again!). The list can go on and on. You get the idea.

Do you ever wonder – how did our lives get to be so complex? Is all this material complexity an unavoidable price that we have to pay in order to feel “prosperous”? How much of all our “stuff” do we really need? Perhaps, the better question is – should we try and return to a modicum of simplicity? If so, how do we shed some of our material load and move towards voluntary simplicity? Are there any disadvantages to adopting simplicity?

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Another aspect of complexity seems to arise from our relationships with other human beings. Let’s face it – we are complex because of our diverse backgrounds, life experiences, emotions, beliefs and so on. In addition, let us not overlook the fact that our greatest challenges may lie in our attempts to relate to our own complex inner nature. How do we untangle our inner complexity and arrive at simplicity? What is more important for spiritual growth – inner or outer simplicity?

There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.
~ Leo Tolstoy

We discussed the spirit of equanimity last Sunday. It seems logical that simplicity and equanimity would be interconnected. Or are they? Come share with us in the #SpiritChat weekly chat at 9am ET on Sunday, August 12th, as we discuss the subject of simplicity.

Be well – keep it simple!

Kumud

Update: Transcript link: http://bit.ly/sc-tr-0812 and questions asked during the live twitter chat –

Q1. What does "simple living" or "voluntary simplicity" mean to you? #SpiritChat

Q2. What are some possible obstacles to the practice of #simplicity? #SpiritChat  

Q3. Are there disadvantages to adoption of #simplicity? Too much compromise? #SpiritChat 

Q4. What does mother nature teach us about #simplicity? #SpiritChat 

Q5. How does simplifying our external life affect our inner life? #SpiritChat

Q6. Can an attitude of simplicity improve our relationships with others? How? #SpiritChat 

Q7. What is the connection between simplicity and freedom? #SpiritChat

Q8. What action steps will you take towards greater simplicity in the future? #SpiritChat

Feel free to add your responses to the questions in the comments below. Thank you.