Our Walking Companions

Tags

solitude, spirituality, spring, stillness, stream of thought, walking

A female goose floats in the huge lake as the rain gently falls on this last Friday of April.

A female mallard sits in stillness on the inclined lakeshore as the male stands guard. I wonder if she is sitting on eggs, and if so, what defense do they really have against any attackers? Is it perhaps why they hang out by the bigger geese, who at least have some means, however limited, to ward off folks who may come near them with their beaks and demeanor? The ducks literally have no defense, other than that of the community which they reside in.

The goose has now come near the shore where I stand. Her peace is remarkable as she sits still in the rain. The father has now joined in the swim, even though he is about thirty feet away from her, which is about the same distance that she stands from me. We form an isosceles triangle whose base is the sixty foot distance between me and the father, who is slowly turning away and lengthening the gap between me and him.

The mother is now floating in the smallest of circles, virtually in place, in the clear portion of the water surrounded by heavy layers of algae. I am writing as I watch, a few feet from the water on the third of four steps, where the next step I take will put me right next to the water. I take that final fourth step and I must have crossed her line because she instantly sets off an alarm call. I step back and she is immediately silenced, as if I must have stepped back from her circle of perceived danger.

The rain keeps falling, even picks up pace for a while, and I am still standing still as I write, right next to an apple tree with the softest of white petals in full bloom on my right and a crab-apple tree in the distance on the far shore where the sun rises on my left. She has moved away from me a bit – the two sides of the isosceles are about forty feet now.

Oh wait. The father has returned to the far side of the lake to the shore by the windmill, to check on the three babies that have hatched over the past week or so. She gets a bit more trusting of me in my stillness, as she is now only twenty feet away, eyes towards where her babies are on the far side.

The rain is really starting to pick up now, but the tree that is literally growing leaves as I write is providing enough of an umbrella that I can keep writing. I am also in the company of the birdsongs coming from the tall trees lining the shore where the mallard couple is still parked. I can see that the goslings are now playing in the rain in the distance.

The mother has apparently decided that it is time to head back to the newborns, as the male of an incoming couple of geese tries to go after her and chases her out of the lake. The alarm calls go out from amid the trees that two intruders have arrived to claim the waters. Serenity turns to stress in a few seconds, and the mallard couple decides to take off. Such can be the cadence of life during a morning walk on the lake with friends.

The smallest of the newborns has now ventured almost to the middle of the lake. The rain is filling my phone’s screen with raindrops and I can barely write any more. It’s time to perhaps head back to dryness.

As I head back to where my car is parked, I’m glad, as I always am, that I decided to ignore the mind’s rationalizations and walked anyway today. On the final stretch, I remember to express gratitude to the new parents and their goslings, the mallards in their stillness, the resplendent apple blossoms, the birdsongs, the rain, and even the intruding geese who eventually disrupted the reverie.

Every walk, even around the same lake and on the same trails, is different. It is perhaps because my heart and its receptivity is a bit different in every walk. I am particularly reminded today that even though I start every walk by myself, I never really end up walking alone – companions inevitably join in.

How about you – why do you walk? What are your favorite walking paths? Who are your frequent traveling companions?

Kumud

P.S. Do join the friends of #SpiritChat as we gather in twitter in our weekly walk on Sunday April 30 at 9amET / 1pmGMT / 630pm India. We will walk, rain or shine, with some conversation and questions. Namaste – AjmaniK

Apple blossoms in the rain – my walking companions on a spring morning…

The Effortless Search

Tags

effortless, efforts, energy, search, spring

Some mornings, the beauty and the stillness and the majesty simply engulfs and envelops and immerses you in ways you would or could scarcely imagine.

The combination of the light, the stillness, the warmth, the layers of sounds and colors and life happenings come at you from so many directions as summer visits spring, albeit briefly, a bit earlier than usual.

It is one of those days where you have somewhat put your grand search in suspended animation to subconsciously mimic within what you are observing with your senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste being activated simultaneously by the stillness of new life emerging around you.

You are watching the sky transitioning into the same crystal blue that is reflecting in the pond partially covered with algae as the sun rises above the crab-apple and cottonwood trees and you catch yourself getting too close to the edge of the lake where a mother goose sitting on her eggs is watching you in stillness with half closed eyes.

There is a grandiosity about it all which would perhaps rival the great palaces of ancient times, all conjured by the energy of a morning on a trail that you have walked many a time in many seasons and yet, today, in this hour, it all looks different because you sense that the observer isn’t really making any effort to observe – the searching, the fighting or flighting has melted away for a while and all that remains is the floating.

It is when we meet effortlessness on the path, our walk – and sometimes it happens when we aren’t intentional about being effortless; maybe it can truly only happen when we are unintentional about it – that we come face to face with the realization fed by submerging in what is all around us, all encompassing, without form, without definition, beyond time and space and division- that our grand search in nature is about our effort to find that One in the many that already exists within us.

Maybe we need to stop trying so hard to meet That who has been patiently waiting for us ~ to drop our senses, or at least merge all of them so that we can be immersed in the awareness that our search is already complete. Perhaps all we need to do is let ourselves be awakened from our dream that we, the beloved, with all the tenderness of the dew drops of the world within us, are somehow separate from the ocean.

How much effort is that search, that awakening, really going to take?

Spring blooms everywhere on my path…

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly gathering and twitter chat, Sunday April 16 at 9amET / 1pm UTC / 630pm India with the #SpiritChat community, as we discuss the how and why if searching effortlessly. Namaste ~ @AjmaniK

Seasons of Renewal

Tags

intention, renewal, seasons, spontaneity, spring

The first day of April started like most days of the last two weeks of March. Morning meditation was followed by writing of morning pages by by cracking open the window of the upstairs bedroom to hear the birdsongs of spring and breathe in the breeze whistling through the fast-greening willow bushes. However, today, there were some additional sounds that I hadn’t heard in a while.

These were the sounds of the excitement of children laughing and giggling amid the raucousness of the geese on the lake. I could see neither groups, hidden as they were from my line of sight as I looked straight across the inlet that opens up onto the wider portion of the water. Where were all the kids, and what were they doing outside in what sounded like very large numbers on this brilliantly lit Saturday morning?

My questions were answered as I came downstairs and walked into the backyard with the dogs for their morning play. The hill across from my yard, just beyond the fast-greening willows, was filled with plastic eggs of different hues and colors. The laughter was coming from the kids who were all gathering with their parents for the annual egg-hunt on this Saturday before Easter. It is always a joy to see the anticipation of so many young kids getting excited about something so simple as the idea of collecting eggs filled with candy on a Saturday morning.

Why did such a simple community create such a sense of joy and renewal in my heart?

One reason for renewal was perhaps because the event was simple, it was outdoors, and it brought together the local community for a celebration that adults and kids were enjoying. The lines at the two ‘food trucks’ — one selling fancy hot chocolate and treats, the other offering gourmet pizza and snacks — spoke volumes about the renewal being offered to the body. The laughter of the kids as they traversed the hill for their eggs spoke about the renewal of the heart and raised the spirits of all those watching and participating. 

Morning meditation filled with light, followed by writing of morning pages, watching a community event filled with kids over coffee with the family and the dogs — my heart was filled and renewed, and it wasn’t even 11am yet on the first day of April! What else was this season of spring going to hold in renewal for me? I can’t wait to find out.

How about you? How do you discern when it is time to set an intention for inner renewal? Have you found yourself seeking to renew particular areas in specific ‘seasons’ of your life?  What seasons or events create a sense of spontaneous renewal for you? 

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly chat and community gathering in #SpiritChat on twitter, Sunday April 2 at 9am ET/ 1pm UTC / 630pm India. We will talk about the seasons, about renewal, and make some new friends. I will bring some questions, and look forward to your spontaneous answers. Namaste – @AjmaniK

A butterfly visits a hydrangea in bloom / and I wonder / who is renewing whom?

Celebrating Our Colors

Tags

celebration, colors, poetry, spring

It was about a week or so today that the first color of spring first burst upon us by the fence line in the backyard. The two willows which we had planted when we first moved into our new home a few years have back have grown from a foot high to at least eight feet. Both of them were proudly sporting their full blooms of pink and white flowers that stood in contrast against the still-leafless trees of the forest. At first sight, they looked very much like the light coating of the first snow of a season that paints every branch of the willows with a delicate white. 

In the week since, the March of the blooms has been held back a bit with the weather going back and forth between winter and spring like a kid trying to master their new yo-yo. As a result, the hydrangeas are lying in wait for a consistent warmup before they will set forth their colors. After a couple of initial sightings, the orange breasted blackbirds have also seemingly slowed their migration to the backyard forest from the South. It has been left to the mallard ducks to add color to the local lake with their brilliant blues shining amid the many pairs of nesting geese.

The myriad colors of the season may be delayed, but I am sure that they won’t be denied. Like the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote in his “Song of the Bird”

O Flame of the Forest,
	All your flower-torches are ablaze;
You have kissed our songs red with the passion of your youth.

In the spring breeze the mango-blossoms launch their messages to the unknown
	And the new leaves dream aloud all day.


It is only a matter of time that the ‘flame of the forest’ shall kindle the hearts of the birds and along with them, we shall see that  ‘the flower-torches are ablaze’. The birds’ songs will be ‘kissed red by the passion of spring’, and the ‘leaves shall dream aloud all day.’ Isn’t it wonderful that we can trust the poets of the world to remind us that we can find color in any season if we choose to let poetry into our hearts? What would our lives be like if we allowed ourselves to add more color to our lives through art, prose, theater, dance and so much more that enlivens us?

Spring is as good a time as any to add more color to our lives than we currently may be enjoying. If you need an excuse to dive headlong into more color, perhaps consider the Indian festival of colors – Holi – which falls on the full moon day (March 7/8) this year. Wear some colorful clothes, splash some virtual paint on some screens, write a verse or few of poetry with a theme of your choosing, break out some real crayons or paint brushes, share some sweets with a neighbor and more. In short, do whatever will bring a bit of lightness and playfulness to your heart. That’s what a sense of color can do for our spirit. 

It can make us feel like ‘mango-blossoms (that) launch their messages to the unknown’. Who knows — we may even pause the asking of questions and simply immerse in the colors of spring for a moment. 

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly gathering and conversation on twitter in #SpiritChat, Sunday March 5 at 9amET. We will share some colors with each other – bring your favorite pieces of poetry, artwork, artists, and more to share. I will bring some questions and treats. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Willow blossoms are the first to arrive with spring colors to the garden…

Invitations of Spring

Tags

invitation, music, reflection, spirituality, spring

It’s 10am Saturday morning and I have been up for at least four hours, absorbing all the energy flowing around and within me, from near and from 7500 miles away. This same routine has been going on for the past few days, and the energy has taken on a special frequency since the Indian ‘Spring’ festival of Basant Panchami was celebrated on January 26. Spring in the middle of winter in the Northern hemisphere, you say?

We are almost five weeks into winter, seven weeks from Spring. If we lean our hearts a little, and let our mind wander a week forward, we will be halfway there. In some ways, the festival is an invitation to the Spring that is imminent. Yes, winter may still have some questions to ask of us, but so what?

The better question to perhaps ask is — What does Spring mean to you and your heart? The calendar is simply a time-keeper, isn’t it? If we orient our energy towards the feeling that Spring engenders within us, will we not instantly evoke Spring, or any of our favorite seasons at our heart’s behest?

Over the past few days, particularly since I received and accepted Spring’s ‘early’ invitation to play, my schedule has been pleasantly ‘disrupted’ by my attendance at an online festival of ‘music and meditation’ every morning. As a result, I can feel that my internal energy has been shifting daily, slowly but steadily towards warmth, renewal and a harmony that is the hallmark of Spring for me.

As I finish writing, the Sun has literally made its way through the heavily overcast skies, the wind has been becalmed by a shift, the reflections of the trees in the pond are becoming sharper by the minute, and the geese are slowly arriving for the day. I am sensing another invitation to sing, to meditate, to raise awareness of what lies in the heart.

It surely feels like an invitation from spring to me. I guess that winter without will have to wait. Have you received any invitations of body, mind and heart lately? If so, what have you done with them?

Kumud

P.S. I invite you to join our weekly twitter chat and gathering, Sunday Jan 29 at 9am ET / 2pm GMT / 730pm India in Spiritchat over tea and cookies. Namaste – AjmaniK

P.P.S The second phase of the ‘Spring festival’ of ‘music and meditation’ hosted by Heartfulness India will run from Feb 1-3 2023 at 7amET / Noon GMT / 530pm India. You are invited to attend the Free live sessions at https://hfn.link/youtube ~ Namaste.

Spring invites us in its own subtle ways… to reflect on body, mind and heart…

Sources of Wisdom

Tags

children, flowers, fruit, knowledge, letting go, play, spirituality, spring, wisdom

A single pear tree is planted in front of each house by the developer, after the construction of each new home is complete. The trees bear beautiful flowers every spring, and for a few days, the streets are resplendent in white during the morning walk. Then, just as quickly they bloom, the small petals are shed by each tree in the span of a few days. It is a sign that spring is moving towards summer, the work of the flowers is done, and the tree is transitioning to the next phase of its life.

Nature does so much work to create the beauty of flowers, and yet, the pear trees do not cling to them. When it comes time, the trees readily let go and move on. The process of nature is a source of some great wisdom for us humans, isn’t it? How often do we hold on to those ‘flowers’ in our life whose work is long done, and hold back our ‘fruit’ in the process? Are there any other wisdoms that we can learn from observing the march of spring?

In addition to observing nature, there is much wisdom to be gleaned from watching children at play. The chalk art they create in the driveways, the impromptu baseball games in the parking lot next to my house, the kid practicing hitting a ball off the tee as he waits for the school bus in the morning, and so much more. There is much fun, simplicity and lightness about a child’s play which we ‘adults’ could benefit from bringing back into our lives, yes? How would our inner condition change if we were to do some ‘chalk’ art on paper, find a playground and go down some slides or get on some swings, or even jump in some puddles?

There are many more sources of knowledge and wisdom that we can think of. We have our wisdom that comes from books, our favorite speakers and artists, our friends, our teachers, mentors and coaches, our parents, and yes, occasionally, even some relatives and co-workers! Who or what did I miss?

Perhaps most importantly, if and when we learn to trust it enough, one great source of wisdom that is always available to us is our heart. Each of us has unlimited capacity to refine the wisdom within our heart through our daily practices of kindness, empathy, connection with kindreds, small acts of service, and more.

When our heart thus grows lighter, it fills us with peace and light, connects us to higher wisdom. Clarity of mind follows. With clarity, we can make better decisions on what to keep and what to let go of in our hearts. Can you think of some more ways that we can make good use of the (sources of) wisdom available to us in our lives?

Do share.

Kumud

P.S. Do join us and share your wisdom sources, and your wisdom with us in our weekly twitter chat with the Spiritchat community on twitter. We will meet at 9amET / 630pm India on Sunday, May 1 2022. Namaste – @AjmaniK

A pear tree in full bloom in mid-April…

Signs of Spring

Tags

change, ease, flow, signs, spring, transition

After the huge snowstorm that swept through over the past few days and covered the landscape with a foot or so of snow, it is difficult to wrap my head around the idea that we are about halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox! If I want to lean into spring, I surely can, as was evidenced by the sighting of the first robin a couple of days ago – the very day that the snow was coming down at its heaviest.

As if to leave no doubt that spring is imminent, my inboxes today, February 5th, are filled with greetings for the Indian festival Basant (spring) Panchami (fifth day of the lunar month). The festival celebrates the onset of spring, decked in yellows, and honors the Goddess Saraswati, the patron of arts, education and knowledge.

Yes. My mind and body may be still be stuck in winter, but no matter where my heart looks, the flow of spring has already begun! When has winter had enough power to hold back spring anyway? All the external signs are asking me to get ready for spring — the sun is getting higher in the sky, its arc between sunrise and sunset is getting wider, and the light is getting brighter.

In addition to the external signs, there are internal signs of spring too. These ones are a bit more subtle, but they are there for sure. As I observe the flow within, I can make better decisions on what to keep and what to let go — inner spring cleaning. As a result, the heart flows easier and feels lighter overall — a sign of spring — even though there are ‘heavy’ winter-like days when a storm or squall comes through.

Are you seeing or feeling any signs of ‘spring’ where you are at in your life right now? Or do you feel that the ‘winter thaw’ is a ways away for you yet? Or are you at a stage in life where you remain in a state of deep content, regardless of the ‘signs’ or the ‘season’?

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly gathering on twitter with the #SpiritChat community, Sunday Feb 6 at 9amET / 730pm India. We will chat about signs of spring in our lives. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Spring – a sign of creativity…

On Life and Dignity

Tags

compassion, dignity, justice, kindness, purity, simplicity, spring, walking

What is dignity, and why is it important to us as human beings and our human experience? Rather than try to define dignity in physical terms, I feel it easier for me to define its experience. One such experience was the soft spoken-ness of my grandmother, which was inherited by her children, and perhaps by me to some extent. By lowering their voices and weighing their words, particularly in times of great stress, all my elders showed me that dignity can flow from speaking softly, kindly and with deliberation.

Why may we need dignity in speech? Perhaps because it isn’t even possible to have dignity in our actions if our speech is corrupted by indignities of the mind.

How may one develop dignity of thought? One way is to purify the heart, whence the mind’s layers of dirt get flushed with silence, beauty and awareness of the truth that we are.

Yes. We are back to the work of the heart’s purity. One way to purity is to work with an attitude of loving service, as we remind ourselves, and those we may be privileged to serve, of our shared human dignity. Every verdict that “bends the long arc of the moral universe a bit more toward justice”, every invitation by someone to break bread with them, every softly spoken word whispered to us in the hour of our awareness, seeds dignity within us.

It is with these new seeds of dignity that we find the courage to rise yet again, and continue our walk towards that permanent love and grace which is available to all. Our walk need not be complete or complex. In fact the simpler the better, the more dignified it usually is.

This reminds me. It’s time for a cup of tea. One join me. Namaste,

Kumud

P.S. Join in our weekly chat on Twitter, Sunday April 25 at 9amET / 630pm India as we share some tea, fruit, flowers and cookies. Namaste – @AjmaniK

The simplicity, purity and dignity of Spring

Messengers of Equity

Tags

equinox, equity, harmony, spirituality, spring

The onset of spring often means that I get an opportunity to align my annual “work break” with my daughters “spring break” at school. This rhythm was fortunately restored this week, after the disruption last year due to the pandemic.

The rhythm’s restoration was accompanied by the opportunity to spend a whole week filled with twelve-hour long days and nights as the equinox approached and allowed for day-dreaming and natural observation. What emerged from simple observation without agenda? It was how nature tends to do such a wonderful job of being a messenger of equity in so many of her daily rhythms.

One such messenger that I got closely acquainted with this week was the sun rise over deep blue Caribbean waters every morning. The acts of waking up early to complete my morning meditation, followed by watching the sunrises became my new natural rhythm. I could literally set my watch to the song of the bird that would start singing while the dawn was still dark. Her faith in the new light that was imminent, was as unwavering as it was uplifting.

The sunrises were far from perfect, though. On most mornings, clouds of various width, depth and height would hug the sea, obscuring a direct view of the sun. And yet, every sunrise viewing was spectacular because every one of them started out unpredictably different. However, the conclusion and the Sun’s message was always the same.

Just before 7am, silvery linings would form on the edges of the clouds. Shortly after, the sun’s orb would ascend high enough in the sky to subsume the clouds with its golden brilliance. It seemed as if the Sun, in its rising, was messaging equity to all beings, regardless of their size, status or situation in the natural order of life.

How was this daily message received by the world? One example was seen in the appearance of the pelicans, who had a predictable rhythm along the shoreline while the sunrise’s drama was unfolding. Their timing seemed to based on a synergy between the sun’s emergence and the state of the tide. They often seemed to arrive peacefully, in groups ranging from three to maybe a dozen. With grace and peace, they fearlessly and repeatedly plunged headfirst into the waters for their morning catch. Their morning ballet was a pleasant, soothing contrast to that of the raucous crows and blackbirds!

The response to the Sun’s message of peace, harmony, abundance and yes, equity, is often received and acted upon differently by many of us, isn’t it? Why is this so? Does the messaging need to be improved? Is nature using the wrong messenger?

I don’t have the answers. All I can do is relay to you the message of equity that was delivered loudly and clearly to me on this vernal equinox. Our future depends on our investment into working towards equity for all. Will we choose to listen to the messenger and act accordingly, or will we close our eyes to the light?

I hope we choose well in this new season of healing and wellness for all.

Kumud

P. S. Join us in our weekly chat, Sunday March 21 at 9am EDT / 730pm India as we celebrate the Sun’s passage through equity. I look forward to seeing you after my ‘break’. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Sunrise on the Caribbean…
March 20 2021, Vernal Equinox

P.P.S. My ‘break’ this year was made possible by being fully vaccinated relatively early (the 2nd dose was completed on Feb 6… ), and the invitation to a remote location #gratitude

Seasons of Renewal

Tags

light, new life, renewal, seasons, spring

Over the last week or so, I’ve noticed the slant of the sun’s light and the arc that sweeps across the sky in my northern latitude, has changed. My morning and evening walks have made me acutely aware of this change. As the sun rises more eastwards and sets more westwards a bit everyday, the March of increasing sunlight is difficult to ignore. Winter is still holding on, and yet, bit by bit, spring is loosening its grips on the earths and the waters where the Sun cannot yet reach directly. 

The increased range and angle of the Sun creates increased warmth in the earth during the day, which lets the soil do more its work of awakening the roots during the night. Or at least that’s what I imagine. The birds have already awakened to the season and the cries of fledglings demanding food in the nests outside our living room windows are ample proof of this. In addition, there is the music of the shrills of blackbirds on cattails harmonizing with the squawking of the arrivals and departures of new flocks of Canadian geese in the lake every morning and evening.

The not-so-hidden message in the midst of all this new activity seems to be a call to renewal. It is perhaps not a coincidence that the timing of this message coincides with the renewal of hope in our heart. We feel renewal because we can see the beginning of the end of the pandemic that brought a lot of components of our lives to a standstill over the past year. We may sense renewal because nature is reminding us of the consistency of natural life-cycles that have persisted through millennia, despite our ignorance of, or interference with them. 

It is often said (in metaphysics) that outer Nature is simply a projection of our own inner nature. The state in which we see the world without reflects the state of our world within. If this is true, then every season, every transition, every change in the amount and intensity of light and warmth within our heart is reflected in the external world of Nature. If this is true, then every moment that we invest in healing, reflecting upon, and meditating on the source of light within our heart becomes and opportunity for renewal of both our inner and outer world. 

I posit that This is the true invitation of the season of renewal. I further posit that we can evoke and invoke the season of renewal in whenever we so choose to renew the awareness of our heart’s light. It is when we awaken to the light of our truth that we can stream, and yes, even binge-watch, all the seasons of renewal within our heart.

And now, it’s time to walk the dog, or rather, let him walk me outside. It’s a beautiful spring day outside. Namaste.

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly gathering and chat with the #SpiritChat community, Sunday March 7 2021 at 9amET / 730pm Inda. Tell us about your favorite season of renewal! Thank you. – @AjmaniK

Sunlight falls on Autumn’s leaves in Spring – March 6 2021