Engaging our Youthful Spirit

Tags

engagement, leadership, new direction, spirituality, transformation, youth

The breeze blows swift this morning under overcast skies and the grasses rimming the lake seem a tad taller from having been replenished by the light rain that fell all night long. It’s the kind of morning on the deck where a light T-shirt isn’t warm enough and a sweat-shirt wouldn’t be cool enough… and so I put on a yellow soccer jersey with Brazil colors on top of the blue.

In the small Zoom chat on Friday, a lot of us were wearing blue again. I commented that blue was becoming a theme for the chats and Lucille (@sageandsavvy) reminded us that blue activates the “throat chakra” and empowers us to speak the truth. From hosting my niece’s wedding events on Zoom for three straight days this week, I know that yellow is the color of purity. Bride and groom wear yellow while the family applies orange turmeric paste on them, before they take a ritual bath the day before the wedding is a ritual of the ages in our community.

Blue, yellow, orange – add red and green trimmed with gold – the traditional colors worn by Indian brides, a lot of music, dance, and laughter, and you get a soul-filling vibrance that energized me and all those present. The energy of love and joy of the young bride and groom was unmistakable – even from seven thousand miles away. It was a wedding like me and many others had never experienced – an immersion and engagement of a different , unique kind where you could be fully present to the flow of youth-led celebration, without all the distractions and stresses of attending a real-life wedding.

As I write this, the wind has calmed a bit, and out of the corner of my eye, I see that the Mama rabbit who has set up family camp in the thick shrub beyond the fence, has arrived at the base of the deck’s steps. At a six foot distance, we have been doing this stillness dance for a few days. We are aware of each other, but we only look at each other through sideways glances, and we both sit in stillness — a bit like how the bride and groom sat during the fire ceremony part of the wedding. Once she has decided that she is safe, she moves to the base of the bird-feeder where the spillover created by the blackbirds is her repast. My phone flashes a notification — “Flight from GOI to BOM at 9am” — this was to be my return flight from the wedding in Goa. Rescheduled for next June.

Now, where was I? Yes. The contagious, vibrant, energetic refueling of the spirit provided by immersion in the colors and sounds of youthful energy. Last week was confirmation of a direction that I had been called to the week before – to focus my energy towards greater engagement with folks who are young in heart and spirit.

This new direction is not merely about engaging those who are young in age, although they are the inspiration for it. It is about offering the energetic experience, the wisdom, the talents of those who have been on life’s roads less traveled, to those emerging youth who will lead our world into its new future.

Some of this reminds me of my good friend Jon Mertz of @ThinDifference, whom I met on Twitter, and is the first Twitter friend I met IRL on a visit to Dallas. He has supported #SpiritChat for many years, particularly in its youthful years, and has been a long term proponent of “engaging generations and empowering future leaders.” It also reminds me of Simon Harvey (@Simon_GB), a day one #spiritchat participant, whose passion for leadership flowed through #LeadfromWithin for many a year.

I believe it is time for me to follow their lead, the lead of my calling, and the lead of many others like @GrandmaOnDeck, @GaryRGruber, @VegyPower and more. I believe it is time to focus on engaging the energy of youth across the world, and dive headlong into this new experiment and calling to a return to the heart.

I hope you will join me in this new walk. I was going to wait to start walking towards this in a few weeks, but Elisa (@WomenandBiz) in yesterday’s Zoom chat taught me through a Maya Angelou quote — why wait to do the next good thing? Sharon (@AwakeningYourTrueSelf) encouraged me to follow the new direction with the same passion that I have had for the weekly #SpiritChat and Quaratulain (@iquarattariq), the youth representative in the Zoom chat, lent her warm, heartful endorsement.

So, here I am. I am hoping that some of you who have been with the #SpiritChat community for a while will provide inputs, ideas and guidance to this not-so-new heart direction for many of us. I will need all of your help and more, to take the current energy of “we’re all in this together” and transform it into action, so as to effect a transfer of power that will create a new core of leadership at the heart of this world.

I know that we can do this by engaging a new generation that leads and acts with the heart — for that is the key to sustainability.

My three week retreat is over. I’m back. Refueled. Ready for a new launch. Join me. Let all of us young in heart and spirit, you and Me, turn this world upside down, and become We.

Let us arise, awake, and stop not!

Kumud

P.S. Join us in our weekly chat, Sunday June 28 at 9amET / 630pm India as we gather to celebrate the energy of youth. Maybe I will switch from tea to juice, and from cookies to fresh fruit. Namaste – @AjmaniK

The contagious joy and energy of young hearts and spirits…

Transformative Energy of Words

Tags

empowerment, energy, language, transformation, words

What feelings and emotions come to your heart and mind when you read or hear the single word, Mother? The reactions among different people may range from positive to negative, to perhaps neutral. The reaction to that single word depends on the life experiences that we may have had in relationship to the person(s) which that word represents. 

Now, let me modify the word to “Mother Mary”. What feelings and emotions come to your heart and mind now? Are they different from the single word, “Mother”? The shift in the power and energy that the two words “Mother Mary” evoke probably depends on whether you have a Christian background and/or have friends of that denomination. If I were to ask the same question of a tribal who lives in the Amazon rainforest, what would their response, if any, be? And what about words like Durga and Kali, which evoke the divine feminine who is currently being celebrated in ‘a nine days and nights festival‘ in India?

The spiritual power of certain words, phrases, combination of words as prayers, mantras, and such, is well established. There is a scientific basis for the power and ability of words to convey certain energy. The basis of word power and energy is the mechanism of vibration. At the particle level, we are all atomic, vibratory beings. So, it would be natural that the vibrational energy of words would affect us in certain ways. In addition, certain words and prayers, repeated millions of times by cultures over time, attain special significance and energy. One such word which has spread universally from Indian (or Vedic) culture is AUM (or OM). Are there words or prayers that have achieved ‘special energy’ status in your language or culture?

Words, particularly when spoken in the language of the listener, confer thought, ideas, meaning and transformative power – Swami Sarvadevananda

The ability of certain words to affect us negatively, when spoken in a language which we can understand, is also powerful. The power of their words to send us almost instantly into a state of anger, dismay, rage, even hatred, has been felt by many of us. This is where our spiritual practices can help us. If we learn to keep track of our ‘trigger’ words and the situations in which we are particularly vulnerable to those triggers, we can take action. We can align and harmonize our practices to set up ‘early warning systems’ for such words, people and situations. ‘Trigger-word’ awareness is a bit like being the ‘squawker goose’ in the flock of geese sitting in the middle of the river who alerts the flock that a human has been sighted on the shore!

So, words have power, energy and the capability to set off positive, negative or neutral vibrations within us. By choosing words which empower and energize us, we are likely to empower and energize those in our energy field. By repeatedly choosing words and word combinations which enhance our own spiritual well-being, we can transmit universal positive and healing energy. Let us be empowered to speak healing words, or simply keep our silence. Such awareness and practice would be a sign of spiritual growth, yes?

Kumud

P.S. Today’s blog post was inspired by a talk titled ‘The Science of Mantra” given by Swami Sarvadevananda of the Vedanta Society of Hollywood in Cleveland on September 22 2019. It inspired a lot of questions about ‘word power and energy’, and I look forward to sharing some of those questions with you in our weekly twitter chat. Join us, Sunday Oct 6 at 9amET in #SpiritChat – bring your ‘power words’ and ‘trigger words’ to share. Namaste – @AjmaniK

what words does this photo evoke? what energy do they transmit to you?

On Life’s Transitions

Tags

autumn, awareness, celebration, healing, spirituality, transformation

In this last week of September, as it is often its wont, my corner of the world begins a beautiful journey from summer into autumn. The fact that I have been part of this journey every year for over three decades, does not diminish the beauty of the transition. In fact, with every passing year, I seem to look forward to this transition more and more.

The falling of a single leaf, when witnessed with a cup of tea in hand while sitting on the deck, or in the midst of a nature walk in the reservation, is often an event of great silence. It takes me back to my first autumn in Southwest Virginia, and the surprise and immense joy that I felt when I saw, for the first time, all those trees change color. The oranges, yellows and reds and many more colors in between, seemed to create an aura of special warmth in my first season away from home. Autumn seemed to say to me – I feel and see your great transition, and I am transitioning with you. I will be your companion on your journey.

That was then and this is now. My journey, my transitions continue – and so do hers. Awareness informs me that every moment, every breath, every heartbeat is a transition. The loss of a beloved one, the birth of a new flower, sickness and storms, celebrations and new beginnings. The impermanent nature of life as we know it means that transitions are our constant companions. And yet, there is a certain fabric of permanence on which the needle of life’s transitions creates its embroidered artwork. The colors and the thicknesses of the threads may be vastly different, but so what? Is not Autumn present in all her brilliance for all of us who choose to see?

Just this week, I walked two long walks in two separate parts of the reservation – the river valley and the lagoon – three days apart. The river was shallow enough that I could walk into its middle and look back on each of the banks, and upstream and downstream. When the sun rose high enough above the trees on the cliff side of the valley, it shone its light on all that came in its path – every tree, every changing and falling and fallen leaf, every boulder and rock and piece of broken off shale, every flock of geese that let itself be carried downstream by the gentle streaming of the river, and more.

I observed that all they needed to do to be illumined was to be present to the sun’s light with patience – for the play of light and shadow changes day by day, hour by hour, instant by instant – such is the nature of transition. And what about those who seemed to be in ‘permanent’ darkness? I am sure that, in a different season, when the sun’s angle changes, or they choose to bend ever so slightly towards the sun, they would find luminosity too.

So, if you are like me, and you love and cherish autumn as much as I do, you are already well equipped to be in harmony with life’s transitions. If you are like some, who are in love with the idea of an eternal summer, you may want to consider taking a walk into the beauty of autumn.

Go. Stand in place or walk into the middle of a shallow, softly flowing river. Open your heart and take in a 360 degree view. Did you see any transitions?

Kumud

P.S. Join us Sunday, September 30 at 9amET in our weekly gathering on Twitter. I will bring some fabric – you bring some colored threads – we will create some transitions. Namaste – @AjmaniK

In the middle of transitions

The Spiritual Seekers

Tags

exploration, spiritual path, transformation

As I parked the car in a clearing on the parkway to begin my lunch hour walk on Friday, to coincide with the second upcoming meeting with some #spiritchat folks on Zoom, a question crossed my mind. What is it about the people who make the choice to (regularly) associate with others who are on the spiritual path – either in person, online, or through other mediums?

The first part of the answer started to emerge a few minutes later, as I joined the video meeting hosted by Christy (@IntuitiveHeal) and led by Lucille (@sageandsavvy) on the topic of “The book(s) that most influenced our lives”. Every person who chose to be present, shared their favorite book(s), why they were impactful to them, and how they influenced their life’s journey so far. The diversity of backgrounds, of experiences, of journeys was apparent from the diversity of books and authors that were shared by about a dozen folks.

The second part of the answer emerged later in the evening, as I attended a lecture by a visiting monk from the Vedanta center of Toronto. I observed as the room slowly filled up with people from all walks of life to listen to the topic of “Transformation of Personality”. Sitting in the front row on the floor, the spiritual force of the lecture, the energy of the speaker, seemed to wash over me again and again. There were revelations through the stories told by him, and even some tears.

After the event, while serving food, I struck up many short conversations with the some of the new faces at the event. I was particularly intrigued by a new person who said – “I want to know more about the volunteering opportunities that you mentioned during your emceeing at the podium”. I immediately thought to myself – here is a “seeker”. I talked to him at length, and found that we have families in the same town in India. New to this side of town, he came to the lecture because he saw a flyer at one of the Indian grocery stores. Random chance favors the seekers of the universe.

T

he events of a single Friday, one online and the other in person, had a common thread. Both events were energized by the willingness and the determination of the “seeker” who was seeking change. Both events were made possible by each individual seeker who acted upon their inner desire for change. And perhaps, that is what defines a “seeker” in all fields of life – they are the ones who are willing to open up to change, take action, and stay determined to stop not until the goal is achieved. The “seeker” is perhaps like the fish in the ocean who eats, breathes and sleeps the water of their spiritual journey.

Are you a seeker? If so, what are you seeking? What actions are you taking today to move closer to that which you are seeking? Who is guiding you, inspiring you, influencing you, keeping you company on your seeking journey?

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Join us Sunday, May 5th at 9am ET / 630pm India as we continue our seeker’s journey in our weekly #spiritchat conversation on twitter. I look forward to wandering, exploring and seeking with all of you. Namaste – Kumud.

The Seeker’s Playground…

On Evoking Transformation

Tags

change, reboot, satori, transformation, vaisakhi, vesak

When I left for the southern hemisphere in the middle of March, I left behind a nascent spring and flew into a nascent autumn. It did not take long – less than twenty four hours – to go from one state of change (spring) to yet another, equally transformative state of change (autumn). In addition to the change in physical environment, the change in food and drink and the change in language brought about a sense of external transformation that seeped slowly from the outside to the interior over the duration of the trip…

Every new journey has the possibility, the potential, the energy, to transform us. I posit that we have all experienced such transformation(s) in our lifetime. Transformation is more than mere incremental change. If incremental change is like floating on the surface of the ocean, transformation is a deep dive where we encounter truth. Incremental change is easier to roll back, to reverse. Transformation is like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Once transformation affects us deeply, seeps beneath the surface, its effects are of a more permanent nature.

In Buddhism, this kind of deep transformation which brings enlightenment is celebrated as vesak –

…the most important Buddhist festival, commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, and celebrated at the full moon in the Indian month of Vaishaka (April–May).
Sinhalese vesak, via Pali from Sanskrit vaiśākha, denoting the month April–May.

An intermediate step that can be encountered on the way to complete transformation is referred to as satori. It is, as Osho refers to it, a gaining of a new perspective, a “flash of lightning upon the consciousness”. An experience that transports us instantaneously into a state where we get the sense beyond senses of not being “of this world”. A state where we need not be searching under every tree of the forest with our lamp any more – because the lightning has illuminated the entire forest for us in a flash…

This is not to say that we ought to abandon our established spiritual practices, our search, and wait for “lightning to strike”. In fact, Buddha is known to have said that contrary to popular belief, his enlightenment was anything but “sudden”. It took him much disciplined practice to get to the state where his enlightenment, his transformation, appeared to be instantaneous.

For me, the message of Buddha’s journey is that if I encounter satori on the path, so be it. I shall welcome it, be grateful for it. But it certainly does not mean that I am going to stop waking and walking, evoking and inviting transformation, on a daily basis…

Namaste,

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly twitter chat – Sunday, April 15th at 9amET/6:30pmIST. We will explore the topic of “Evoking Transformation”, and I invite you to share some of your “out of this world” satori moments with us… Namaste.

P.P.S. I would be remiss if I were not to mention that today, April 14th, is the annual festival of vaisakhi – a harvest celebration marking the New Year in many Indian communities, including the Punjabi community that I am part of, and culturally identify with in food, language, song and dance… time to celebrate with some Bhangra!

On Spiritual Transformation

Tags

change, spiritual practice, spirtuality, transformation

Transformation is a BIG word. It seems to create a vision of a big mountain that we may need to climb. And we may wonder if we have the energy to do so. Particularly when we are already exhausted by the various demands of life. In addition, we have a natural inner resistance to change, particularly if it requires work for which we do not seem to have time, space and energy.

And yet, in some ways, inner transformation can be easier than change. For the work of transformation need not be work in the traditional sense of the world. It may require us to simply be in the in the field of love of someone who is doing the transforming, in the space of those who are being transformed before our own very eyes.

If it is raining outside, and we see the flowers and the grasses and the leaves on the trees getting wet, dancing in the rain, we have a choice. We can shut the window, pull the curtains, and remain dry and safe within the home. Or, we can open the window, let the wind blow some rain in, and wet us a little bit as we cup our hands around a warm beverage. Or, we can decide to experience loving power of the rain for ourselves.

We fling open the patio door, and go stand in the middle of the field and let it rain love upon us. And as the rain and the tears intermingle, and we feel pure joy surge through us, we now know the reason for the silence of those who were being transformed before our very own eyes. Now, we too are transformed by experiencing some of the surrender to love that we were only witnesses to until that point where we ourselves decided to surrender.

We did not get changed. We got transformed by the power love. It is like the story about the seeker who is seeking the trasure in the dark forest with a small oil lamp under a cloudy sky. They are earnestly working, seeking and doing what they know is best, looking under one tree at a time. And then, a flash of lightning illuminates the entire forest, transforming the landscape so that they can see and experience the entire forest at once. Such is the power of transformation.

And I hope you have experienced it, or get to experience it in the company of one like Amma, in whose rain of love I was fortunate to stand for nine straight hours on Friday. The transformation that I saw in the people at the Unity Center, whom she individually blessed with her energy in all those hours – one by one, listening, hugging, responding, wiping their tears, and bidding adieu with hershey’s kisses – was an experience that my heart will rarely forget.

On one occasion, her words to me were, simple, direct and transformative: “I love you, Kumudson”.

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Join us Sunday, June 11th at 9amET/1pmUTC and share some of your experiences of change, of transformation, of love, and of surrender. I will bring tea, cookies and some questions with love. You bring some answers. Namaste 🙂

On Spiritual Transformation

Tags

change, spirituality, transformation

One of the final questions that we had considered in our #SpiritChat conversation two weeks ago, in the chat titled “Risk and Reason” was ~ “Are we in the Age of Reason, the Age of Risk, or….?”. There were several answers, including “Age of Awareness”, “Age of Awakening” and “Age of Triumph” – all brilliant answers. As autumn has descended upon us in the Northern hemisphere, for those of us fortunate enough to observe the changes that it brings, I am inclined to propose that we are in the “Age of Transformation”.

Let us examine the what, the how, the why, the when and the where of transformation, as it relates to spirituality. What is transformation and what does it imply or entail? For me, it denotes more than mere change, for transformation has a quality of immediacy to it. It is like an on/off switch which acts on our inner core, and moves us seemingly instantaneously from one state to another. By contrast, change is more gradual – like a ‘dimmer’ switch on our heart plate which we can move up and down to vary the amount of light that shines within. Change and transformation are of course connected, but the light that shines as a result of inner transformation, creates an unmistakable sense of awakening, awareness, and perhaps even triumph!

How does this seemingly ‘step-change’ of inner transformation occur? Some say that it is the outcome of dedication and devotion over many years of spiritual practice(s), that results in a seemingly ‘instant’ transformation. Others, notably the proponents of ‘Zen’, say that transformation can occur in the instant that we make a decision to awaken. One analogy of zen-like transformation is that of making a decision to give-up a habit which may be negatively impacting our quality of life e.g. smoking, compulsive eating/drinking, shopping, or the like. This is often referred to as the ‘cold-turkey’ form of transformation – make a decision to transform, to leap, and stick to the decision you make. It may take a tremendous investment of accumulated will-power to effect such a transformation, but the returns are proportionately high too!

Why does transformation happen for, or to, some people, while it seemingly escapes others inspite of their best efforts? Everybody who is making an effort towards inner change and transformation has his or her own ‘why’. For some, the ‘why’ is tangible, and can be described as a path, leading towards a goal. For others, the ‘why’ is more intangible – it is that voice within which has grown louder over time, which pulls us towards higher ground, a higher state of being. The famous quote by Anais Nin goes – “…and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” There it is again. Risk. Driving our ‘why’ towards transformation.

This brings us to the fourth dimension of transformation – when? The question of ‘when’ implies a sequence of time, of the right timing, for transformation to occur. When change does not seem to happen in our lives at the pace we would like it to happen, we often comfort ourselves with the reminder to ‘be unattached to the fruits of our actions’ – we sow the (action) seeds, the divine power grows them to bear fruit in its time. This is a simple way to look at the question of ‘when’ – we deftly side-step it by focusing on our work in the moment, and let the leaves fall where they may… but somehow, in some way, the caterpillar seems to know when to begin its transformation – for there is a narrow window of time which creates a sense of urgency, to begin the flow of blood into its wings, or the butterfly may not see the light of spring!

The final aspect of transformation is – where? For me, the last three months of walking the local forest reservation have brought about many transformative moments, and some locations are more distinctly etched in my heart and mind than others. I have uncovered that the infinite variation of nature’s beauty and bounty is here, there and everywhere – or wherever I happen to be. And that nature has the power to transform us in ways far beyond what we see, hear, and feel in her embrace. Can you recall the exact location where you were sitting or standing or simply being when you had your most recent moment(s) of transformation? What was the confluence of events that brought you to that transformative location? Were you alone or were you among friends and family?

For those of you who have read this far, I express my gratitude. I extend an invitation to you, to reflect on your personal (spiritual) transformation in the context of the five W’s that I discussed above. I invite you to write a blog post, share in the comments below, and join in our weekly conversation on twitter on Sunday, October 25th at 9amET/1pmUTC in the #SpiritChat channel.

Till we meet again, I hope that your transformations are kind to you,

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK