On Being Forever Young

Tags

divinity, energy, feminine, festivals, youth

To put it mildly, the year 2020 has been a challenging year for the human race. For many of us, our share of problems, fears and anxieties has reached new highs in this year. So, how do we find solutions for them from a spiritual perspective? Let us step back and consider the root cause, and try to find some remedies. We can begin today, October 17, which marks the beginning of the  festival that celebrates ‘renewal of divine energy’ over the forthcoming nine days and nights (Navaratri).  

Let us consider. The problems that we have, which manifest as our fears and anxieties, can be viewed as the that of the body and/or of the mind. If this is true, then would our problems ‘disappear’ if we were to lose awareness of the body and the mind? One ’state’ in which we lose this mind/body awareness is when we go to sleep every night. Of course, we often carry our fears and anxieties into the sleep state, because they manifest as dreams (or nightmares). On days like that, we may sleep for a long time, and yet, we wake up tired because our mind did not find any rest from our fears.

And yet, there are some nights (or even afternoons :)), where we sleep that deep sleep of the newborn who does not have any worries, who is not lying awake wondering whether she will have ‘milk to drink’ in the morning. Then, in that dream state, the  consciousness has traveled beyond body and mind, and we wake up rested because we were freed of our fears and anxieties. 

So, if in some states of deep sleep, we can have the awareness of no-body and no-mind, then what is it that remains? Who are we, really in that state of sleep? And, can we develop that same awareness of no-body and no-mind in our waking state? If we could  develop the awareness that we are something greater than mere body and mind, then would we come face-to-face with our real existence?

Many would argue that such an awareness, such freedom from body and mind, is not possible or practical. Living in the world, we are immersed daily in a sea of time, space, action and causation. Fear, anxiety, pain, loss, distress, aging, and such — these are the things of the “real world”. We need to face all of these things of daily life, for which we need strength and the courage to overcome. So, where can we draw our strength from?

Vedanta philosophy (the ‘end of knowledge’) speaks to three sources of strength. The first, ‘moral’ strength comes from our adherence to truth, even when we may stand to suffer great personal loss as a result. Hence, Satyameva Jayate – the truth is always victorious. The second, ‘religious’ strength comes from a belief in a power greater than us, and the faith that That power source ‘has our back’ all the time. The third, ‘spiritual’ strength comes from the knowing that we are not the body or the mind — affirmed by the direct experience that our reality is That indestructible spirit.  

If we can develop these three sources of strength, and keep replenishing them, then we can be walking, talking, sleeping, dreaming and waking in a state where fear and anxiety do not exist. We can develop strength and courage through the renewal and celebration of divine energy and awareness within. Join me in the renewal.

Let us all celebrate our journey of becoming forever young. 

Kumud

P.S. Join us in our weekly twitter conversation on twitter as we gather to renew our strength and courage by sharing our stories through questions and answers, and a sharing of tea and cookies. Namaste – @AjmaniK

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…

The Spirit of Children

Tags

children, spiritchat, spirituality, youth

On Friday October 11th 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize committee announced that the 2014 Peace Prize would be shared by among two individuals – 17 year old Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, and 60 year old Kailash Satyarthi of India. Crossing boundaries of nations, religions, age, and many more, the spotlight was put firmly on the spirit of these two individuals, and their respective works and actions towards the cause(s) of children.

No matter how old or young we may be at this point in our life, we have all been through childhood. Some of us manage to retain our childlike spirit into our adult years. Those of us who have children of our own, work with children, or are engaged in children’s causes, are fortunate to see some of that dynamic spirit – upfront and firsthand in our daily life and activities. Even though they may be physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and otherwise disadvantaged, even the most fragile children somehow manage to project a spiritual intensity and resilience that apparently defies explanation.

In addition to the inspiration provided by the courage and spirit of Malala Yousafzai, to children and adults across the world, the stories of Helen Keller and Anne Frank also come to mind. In their time, they were perhaps equally representative of the spirit of the children of their time. While it may be difficult to do a head-to-head comparison of the respective impacts of these three as they span across generations and societies, it is perhaps useful to examine the common underlying threads of their personality, their character, their spirit… One common thread that emerges is that their courageous actions all emerged from what would appear to us adults as unsurmountable challenges… But, they knew and felt something within – an intensity of spirit – that made them continue on their path.

So, where does this spiritual intensity come from? Do all of us have this same or similar intensity as children? If so, what happens to diminish it in some of us as we grow older in age? What can we learn from the actions of those who operate with this intensity? How do we obtain a good measure of this intensity? When it grows weak, how do we renew, revive and reestablish this childlike spirit within us? What is its connection to our inner voice?

I invite you to share your thoughts on this topic in our weekly conversation on twitter – Sunday, October 12th at 9am ET / 1pm UTC / 6:30pm India. If you have any resources that can shed more light on this topic, please share in the comments.

Thank you, and Namaste… I salute the childlike spirit within you!

Kumud

Keeping a Youthful Spirit – by @ThinDifference for #SpiritChat

Tags

spirit, spiritchat, youth

We continue our “Summer Series” for our weekly Sunday morning conversations with my good friend, Jon Mertz. Jon believes that Millennials are the next, great generation of leaders, and that we need to share our experiences and encourage a new generation to lead mindfully and spiritedly!

Remember the days? Playing hopscotch down the sidewalk, taking turns without a care in the world. Running around the playground, laughing with friends. Lying in the tall grass, looking at the clouds go by and imagining the possibilities.

In our youth, there is an invincibility in our spirit along with a fire of seemingly endless inspiration.

Everything is new, and anything is possible.

It is a spirit of playfulness coupled with creativity, activity, and ingenuity. While some may call it “child’s play,” others may call it a youthful spirit.

And then something happens. It is time clicking by.

Time creates age, and age creates toil, wear, and responsibility. We get engulfed by the clock of work and the merry-go-around of each day twists our spirit. Disappointment trumps possibility. Drudgery displaces playfulness. Carefulness replaces carefreeness.

Our soul becomes worn, and this is the danger of age. So, how do we keep a youthful spirit through it all?
It may be worthwhile to first highlight what a youthful spirit is not:

• It is not immaturity.
• It is not unaccountability.
• It is not disregard for others.
• It is not laziness.

A youthful spirit is about:

• Embracing playfulness and laughter as a way to lighten up our communities and family relationships.
• Stoking our imagination for creativity and innovation.
• Keeping a fire in our soul to shine our purpose and keep it energized.
• Growing old with vim and vigor in our soul and spirit.
• Aging with a grin, making others wonder what we are up to still….

It is these and more.

We will explore how to keep a youthful spirit and what that means. To prime our thoughts, these random quotes may help spark your mind and spirit:

• Embracing youth: “It takes a long time to become young.” – Pablo Picasso
• Engaging relationships: “And even when I’m old and gray. I’m gonna feel the way I do today. ‘Cause you make me feel so young.” – Frank Sinatra
• Using your talents: “There is a fountain of youth: It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring in your life and the lives of people you love.” – Sophia Loren
• Igniting the spark: “Youth is, after all, just a moment, but it is the moment, the spark, that you always carry in your heart.” – Raisa M. Gorbachev
• Keeping the spirit: “You’re never too old to become younger.” – Mae West

How do you keep a youthful spirit? Join #SpiritChat and share! Sunday, July 14th at 9amET.

Jon

I hope you enjoyed this post written for our weekly #SpiritChat discussion by Jon Mertz. I invite you to join Jon and me for what promises to be a very youthful conversation! Thank you – Kumud.

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