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  • Endless trip of the mind

    Over thinking can cause a lot of damage. This endless trip of mind creates two worlds within our mind. It is difficult to tame the monkey mind. An easy solution is meditation. My personal experience is Art of living part Happiness Program helps in multiple ways.

    Meditation helps in more than one ways. I shall share a recent incident some time in future. Until I get time to write my experience, here is a wonderful story from the book I have referred multiple times on my blog post – Prayers of the frog.

    Our one mind creates so much of trouble, understand Ravana had ten and the disaster it caused. Better to have a head over shoulders that is balanced, isn’t it? Wish you a very Happy Dussehra and I leave you with these thoughts of bringing peace.

    Endless trip of the mind

    Samuel was down in the dumps and who could blame him? His landlord had ordered him out of the apartment and he had nowhere to go. Suddenly the light dawned. He could live with his good friend Moshe. The thought brought Samuel much comfort until it was assailed by another thought. Samuel thought “what makes you so sure that Moshe will put you up at his place?” “Why wouldn’t he?” Came another question in his mind. He said to himself sharply “After all it is I who found him the place he is living in now; and it was I who advanced him the money to pay his rent for the first six months. Surely the least he could do is put me up for a week or so when I am in trouble.”

    That settled the matter in Samuel’s mind, until after dinner. After dinner, his mind again took a trip of thoughts; “Suppose Moshe were to refuse?” “Refuse?” Samuel again reasoned in his mind; “Why in God’s name would he refuse?” The man owes me everything he has. It is I who got him the job, it is I who introduced him to that lovely wife who has borne him the three sons he glories in. Will he grudge me a room for a week? Impossible.”

    Once again, Samuel’s mind settled until he go to the bed. He could not sleep as the thoughts came back “But just suppose Moshe were to refuse. What then?” This was too much for Samuel. His mind was on an endless trip, the thoughts continued “How the hell could he refuse?” Samuel was losing his temper in thoughts itself. His mind continued the chain of thoughts “If the man is alive today it is because of me. I saved him from drowning when he was a kid. Will he be so ungrateful as to turn me out into the streets in the middle of winter?”

    This mental exercise continued in Samuel’s mind; “Just suppose…”. Poor Samuel struggled with it as long as he could. Finally, he got out of the bed around 2 AM in the morning, went over to Moshe’s home, and kept ringing the doorbell until Moshe, half-asleep, opened the door and said in astonishment, “Samuel! What is it? What brings you here in the middle of the night?” Samuel was so angry by now he could not keep himself from yelling, “I’ll tell you what brings me here at this hour of the mind! If you think I’m going to ask you to put me up even for a single day, you’re mistaken. I don’t want to have anything to do with you, your house, your wife, or your family. To hell with you all!” With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

    How to get over it

    Before your mind or relationships explode like Samuel’s did, my experience based suggestion would be – register for a course mostly happening online during Covid or reach out to me I shall try to connect you with someone who can help you attend an upcoming course.

  • Connectedness

    The world is divided into countries, races, religions, and god knows how many different factions and sections. There may be valid reasons for such sections. However, everything and everyone is connected. Problem to one results in problem to everything else around it. We have to learn the lesson of connectedness, be it hard way or easily.

    Connectedness

    Once different body parts were annoyed with the stomach. They were unhappy that they had to procure food and bring it to the stomach while the stomach itself did nothing but devour the hard work the parts did.

    In a meeting, all body parts decided they will stop bringing food to the stomach. The hand won’t lift it to the mouth, teeth won’t chew and throat won’t swallow it. This would force the stomach into doing something.
    After all, they were part of the whole. They had forgotten this basic reality. The decision to stop bringing food to the stomach resulted in making the body weak, feeble, and brought the body to the death bed.

    In the end, they all learned a lesson that in helping one another they were really working for their own welfare.

    Interdependence

    I had written about witnessing an incident of rioting firsthand. The learning from that incident was that we must learn managing our emotions. We can learn this by learning meditations. In fact, meditation brings compassion too. Result – more balance and peaceful response to situation instead of rioting – “Connectedness“.

    https://business2buddha.com/2019/05/heart-mind-action-awareness-meditation/
    https://twitter.com/SVNewsAlerts/status/1299458895396646915
    Protest should be representative not damaging public property

    Recently, I heard of the news of riots in a city in Sweden. Similar things occurred in two of the biggest cities in India – Delhi, and Bangalore. In our selfishness, if we miss the connectedness we end up harming not just ourselves but the whole surrounding. In our shallowness, we may consider ourselves as different or separate from the other however this aloofness ends into troubling everything.

    Note – Story source – Father Anthony de Mello, Prayers of the frog

  • “Greedy” monk

    Prayers of the Frog Volume 1 and Volume 2 is a wonderful story book. Here is another story from the same. This story connects the dots with perception that I had been writing. We do have some monks like this in our society. Do read the story for now.

    Monk

    Greedy monk

    Gessen was a Buddhist monk. He was also an exceptionally talented artist. Before he started work on any painting, however, he always demanded payment in advance. And his fees were exorbitant. So he came to be known as the Greedy Monk.

    A geisha (Japanese women who entertain through performing the ancient traditions) once sent for him to have a painting done. Gessen said. “How much will you pay me?” The girl happened to be entertaining a patron at that time. She said, “Any sum you ask for. But the painting must be done right now before me.”

    Gessen set to work at once and when the painting was completed he asked for the highest sum he had ever charged. As the geisha was giving him his money, she said to her patron, “This man is supposed to be a monk but all he thinks of is money. His talent is exceptional but he has a filthy, money-loving mind. How does one exhibit the canvas of a filthy-minded man like that? His work is good enough for my underclothing!”

    With that she flung a petticoat at him and asked him to paint a picture on it. Gessen asked the usual question before he started the work: “How much will you give me?” “Oh, any sum you ask for,” said the girl. Gessen named his price, painted the picture, shamelessly pocketed the money and walked away.

    • Many years later quite by chance someone found out why Gessen was so greedy for money. A devastating famine often struck his home province. The rich would do nothing to help the poor. So Gessen had secret barns built in the area and had them filled with grain for such emergencies. No one knew where the grain came from or who the benefactor of the province was.
    • Another reason why Gessen wanted money was the road leading to his village from the city many miles away. It was in such bad condition that ox-carts could not move on it; this caused much suffering to the aged and the infirm when they needed to get to the city. So Gessen had the road repaired.
    • The final reason was a meditation temple which Gessen’s teacher had always desired to build but could not, Gessen built this temple as a token of gratitude to his revered teacher.

    After the Greedy Monk had built the road, the temple and the barns, he threw away his paint and brushes, retired to the mountains to give himself to the contemplative life and never painted another canvas again.

    Read other such good stories and learn for yourself. I have referred to the book and its stories many times earlier too check here.

    https://business2buddha.com/2018/07/21/intentions/
    https://business2buddha.com/2018/07/08/perceptions-create-reality/
    https://business2buddha.com/2011/02/15/no-judgement-its-all-about-perception/

    Essence – A person’s conduct generally shows what the observer imagines it to show.

    Again this boils down to perception.

    https://business2buddha.com/2020/04/06/perceptions/

  • Perceptions

    Perceptions are our realities – however, how real are these perceptions? The reality persists until we get to understand the other side too. Long back, I met Sai Kaka and he told me very interesting lines explaining how we are stuck and how the “beyond” is experienced. If you look at many opinions and “-isms” you would realize that almost all are bound and jailed in the opinions of their own. What Sai Kaka told me was this –

    Sai Kaka

    Sanskar yukt chaitanya jab (संस्कार युक्त चैतन्य जब)

    • chintan karata hai to usko chitt kahate hai (1. चिंतन करता है तो उसको चित्त कहते है)
    • manan karata hai to usko man kahate hai (2. मनन करता है तो उसको मन कहते है)
    • nirnay karata hai to usko buddhi kahate hai (3. निर्णय करता है तो उसको बुद्धि कहते है)
    • asmita ka bhan karata hai to usko aham kahate hai (4. अस्मिता का भान करता है तो उसको अहं कहते है)
    • inme se sansakar nikal jaye to jo bachata hai vo shuddha chaitanya hai (इनमे से संस्कार निकल जाए तो जो बचता है वो शुद्ध चैतन्य है)

    This in English means –

    When a conscious filled with rituals (or say the lessons learnt about ‘way of living’)

    • thinks we call it mind (imagination)
    • contemplate we call it Mind [there is a difference between Chitt and man which I am not able to translate in English]
    • makes a decision we call it intellect
    • perceives pride we call it Ego

    Now when the rituals or ‘way of life’ learnt, get out of this conscious mind, what is left is the pure consciousness.

    I recalled these lines from Sai Kaka when I read the story of Prayer’s of the frog on Perception.

    Story from Prayers of the frog

    A monk was walking in the monastery grounds one day when he heard a bird sing. He listened, spellbound. It seemed to him that never before had he heard, but really heard, the song of a bird.

    When the singing stopped he returned to the monastery and discovered, to his dismay, that he was a stranger to his fellow monks, and they to him. It was only gradually that they and he discovered that he was returning after centuries. Because his listening was total, the time had stopped and he had slipped into eternity.

    Prayer is made perfect

    when the timeless is discovered.

    The timeless is discovered

    through clarity of perception.

    Perception is made clear

    when it is disengaged

    from preconceptions

    and from all consideration

    of personal loss or gain.

    ‘Then the miraculous

    is seen and the heart is filled with wonder.

    https://business2buddha.com/2014/03/10/amazing-isnt-it/
    I have written on Amazement/wonder read here

    Ashtavakra Geeta talks about Wonder, Janaka responds to Ashtavakra with astonishment. This veil takes time to cast-off. Our perceptions create our reality and we are stuck with that reality with our preconceived notions. When this perception, way of life, Sanskar is removed what is left is consciousness – pure bliss ( इनमे से संस्कार निकल जाए तो जो बचता है वो शुद्ध चैतन्य है).

    I have thoughts on the conflict of perception, in my mind that I shall try to put next week.

  • How to get out of the comfort zone?

    Last week I wrote the biggest lesson that I learnt with Professor Tomas Lopez. Simple summary of the lesson, we’re conditioned to think in certain manner. It cause more trouble to our daily situation then anything else. I was fortunate to have been reminded of this problem of mine (our mind) by Professor Mankad too – read here. Professor Lopez put me out of my comfort zone many a times. Getting out of comfort zone is very important if you want to earn some pearls in life.

    Here is a short story of loss, that one must avoid in life. This story is from the book – Prayers of the frog Volume 1 and Volume 2. An awesome book with short stories and life lessons.

    Awareness

    An oyster saw a loose pearl that had fallen into the crevice of a rock on the ocean bed. After great effort she managed to retrieve the pearl and place it just beside her on a leaf.

    She knew that humans searched for pearls and thought, “This pearl will tempt them, so they will take it and let me be.”

    When a pearl diver showed up, however, his eyes were conditioned to look for oysters and not for pearls resting on leaves.

    So he grabbed the oyster which did not happen to have a pearl and allowed the real pearl to roll back into the crevice in the rock.

    From the book – Prayers of the frog V1

    The author concludes – You know exactly where to look. That is the reason why you fail to find God.

    prayer-of-the-frog

    It happens with all of us, we look for happiness in something other than what we have in hand. This is where we end up being unhappy. Many a times we know the answer to – “When will I be happy?” Yet we miss the path to the goal. In fact, when we achieve the goal; our goal post has already changed. This is the problem of our mind, we are never calm, even before we reach somewhere we find the next destination. Here the destination can be as easy as the next venue for dinner or as ambitious as next company, job, or car. What we need to change is our way of thinking.

    Our life experience and circumstances programs us to become a certain individual over time. Be it the diver of the above story, or me or you. We must ask a question to ourselves – are we ready to get out of our comfort zone?

    How to get out of the comfort zone?

    Our comfort zone is the worst enemy of our possibilities. As was the case with the Digger. I think we can get out of comfort zone by some of the ways such as

    1. Getting into tough spots with choice – life is a trouble… only death is not I was put in those situations by Prof Lopez
    2. Awareness in actions, if you had read my blog on conditioned mind, you would understand the context
    3. Get out of your ego, do something that does not conform to your definition of YOU. Read how Mumbai brushed my ego
    4. Learn from past experience (slingshot example), yet try things without getting bogged down by your past experiences
    5. Remember our perceptions create our reality, do not limit yourself with those limited perceptions of yours
    6. Keep things simple as ABC – story from Prayers of the frog
    7. Think and know, you are nothing in front of the creation, why limit yourself, why feel low, embarrassed even before trying?

    The Buddha also went beyond his comfort zone to be enlightened. In fact he had put his everything on the gamble. Let me know which one you can relate to? Or what you think is even better method of getting out of comfort zone, it would interesting to learn.

  • A Hasidic tale – Prayer

    I have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on Prayers, here it is –

    Late one evening a poor farmer on his way back from the market. He was a religious person and when he found that he has missed his prayer book at home. The worst fear he had was he has misplaced it. This was the most disheartening thing that could happen to this pious and religious person.

    The wheel of his cart had come off right in the middle of the woods and it distressed him that this day should pass without his having said his prayers.

    With this disappointment, he was worried that he is missing something very important today. So he did something interesting. This is the prayer he made: “I have done something very foolish, Lord. I came away from home this morning without my prayer book and my memory is such that I cannot recite a single prayer without it. So this is what I am going to do: I shall recite the alphabet five times very slowly and you, to whom all prayers are known, can put the letters together to form the prayers I can’t remember,”

    And the Lord said to his angels, “Of all the prayers I have heard today, this one was undoubtedly the best because it came from a heart that was simple and sincere.”

    I have heard that Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Gods belongs to people who are like child-like.

    We all must do our prayers and any other works – personal or professional – with such sincerity and simplicity, isn’t it? Do share your thoughts.

  • Matter of choice

    prayer of frogIt’s no good having our prayers answered If they are not answered at the right time:

    In ancient India much store was set by the Vedic rites which were said to be so scientific in their application that when the sages prayed for rain there was never any drought. It is thus that a man set himself to pray, according to these rites, to the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, begging her to make him rich.

    He prayed to no effect for ten long years, after which period of time, he suddenly saw the illusory nature of wealth and adopted the life of a renunciate in the Himalayas.

    He was sitting in meditation one day when he opened his eyes and saw before him an extraordinarily beautiful woman, all bright and shining as if she were made of gold.

    “Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked.

    “I am the goddess Lakshmi to whom you recited hymns for twelve years,” said the woman. “I have appeared to grant you your desire.”

    “Ah, my dear goddess,” exclaimed the man, “I have since attained the bliss of meditation and lost my desire for wealth. You come too late. Tell me, why did you delay so long in coming?”

    “To tell you the truth,” said the goddess, “Given the nature of those rites you so faithfully performed you had fully earned the wealth. But, in my love for you and my desire for your welfare, I held it back.”

    If you had the choice, which would you choose: the granting of your petition or the grace to be peaceful whether it is granted or not?

    Source – Prayer of the Fro Vol 1, Prayer of the frog Vol 2, by Father Antony De’Mello

  • Blasphemy – cry of wisdom

    It took a lot of time for me to title this blog. Do not confuse the words on right and word on left of the hyphen. Read the story and understand the title 🙂

    One day Mulla Nasruddin saw the village schoolmaster leading a group of children towards the mosque.prayer of frog

    “What are you taking them there for?” he asked.

    “There is a drought in the land,” said the teacher, “and we trust that the cries of the innocent will move the heart of the Almighty.”

    “It isn’t the cries, whether innocent or criminal, that count,” said the Mulla, “but wisdom and awareness.”

    “How dare you make such a blasphemous statement in the presence of these children!” cried the teacher.

    “Prove what you have said, or you shall be denounced as a heretic.”

    “Easy enough,” said Nasruddin. “If the prayers of children counted for anything there wouldn’t be a school teacher in all the land, for there is nothing they so detest as going to school. The reason you have sur­vived those prayers is that we, who know better than the children, have kept you where you are?”

    Source – Prayer of the Fro Vol 1, Prayer of the frog Vol 2, by Father Antony De’Mello

    This is a scheduled and thus auto published blog, author is currently having limited access to the internet.

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