Playing a Piano

I am a piano designed to produce a range of musical tunes. I am the one and the only one who can play that piano the way I want. No one else can play it for me. Others can at best show me how I can or should play it, but they cannot play it on my behalf. I am the only one playing the piano. The kind of tune the piano produces depends on the way I am playing the piano. Good or bad, it all depends on how I am playing it. And that, in turn, depends on how I have been trained to play it, how hard and frequent I practice playing and finally how I choose to play it at a given moment. Of course, it also depends on how well the piano is managed and functioning at present. In short, I am a piano playing the same piano.    

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Images and Imagination 2

Images and Imagination 1

Such a Blessed Day

I woke up very early in the morning before the alarm went off. Oh, such a blessing! I could have overslept sometimes even after the alarm could wake me up just on the time I usually set. Then I had a hot bath – another blessing. There might have no water in the tap as usually happened these days. I had my morning meditation that filled me with peace and tranquility. What a blessing! I might have missed it as it sometimes happened when I did not have enough time for preparation. 

I went to office, but before I entered the building I got my shoes polished. I had never realized that such a simple act could be an opportunity for a blessing. One thing, I had some money in my pocket to pay for the service. There were times when I wanted to have my shoes polished but I did not have the money on me. Another thing, I had become an instrument for this shoe-shine boy to earn a living and perhaps be able to feed his poor family. Apart from that I looked much better with my shoes polished. I hope other would feel good to see me in a better condition as I always feel great to see other people in a good shape.

I had quite a rough morning with my work as there were a number of things to have accomplished. That was not the only problem. When I started to focus on a specific task, my boss asked me to do something else, and before I could finish one, he gave me another order. I felt a bit lost as I was not able to concentrate on one particular aspect of my work. I took a coffee break to reorganize myself, and the coffee was so tasty; I noticed what a blessing to have such a coffee right in my office.  Well, it would be possible that I might not drink coffee when I wanted to have one. That is not all. I might not have such a good coffee even when there was no problem of availability.

Now, I was able to focus on the most urgent part of my work. It actually took me the rest of the day to finish it. But I felt contented as I managed to finish it the same day. Of course, there were also other things to do on that day. But I did not feel bad as I normally would because I did not manage to accomplish all at the top of my to-do list. Now I had completed one important piece of my job, I know I have time to deal with the remaining ones as well. So great! Just another thing! A colleague of mine provided me support to get done with another aspect of my job. I sent her an email appreciating her support. How blissful I felt afterwards. There were times when I failed to notice others’ support let alone recognized it and rewarded them with a heartfelt appreciation the way I did today.

When I went out of office, I went to the meditation center as I had planned for the day. It proved to be another blessing. There were some occasions where I could not go to the center according to my prior plan because of some other urgent matters. In my meditation, I realized that I had such a blissful day. But the day was pretty much the same as any other day in my life. What was different about this day was that I recognized the small things that would make my day such a blessing. I shared my realization to other people at the meditation center which made me even more blissful. I did not walk away with all the blessing I was experiencing at the moment as I sometimes did before. That simply act of sharing brought me more blessing. I hope I will have such a blessed day tomorrow as well if I do not forget this blissful recognition of my little blessings on a day as I did all my life and as others are living their lives without counting the countless blessings they all have on everyday in their lives.

Oh, one last thing! What a blessing it is to have this opportunity to share with you my blessings.  

Flying High in the Sky

A day of meditation. I am watching the various birds and the eagles flying around up in the sky. Each variety of birds flies in a unique way that is different from all the others. The eagles are flying stretching their wings without moving them or slightly moving them only occasionally. The other types of birds are flipping their wings more frequently but still in a different style of their own. But they all are flying, and all of them have wings. Even the hens have wings, though they barely use them to fly. Only in rare occasions they use their wings to fly and only as high as the top of the gate of my compound as far as my observation is concerned.

I started to wonder whether the hens could ever be able to fly any higher or for longer period of time at some poin...t in their evolution, and then perhaps they might tend to forget to use them as often as they should or could and now they are unable to use them as frequently as they wish for as long period of time as they need. Or could it be just the opposite that they are in the process of developing the ability to fly so that one day they would also fly high up in the sky as long as they wish to?

I am also wondering whether it is the same in the case of human beings. Have we always been like this with regard to the level of self awareness or consciousness we have? Perhaps, not always and not all of us. We have heard that there were and still are some people who have reached the highest level of consciousness or enlightenment. Perhaps we all were at that level of consciousness when we were originally designed. Many of us possibly have forgotten that we were once able to fly high up in the sky of consciousness. Or we are just learning to climb higher and higher to reach at the pick of consciousness.

I am here sitting contemplating and meditating hoping that this path will lead me to that level of awareness. Would I ever be able to conquer that pick?

A Dog Chasing a Bird

It was very early in the morning. I was sitting at the veranda trying to meditate in an attempt to connect to something unknown but believed to have existed out there. Some call it God; some others call it the ultimate reality, and still others call it the higher self. Whatever it may be called, if it is out there I want to reach out by whatever means possible to experience it for myself. I heard Meditation is one of the ways to get connected to the beyond.

Sitting at the veranda silently, I was enjoying the pleasantly cool air of the morning. I observed that particularly this time of the day appears to have some divine quality. At this moment I could easily connect to the natural environment around me without too much effort. At such moment of that morning I was att...racted to the dog which rather seemed to be ecstatic as she was running here and there in a sudden burst of energy. And I saw her chasing a bird in a futile attempt to catch it. Contemplating about this behavior of the dog, I suddenly realized that I was perhaps no different from the dog chasing a bird. There I was sitting silently in an attempt to get connected to a supreme being. The dog was not successful in catching her prey since it has no wing to fly in pursuit of the winged bird. I may also not be able to connect to whatever might be out there. Or there may not even be such a supreme being at all. Or is there one? If so, will I ever be able to experience the existence of such a higher being directly. I don’t know. May be the dog can catch the bird one day if she keeps on trying until she does. One day I may also get connected to whatever may be out there. Who knows? But I think at that moment I was just like a dog chasing a bird.

Beyond the Clouds

I was struggling to concentrate, but my mind seemed to go all over the place. I couldn’t even focus on a single thought let alone going beyond any one of them. Then I started staring at the clouds scattered across the sky. They seem to be very similar to the thoughts crowded in my head. As I was very much preoccupied with the thoughts in my mind I could not see the reality that is found beyond them. If one completely focuses on the clouds, one could not realize the higher reality we call the sky. The clouds are closer but more rapidly changing aspect of reality. But the sky that lies beyond is higher and more permanent than the clouds. When we consider this reality that stretches beyond the clouds, we could even realize that there is no such a thing called the sky, but a... vast expanse of space that encompasses all the planets and the stars including our own earth.

If we could also transcend the cloudy realities of our thoughts that cover our mind we may find the higher and deeper reality called the mind. And when we do understand the real nature of this mind stuff, we may realize that there is nothing as such called the mind except a greater awareness that witnesses everything including our own being. This may be what is called the state of no mind. But most of us so preoccupied with the fleeting thoughts crowded in our mind that we could not see the reality beyond them. We even take the thoughts as the highest truths ignoring the existence of even a higher truth beyond them.

The clouds are of course one aspect of reality but they are only temporary and they should not be taken more than what they are. The clouds are there until they cool down and then fall down to the ground to influence the external reality in which we live. And thoughts are the same as clouds as they would be crystallized into actions to affect the environment we live in some way. But when we start to consider them to be more than this, we would be impaired to see the higher and deeper truth that lies beyond the clouds.

The Prisoner Dog - II

That same dog which has been held captive for very long has finally got the opportunity to escape its prison and went out of the compound. There she got acquainted with her male counterparts and for the first time she could be able to enjoy the gift of nature she has been endowed with. But when she returned back home after a full night of adventure, the owner would not allow her to enter the compound. So she had to stay outside one full day without food and water. But finally the owner let her in and served her with food and water. But if she could ever dare get out of the compound once again, she will never have this chance any more. Either she has to stay within the boundary and have her regular meal served everyday at the expense of her freedom and the joy it would bring in her life, or she has to risk going out again to enjoy her gift of nature but may not be able to feed herself on a regular basis as she would be able to, otherwise. Which one the dog would choose to do, if she had the free will to make such a choice? I found out that this is not an issue with the dog as she did not hesitate to escape out of the compound once again following her natural instinct. The other problem will be dealt with accordingly when the time comes. Now it is time for enjoyment.

The Prisoner Dog - I

The dog is running here and there all over the compound. She is apparently enjoying herself. And suddenly her attention is diverted to what is going on out side the compound. A couple of dogs are chasing one another in boisterous mood. The dog inside the compound tries to peep through the small openings in the fence. She seems to realize that she could not get through any one of them to join the fun outside. Her natural freedom is restricted by the man made fence around the boundaries of the compound. Hence, she could not enjoy the company of the dogs outside.

I see that I am no different from this dog in some way. I am living within the compound of societal values and norms, and I could not or rather I am not allowed to step out of this artificial boundary drawn by... human beings, even if I do not accept any one of them. Maybe I have to be brave enough to follow my own value system that may not necessarily fall within the limits of societal norms. Or perhaps I have to learn to uphold the values of the society tramping on the ideas flowering within my head.

The dog does not seem to be bothered very much by the fact that she could not go out and join the other dogs outside. Or perhaps, she has not realized what she is denied of. Thus, she continues to enjoy herself running all over the place within the confine of the compound.

The Empty Glasses

There are some glasses on a table. Some of the glasses are partially filled with different kinds of liquid stuff. Some are already filled to the fullest. There are only a couple of glasses which are empty. But one of them is clean while the other is not washed properly. Someone comes with a new wine to fill into the glasses. Naturally, he has poured the wine into the empty and clean glass only. If he may pour some wine to the other glasses as well the contents of the glasses will not be the same pure wine, but rather it is going to be a mixture of the wine and whatever contents already there in the glasses.  For us to be filled with new energy and understanding, we have to be empty and pure, and that is why Meditation is important: to make us empty and clean.

Sitting by the Pond

I am sitting near a fountain encircled with a pond, one third of which is already filled with water.  A small stream of water is trickling down into the pond out of the pipe found in the middle, and I am wondering whether this flow of water will ever fill the remaining two third empty part of the pond, and how long that will ever take. I am sitting next to the pond reading, and I feel I am no different from that pond: Will I ever reach to that level of understanding where I will be fully contented with myself? How long does it take me to reach that height?

The Law of Complimentarity

In nature everything seems to have its own compliment. For instance, we have eyesight which has the visible world as its compliment. We have the hearing capacity which has every sound to be heard as a compliment. There seems to be nothing that exists without its compliment. Accordingly, the natural craving or desire we have is an indication of something that exists out there which would satisfy that craving. But we may not know what it is until we find it out and experience it for ourselves. An infant who is struggling to crawl around is driven by a certain force which would finally make him/her to walk up right. But until the child is able to walk straight up, he does not understand what he/she is striving for so desperately in his/her attempt to crawl. Without that natural drive any child would remain lying on the ground all his/her life, and we would have no man on earth walking up right.  Likewise, we all feel some kind of desire within us that keeps us pushing towards some direction. We would not know what it could be until we walk the walk. Hence, our purpose in life seems to be following such natural urge towards something we would gradually realize when we actually experience it.    

The balance between Good versus Evil

The world has become increasingly filled with evil and destruction, but this is not just because bad people are doing all sorts of evil deeds, but also due to the failures of so called ‘good’ people to do good that can counterbalance the effects of the evil. Provided that there are a given number of good people doing good things that will influence and motivate the good parts of human nature, we will ultimately have enough number of good people who can outweigh the balance of destruction so that we will have a brighter world filled with more positive things.

The Center

There are three conditions in which most human beings find themselves in. The first is ignorance which indicates lack of knowledge or awareness. Hence, when you do not know about something, you do not actually care at all about it as you have no feeling for it. But when you become aware, it is mostly one of the two things that are going to happen. You either like it or you do not like it at all. The first condition creates attachment while the second breeds aversion. However, among these three conditions, there is a third state of being just at the center of all.  The center is where you are not ignorant about anything, where you are not attached to anything and where you do not develop aversion towards anything. At the center you are just aware of everything without actually being attached to it or standing against it.

The Lottery

Here is a lottery ticket you can freely choose to buy. It has three awards according to the rank of your lottery ticket. The third prize of the lottery contains an award of state-of-the-art car. Then guess what will be the first and the second prizes? … Well, the second prize is just a pair of shoes. And the first prize is . . . a pair of legs. Ok, are you disappointed about the first two prizes? Please, do not be upset. Just think that you have none of these three things; which one do you really want to have?