ZEN-SATIONAL LIVING.

 

Hello fellow A-to-Z ers.

This has been a wonderful journey and we all came out of this challenge as champs. 

Made some really wonderful friends here.

I will be leaving for my home town and so, this post is hastily done.

Thank you everyone for visiting and commenting.

Taking leave of you all with some good thoughts.

   

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

 Alan Watts.

 Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Lao Tzu

In all things under heaven
the female overcomes the male by her stillness,
and because she is still she lies below.
  - See more at: http://www.buddhasangha.com/quotes/laotzu/lao_tzu_quotes1.htm#sthash.snwmhVap.dpuf

Sayings remain meaningless until they are embodied in habits.
Kahlil Gibran 

 If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four: If still boring, try it for eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on. Eventually, one discovers that it is not boring but very interesting.
Zen Proverb 

 

A-To-Z Challenge 

LOVE, A TRIP.

 

Everyone feels high

On this roller coaster trip

Love-defines who you are.

dVerse Poets Pub 

YOU - ESSENTIALLY.

 

Is it the words that give meaning?

Or is it you?

Meaninglessness makes 

Perfect sense

All I have to do

Is look at you.

Your silence

Caresses me, tingles my skin

And seduces me

Eyes that taunt

Dares me connivingly

Feasting on my bashful skin.

Gaze dangerously exciting,

Alights my fire and desires

Your whispers

Rains my senses

Clouding my brain

Cascading down my spine.

Fingers brushing 

And stroking the fire

Engulfing and wrapping me-

In your arms,

Imprisoned, I sccumb

To your charm.

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REALITY, A GAME CHANGER.

 

Thinking about the invincible

Relationships we have

Hubba-hubba when the going is good,

Bubbling with joy  

HE is a game changer, pulls the plug

And reality bites!

dVerse Poets Pub 

Poetry form - Sijo

X-RATED YET XEROTIC... Figure that.

 

Xerothermic temperatures

Depleting energy levels

A formerly accommodating

And a xenial woman

Now, a Xanthippe!

 (That's what heat can do to you. Thought I would give the meanings of those words...but, why give away when you can google, right? )

A-To-Z Challenge.  

WASTED LIFE?

 

Some how the word 'wasted' has been sticking to my mind since yesterday. After yesterday's vibrant post, I do not want this to look dull.

                                  ****************

She thought her life was wasted as she lay there in the ICU. Her face serene with calm acceptance.

What did she think? She had all the time in the world to turn back the pages of her life. What did she find there? Did she have regrets? She did not share. Nor will I ever know.

Then, there was a surge of humanity, who came to see her....off.

The hospital staff had a difficult time controlling them. They had to send many of them back without seeing her.

Every one who was there to meet her, had a memory to share. How she had made a difference in their lives, had touched them and became a memory forever. Many of them who were there were not family; not even relatives. But, they were neighbors who were no longer in our neighborhood. There were also those whom she had crossed paths with journeying through life and stayed in touch.

Her disease never did have a chance...it could not touch her heart.   

  

It has been 5 years now. Even now I cannot look at her photograph without a lump in my throat. Never can get over the loss of my mom.  

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VIBRANT LIFE.

 

She could feel the joy

Throbbing her pulse

Coursing through her veings

Making her heart beat-

a happy rhythm.

She love the image

She mirrored - vibrant!

Nimble and light,   

Ready to take flight

Happiness her way of life.   

She blushed a red sunrise,

Danced away the blues

Made everyone go green

Because they didn't have a clue.

Her lips hummed a tune

Vague and off key

Did she care? A note anyway ,

That always set her free.

She touched everyone

Made them smile

Wonder and ponder

"How can she be so carefree and happy

When she cannot even see?"

As long as we have unsolved problems, unfulfilled desires, and a mustard seed of faith, we have all we need for a vibrant prayer life....John Ortberg.

Always wear your kiddie, color - tinted glasses and view the world with joy and wonder. Don't try to find happiness but, make happiness a way of life. Easier said than done, Right? But, not impossible or worth taking a chance...to make life more vibrant. 

Come and share your experiences of your Vibrant life.

Hosting for the Thursday blog hop at The Writers' Post.

        

UMRAO JAAN.

 

No wonder people could not accept Aishwarya Rai as Umrao Jaan, even when she is the reigning beauty queen.

The original Umrao will always be Rekha. She is 'The Diva' and no one can match her oomph.

 

Her eyes are the windows to her soul and they are very expressive. They add a sense of mystery and enigma to her character. They can burn you with desire. They can be sultry and sensual; they also make you cry. "In aankhon ki masti ke, mastaane hazaaroon hai" - so very true.

Today, even at the age of 58, she exudes grace and charm. Dressed in her trademark Kancheevaram Silk Saree, she is a personification of Indian woman.

Born as Banurekha Ganeshan, she was compelled to take up acting at the age of 14. She was immature, fat and dark skinned. When plastic surgery was unheard of in India, from being called an ugly duckling, made fun of by the people in the film industry; she transformed herself into a swan. She schooled herself, reformed and refined herself...much to the envy of other actresses of that time.

  

Though she had a fantastic career, her personal life was one of failed marriages and relationships, very much mirroring her character of Umrao. But, who cares? It is the screen persona I am in awe with.

A-To-Z Challenge

TANTRA.

 

What comes to your mind when you read the word 'Tantra?' Sexual liberation? Black magic?

Tantra is one of the most misunderstood branch of Indian spiritual or yoga traditions.

When I was young, I was fed stories about Tantriks. It was believed that Tantriks had powers to evoke the negative forces in the Universe. Roughly put, they were the opposite of Saints.

I chanced upon Osho's Tantra some time back. Osho - some love to hate him and many hate to love him. Me? I am hooked to his words.

Buddha preached from his experience and so did Osho. It is just that we tend to take in and believe what suits us.    

From the book - 

 

"Tantra says a transformation comes when you accept your total being. Then suddenly everything falls in line, it takes its own place. Then without trying to cut anything out of your being, your whole being rearranges itself. If you accept and say yes, a rearrangement happens, and where before there was a noisy clamor inside, now a melody, a music is born."

The way of Tantra is neither one of blind sensuality nor only of spirituality. It is of both/and. Tantra does not support the philosophy of both/and. It does not reject anything - It transforms everything.

Tantra is the way of wholeness - neither obsession with the world, nor withdrawal from it. It is being in the world lightly, with a little smile. It is playfulness. It does not take things seriously. It is the light of heart; it laughs. It is unashamedly earthly and infinitely otherworldly. The earth and the sky meet in Tantra; it is the meeting of polar opposite.

Leaving you with this thought - Except for human beings, everything is fresh, because it is only we who carry the load, the luggage of memory.

A-To-Z Challenge 

SUFISM, SHAFAK AND SHAMS.

 

 
Sufism , as it is called in Arabic, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical, psycho-spiritual dimension of Islam.


I sought a soul in the sea
And found a coral there;
Beneath the foam for me
An ocean was all laid bare.
Into my heart’s night
Along a narrow way
I groped; and lo! the light,
An infinite land of day.

 Rumi 

I chanced upon Rumi when I started exploring poetry and its forms. Was I smitten? Rumi's Rubaiyat adorns my blog as a testimony. His poems/couplets/ ghazals touch me at a very deeper level. I find solace in them.
 
"No matter who we are or where we live, deep inside we all feel incomplete. It's like we have something and need to get it back. Just what that something is, most of us never find out. And those of who do, even fewer manage to go out and look for it."

 A while back I chanced upon a book review from a fellow blogger of the book "The Forty Rules of Love"
This book is written by Elif Shafak, a Turkish writer. As they say, 'You don't choose a book to read, the book comes to you,' couldn't be truer. This book is a treat for people who love Sufism and it is also about finding your true self. 

This book also introduced me to Shams Tabrizi.
He was the guide/mentor/spiritual guru for Rumi. It is he who actually sought Rumi as his disciple.

"A life without love is of no account. Don't ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western.....Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! The Universe turns differently when fire loves water."

Leaving you all with this beautiful and soulful Sufi song...get immersed in divine love.  

 
 
 

ROMANCING THE RAIN.

 

The dim golden-orange sky, adding sepia hues to the evening and everything around. Birds chirping and scrambling back home, a frenzied activity before they settle for calm. The cool wind that blows and just about ruffles everthing in its way. The smell...earthy, heady, muddy; beckons me out. And, I rush out to welcome it...the first rain of the season.

I open my arms to the rain, looking up to the sky. I close my eyes and feel. And, then as if by magic, it falls....the first drop on my eye...rolling down my cheeks. The steady drops hit my face, pricking my soft skin. It replenishes and rejuvenates me. I embrace it with my being. It is an elixir, filling me with energy and life, quenching my thirst because I am as parched as the Earth!  

QUE ONDA

 

 

Que Onda...Spanish, meaning "What's up? or What's going on?"

Gone are the days when you would greet a person with a "Hello! How are you?"
Now, it's "Wassup?"... or just, 'sup.'
It is such a sexist word. Ask a guy, 'wassup?' and he is likely to answer, "Nothing, just hanging about."
I am always tempted to answer, "The ceiling, or the sky."

 

We, the not so young folks have no choice but to keep up with the new generation and so we tag along. We should look and act "cool" in front of the teenaged friends of our kids.  Else, we could be passed on as a piece of furniture in the house. 

So much has been said about the SMS lingo. It is irritating, because I can not understand it for the most part. Have to keep asking my kids about it...and they give this look as if I am a retard! It is for the people who are too lazy to type and for the people who love the English language, it is sheer blasphemy. Well, these are just my thoughts.

The day is not so far when 'sup' is further shortened to 'up' and I can certainly be caught looking up!

A-To-Z Challenge  

PARA-SAILING.

 

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Helen Keller 

I am an adventurous person at heart. And, I like adventure sports...and I do have fear of heights. But, life is all about conquering your fears, letting yourself go, moving your stubborn ass off its comfort zone and experience the new.

Goa has a lot to offer in terms of water sports for the first timers and inexperienced people like me.

And it is here where I dared myself to conquer my fear of heights. It's not that my fear goes off after doing something adventurous...but, I try to over come it again and again.

 As we took off, to say my heart was in my mouth is an understatement.  The guy who was maneuvering the parachute told me to relax and be free! Who ever listenend to him? I was hanging on to my dear life....chanting the name of God. Poor God! the chanting sounded more like cursing.

After about few seconds which seemed like hours to me...I opened my eyes a bit and took in the secene in my front, above and also below me.  It was breathtaking. It was exquisite, exciting and enthralling. And, I did rotate my head to see around me...the horizon was a gleaming jewel.

The whole experience was over in less than 2 minutes. The moment I landed on my feet, I wished I could be back up there. Being a holiday time when the locals make money and the cost of each trip is quite high...else, I would have done it again.

This is an instant thrill which is also safe for weak hearted people like me.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

A-To-Z Challenge