The day came to a close with ‘Lemon Rice’ under a cool moon at West Coast Park. Rest (sleep, meditation), activity (work, exercise), food (tasty, filling) are all very important to me. It may seem obvious and common sensical, but it doesn’t seem to be very obvious to most people that our ability to handle our mind comes out of paying attention to the energy within. Wasn’t to me either until recently. When I am well rested and fed, I can be peaceful. When I am hungry, or sleepy or tired, I can be very annoying. Ask Anu! So the good and the bad co-exist all together.
Ananya recently saw an epidode of Little Krishna overcoming ‘Bakasura’ a giant bird despatched by Kamsa to kill Krishna. She asked me why Bakasura thought he could kill Krishna. I said Bakasura was misguided because how can anyone expect to kill what is the source of all energy in the universe. So she said if Krishna is the source of Bakasura’s strength, why is Bakasura bad? How can Krishna create something that is evil? It is a beautiful question and I was amazed at her logical reasoning.
Forms are like waves on the surface of the ocean. Individual bubbles. Everything comes out of the same existence and merges back into existence. It is a show that repeats itself again and again. The world is complete in all its diversities. If not, there is no world.
Our own body which we identify with has good and bad cells fighting against each other. Our minds have pleasant and unpleasant thoughts. The source of it all is the same. This is existence; above the events (or below!). Events lose significance when we realise that all is a play of existence which keeps repeating. It is a different perspective, that requires a certain skill to appreciate. A certain amount of skill is needed to not oppose the dualities that exist within us and that skill is meditation.
A beautiful question I got to my blog yesterday was what one does if lots of unpleasant thoughts come during meditation. I have heard some people say ‘I feel too restless or bored to meditate”. With skill one can see that thoughts come and go. Restlessness is broken by rest and then restlessness comes again. Letting it all be is Meditation. Restlessness or thoughts bother because calm and thoughtlessness has been experienced. So not being bothered by the thoughts automatically leads to calmness. This requires some skill. Our concepts about how meditation should be oppose meditation. Meditation is smoothing out these concepts, without opposing them. Relax!
Maybe nothing really obvious might come of #31EarlyDays. Actually nothing will come out that already doesn’t exist. So I encourage the reader to stop looking.
These thoughts are inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I am merely playing out my thoughts in response to what I read from Guruji’s commentary on Ashtavakara Gita. The reader of this blog, if there is one, is actually better off listening to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on these points, rather than the translation of a mind on its own personal journey!!
Shailesh Venkatesh 