Karmacology: Mindful Living, Sacred Practice

The Ocean, Too, Becomes the Drop


Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same...

The Source is full, its waters are ever-flowing;
 Do not grieve, drink your fill!
Don't think it will ever run dry --
This is the endless Ocean!

Pass again from the heavenly realm and plunge into the ocean of Consciousness.
Let the drop of water that is you become a hundred mighty seas.

But do not think that the drop alone becomes the Ocean—
the Ocean, too, becomes the drop!
-- Jelaluddin Rumi, "A Garden Beyond Paradise"

Innocence


"Where have I come from, where did you pick me up?" the baby asked its mother.

She answered half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast: "You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling. You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made and unmade you then.
 
You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you. In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived. In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.

When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it. Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.
 
Heaven's first darling, twin-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart. As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.

For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?"
-- Rabidranath Tagore, The Beginning

The Mind is in a Constant State of Agitation


The mind is in a constant state of agitation, and tranquility is only possible through the cultivation of contentment. But contentment should not lead to slackening of effort. Rather effort should stem from a sense of duty and service instead of from discontent.
-- Swami Rama Bharati

We Are What We Aspire To Be


What we truly and earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense, we are. The mere aspiration, by changing the frame of the mind, for the moment realizes itself.
-- Anna Jameson

Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun


Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.
-- Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)


Surya-namaskar:
The Sanskrit word surya means sun. Namaskar is the Hindi word for Namaste, from the root nam, to bow. Namaskar means salutation, salute, greeting or praise.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!


It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganesh Utsav or the birthday of Ganesha (the elephant-headed God of Wisdom and Prosperity) falls on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (around August-September). It is celebrated all across India and is the biggest festival in Maharashtra. So if you are anywhere close to Mumbai, don’t think twice about moving heaven and earth to be there for Ganesha’s day. It’ll be a day you shall look back upon with some wonder.

Ganesha is the foremost god of the Hindu pantheon. This brave guardian of the door to Parvati’s bath is beheld today as the most auspicious God of new beginnings. He is worshipped during every festival and before people undertake a journey or embark upon a new venture. You will also see him carefully guarding entrances to temples and homes, peeping out of calendars and happily gracing marriages and other such occasions.

More info on Ganesh Chaturthi

There's a Dark Side to Each and Every Human Soul


There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vadar in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness, stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. Give that old dark night of the soul a hug! Howl the eternal yes!
-- Stuart Stevens, Northern Exposure, Jules et Joel, 1991

Life Itself is Always a Trial


Life itself is always a trial. In training, you must test and polish yourself in order to face the great challenges of life. Transcend the realm of life and death, and then you will be able to make your way calmly and safely through any crisis that confronts you.
-- Morihei Ueshiba

An Expression of Gratitude


Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh

All These Different Kinds of Love


Love is just a part of life and the love written about today talks about love between the sexes only. But do young men and women have a monopoly where love is concerned? Aren't there different kinds of love that between a mother and her children, between a father and his children, between a bhakt (devotee) and his deity, between a man and his motherland? I chose to write about all these different kinds of love.
-- Pradeep

Thoughts are the Sensations of the Mind


Thoughts are the sensations of the mind, just as sensations are the thoughts of the body.
-- Judith Lasater

Even a Painful Conscience is a Privilege


Conscience...lies at the heart of the paradox of what it means to be a spiritual being, living in a physical body, in a material world. Conscience tells us to do the harder thing, because it is always pulling us toward Unity, toward Wholeness. Our desires, our selfishness, our intellectual flaws always tug us toward the world of diversity, where we judge issues, muddle through, and try to choose the lesser evil. Conscience, when it is flawless, is the voice of our soul, whispering in our ear. In that sense, even a painful conscience is a privilege as it is proof that God is still talking to us.
-- B.K.S. Iyengar

Don't Go Back To Sleep


The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.
-- Rumi

See the Positive Possibilities


You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.
-- Ralph Marston