How ___ Romantic of You? The one on Domestic Romance...

My moments of pragmatic and domestic romance...

I stood right behind her... My breath brushing her soft neck... And then she picked up the bed-sheet in her soft hands. I embraced her from behind, she turned, brought her lips closer to my nape and whispered: "Let me clean your room today.." I - momentarily swept away in a wave of love and gratefulness - couldn't hold myself back,"Really? How tidily romantic of you!"

She sat beside me and I, beside her... She looked straight into my yearning yet downcast eyes... She held my hand... A word wasn't spoken yet my eyes conveyed a thirst, an inexplicable desire for the one thing that I needed at the moment... Her eyes fixed on me - she read me like a book. She knew the longing building up in me and that she had to quench my thirst... She said, "I know what you want - let me make Masala tea!" I exclaimed:"How refreshingly romantic..!"

To be continued... :)

(Your comments are welcome...)

Shrungaaravanto Bhavatu!

Prabhav M

Modern Day Fasting : e-Upavaas!

In our tradition of Sanatana Dharma, the laws of the spiritual world like karma, principle of punarjanma- mrutyu (death-rebirth) are unchanging with time. But the rules/social conventions/laws of any human community or nation need to change with the passage of time. This distinction between perpetual principles-"Shruti" and ephemeral man-made rules-"Smruti" is unique to the Dharmic Tradition of religions. The religions which do not acknowledge this dichotomy of Life, end up in a mess trying to reconcile modern day living with outdated medieval practices- a spectre of the past which haunts a large area of the middle-east till date.

In Sanatana Dharma, we need to enunciate new Smrutis or update the existing ones with changing times. My suggestion in that direction is that we need to reinvent our Dharmic fasts. The purpose of 'Upvaas' is to take the mind away from distractions including food and detoxify/purify the body through light meals, chanting of mantras, meditation and raise the energy level of the consciousness. In ancient times I presume, getting rid of the distraction of food aka "taste" and meditation were good enough to make the mind take a break. But in the modern day life distractions abound like Television, cellphones followed by the endless enumeration of electronic gadgets. If a modern day Smrutis were ever to be written, the modern day 'Upavaas' should include avoiding or at least limiting the exposure to these along with moderation in food.

Unplug the telly, Switch off your mobile phone (or at least turn off  cellphone-data),  do not use your laptop (unless absolutely necessary), lock away the rest of your electronic distractions, eat light, exercise, do some pranayama , meditate -  and feel healthier, happier and -in a word- Great !

This is my idea of an 'e-upavaas'! It made me realize that the sky won't fall, the earth won't implode and my existence won't be threatened if I did not "Check Whatsapp" nor share some irrelevant piece of personal information about my day to complete strangers on the internet in the form of a 'Status Update'! Phew! What a relief! :)

Shaantam Bhavatu!

Best,

Prabhav M

Saudi Roast 1 : The Martian one

What do "life on Mars" and "Human Rights in Saudi Arabia" have in common?

No evidence that either of them exist but seems like a nice idea!

What is the difference between Mars and Saudi Arabia?

Mars could be inhabitable by humans in the near future.

What are the words which best describe Mars and Saudi Arabia?

Dry, dead and boring...

(Actually Mars doesn't seem as boring... ;) )

What is the second difference between Mars and Saudi Arabia?

Aliens and Humans - both would feel safer on Mars.

What do a Spacecraft's toilet and Saudi Arabia have in common?

However high-tech they try to become - they would remain full of S#!* ...

When a Martian visited earth, he partied in Saudi Arabia, why?

His chances of getting stoned were the highest in Saudi..!

Just Do it: Instinct, Intuition & Action..!

This one is meant to be a quickie..! So many times in Life we would have had this experience - we have an "inner instinct" or "intuition" to do something but we stop ourselves or simply do not act on it out of sheer laziness, fear of judgement, a feeling of insecurity or a sense of uncertainty... The last few months have taught me this lesson..! When you have an instinct/intuition especially about anything which is positive, creative or uplifts the human spirit, supports life - Act on it! The Nike-guys got it right when they adopted "Just do it!" as their motto.

The mantra "Just do it!" does not mean being rash or brash and is certainly not a justification for the negative tendencies-"bad habits" of the mind masquerading as "instincts/intuition". (Attention: Addicts seeking justifications online for their "habits"... !) But sometimes insecurities and self-image issues tend to hide under the garb of  "Social convention","rational consideration", "awareness of the ground reality", "viability" or some other simpler/fancier concept..!

        

       अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान विश्वानी देव वयुनानि विद्वान्।

        युयोध्यस्म ज्जुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठां ते नम उक्तिं विधेम ॥

  agne naya supathā rāye asmān viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān |

  yuyodhyasmajjuhurāṇameno bhūyiṣṭhāṃ te namauktiṃ vidhema ||

Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya definitely helped me separate the wheat from the chaff - to separate intuition/instinct from mere tendencies and insecurities..! Meditation helped me follow my instincts and be sensitive at the same time.

This long due post is one of the results of this realization- "Just do it!". I won over my tendencies of laziness, fear of judgement and "aversion of typing/writing" and published the long pending third blog-post ! Many of the "long pending actions" have followed and will follow in the coming days.


Is there something you have had the wish to act on for a long time but have held yourself back? Once you are done reading this post - act on it and "Just do it!" - Now!

Vijayi Bhavatu!

Prabhav M

PS: A question for the reader to ponder upon: "Why is the 18th shloka of the Isha Upanishad with the "Fire Image" included in this post?" :) Answers welcome in the comments-section...

Image Courtesy: An easy Google image-search...

Purpose!

Before embarking on any venture, the intellect tends to ask- Why? What is the purpose?
Let us dwell-for a while- on an ontological question- Is there a Purpose behind the Universe and existence- itself? Perhaps, not... Similarly, Does a game or a dream have a purpose? Maybe - Maybe not...

When asked the question, ''What is the purpose of Life?'' Sri Sri Ravishankarji said, ''It is a very important question; keep it with yourself, ‘what is the purpose of life’? You should ask yourself again at times. The question will clear all the cobwebs around you and will keep you on track of what you want and where do you want to go.''

The Aitareya Brahmana (an Ancient Dharmic text) says, ''Charaiveti Charaiveti,  Charanvai Madhuvindati...''-''Keep Moving! Keep Wandering! The wandering begets sweet honey...'' Whether this 'wandering'  is with or without a 'purpose' is something for us to wonder about! :)

So I leave it to the reader to delve upon the question/s on Purpose of the Game called 'Life'.
But in any game, the actions which constitute that game, do seem to have a purpose. Say in the Game of cricket- the bowler spins the ball  with the purpose of getting a wicket and the batsman swings the bat for getting runs..! Similarly, this act of authoring a Web-log ('Blog') could have a purpose.

This Blog serves the following three purposes:

- 'Satyam'-Truth: Exploration and Expression of the finer Truths- of the inner and the outer worlds...

-'Shivam'- Benevolence/Beneficial: In the current context, it stands for inspiring perspectives and narratives which are beneficial/auspicious for the individual and the society...

-'Sundaram'-Beauty- The same purpose that could be attributed to a flower in full bloom, Kalidaasa's Kaavya's (Poems) and the songs celebrating Spring (Vasanta!)...

         


In ancient India, the principle of God was also conceived as having  these three aspects of  'Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram - Truth, Beauty and Benevolence!'

You are invited to this beautiful adventure- in exploration of the Truth! :)

I sign off with the 15th Shloka of the Isha Upanishad, and its translation as per my understanding:

हिरण्मयॆन पात्रॆन सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
तत् त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टयॆ ॥ 

The face of Truth is covered by a golden veil. Oh! Benefactor(nourisher)! 

Remove it for us to witness the nature of the Truth!

Shubham Bhavatu! :)

Prabhav M

References:

 http://www.artofliving.org/qa200

Image Courtesy: Google (Angor Wat Temple, Cambodia)