Mira Prabhu's Blog, page 13
October 21, 2017
Neither all instruction, nor all entertainment, say Margaret Atwood QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
I write “spiritual novels” because I want to share all that I was so generously given by so many great ones…and to leave a lingering impression on the soul…I’m not impressed by mere technical brilliance…
If it’s all instruction, you get annoyed with it and bored, and you stop reading. If it’s all entertainment, you read it quite quickly, your heart going pitty-pat, pitty-pat. But when you finish, that’s it. You’re not going to think about it much afterward, apart from the odd nightmare. You’re not going to read that book again.
Maragret Atwood
October 19, 2017
I REJECT YOUR GIFT
[image error]I write my morning posts off the top of my head, meaning I don’t generally research the topic, so you must forgive me if I use ancient stories merely as devices to get a message across, and don’t bother unduly about details or settings. Anyway, this morning it struck me in a new way that some humans are so damaged that they cannot express their intense feelings for others except via negative comments, passive-aggressive behavior, slurs or downright untruths.
Now Gautama Buddha’s beautiful wife Yashodhara had a brother, Devadatta, who hated his brother-in-law for several reasons—not least that he had abandoned his beloved sister to follow the path to enlightenment. Devadatta did not simmer silently nor alone, no; he sneaked around the Buddha’s sangha (congregation of monks) making trouble and telling terrible lies about the sage. The Buddha tolerated him, of course, for nothing can fracture the equanimity of a true sage. But one day, when Devadatta crossed the line yet again and began to spew insults at him, Gautama said something like this: I know that anger is all you have to offer me, Devadatta, but nevertheless I reject your gift.
Why did he use the word “gift”? I think it was because he knew that all Devadatta had within him was raging jealousy and hatred, and therefore all he was capable of was hurling toxic arrows at a man he both loved and hated. Loved? Yes, loved, because I find it impossible to believe that beneath this volcano of anger, Devadatta did not love the Buddha, or he would never have bothered with him.
[image error]This tale struck me hard because I felt that if Gautama could so firmly reject hostility, so could I. Which is why, if I sense that someone close to me has mixed feelings of anger and love for me, I sooner or later cut away from them, rejecting their bizarre “gift.” What’s more, this “rejection” is actually an act of love; think cosmic love here, not the icky sticky emotion that passes for love among humans, but the deep love that respects the spirit of a being and wishes them to evolve above all else
There are great benefits to disconnecting: for one thing, it sends a strong message that there is critical work to be done before the rift can be bridged. Our attacker can no longer do what he or she does with impunity for now there is a price to pay. Do no harm, states the basic spiritual dictum, and by disconnecting (temporarily or permanently) from those who wish to hurt us (simply because they have ignored the path of wisdom and chosen to be eternal spoiled children, unwilling to acknowledge the shimmering beauty of the inner path that some of us choose to follow), we prevent them from spreading their misery and also block their creation of further negative karma. Yes, it is perfectly fine to reject gifts we do not want; in this way we sharpen the blade of our own discrimination and become even stronger in our resolve to surround ourselves with only the highest goodness.
Greetings from Arunachala, Shiva in the form of a hill of fire and light, who vows to destroy all that blocks us from knowing that we are the immortal and blissful Self!
NEW!!! My latest book – COPPER MOON OVER PATALIPUTRA – just went live on Jun 30th. Read all about it and on how to get your own copy here.
If you’ve enjoyed reading my posts, please also check out my BOOKS and LINKS.
Follow Blog via Email
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Click the buttons below to SHARE if you liked this post.
Note: The REBLOG option is available only when viewing the post in full. Click on the post-title above if don’t see the REBLOG button below.
October 16, 2017
Mass Murderers Both
Man has burned his fingers too often…read this poem – one way of dealing with our turbulent feelings about psychopaths…
Yesterday evening I bumped into an old acquaintance in the pub. Our conversation ranged far and wide and at one point touched on the atrocities perpetrated by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. There was some discussion as to which dictator was the worst criminal, with my acquaintance maintaining that Stalin was the greater due to him having murdered around 20 million of his own people. My view of the matter is set-out in my poem, “Hitler and Stalin” which first appeared here some time ago:
—
The Gulag.
The present like the past is mad.
Black clad figures
Their fingers on triggers.
Russian or Prussian?
An interesting discussion.
Jews and Kulaks their lives lose.
Who to choose?
A man drowning in his country’s blood,
Or one who would destroy Jewry if he could?
What a choice.
History’s voice
is cold and level,
“We allied with the devil,
To destroy his…
View original post 30 more words
October 13, 2017
EMPTY WORDS
[image error]Before I moved into my own home here in Tiru, I had four landlords over a space of three years, each of whom was nightmarish in their own unique way. One was so slippery that he would assure me he would be over in ten minutes to fix a tap or whatever, but would simply never show. But when it came to collecting his rent, or to complain to me ad nauseam about the “foreigners” here (whom he had a strangely schizophrenic relationship with—on the surface, obsequious and smarmy, because he wanted them to rent his properties, behind their backs, virulently critical and mean), he was, ha ha ha, amazingly prompt.
Once I moved into my home, I realized that, although hopefully I had left all slimy landlords behind, another major mundane problem had raised its pointy little head: which is that workmen would assure me they would be over right away to fix something or the other, but they too would never show, or arrive hours after their appointment when I had already left home—and then they would accuse me of not being home to receive their lordships! Since my command over Tamil is terrible, I had no way of expressing my shocked disbelief at their bad behavior, and besides, I needed them to survive; and so I swallowed by anger and kept going, a day at a time.
Looking back, I see how powerfully my growing frustration beat down my massive ego, which had grown to its current size due to almost always being gratified. But there was no way I could get my own way here, so I had no option but to learn to bow and scrape and to adjust to the endemic crookedness (which the locals did not view as such, mind you, since most everyone behaved this way). Do in Tiru as others do, was my maxim, for the alternative was to flee in disgust; besides, I really wanted to stay here in order to experience the mystical magic of Arunachala in burning down my ego.
[image error]For the seeker on the inner path, it is vitally important that our thoughts, words and actions are in synch. Yes, many are hurt, even permanently damaged, in following their own road to bliss when we are dishonest in our dealings with them. When it comes to lying landlords or laborers, okay, we can suck it up and go on, but what to say of those in intimate relationships whose so-called partners think it is fine and dandy to keep them hanging on, trapped in a sticky web of lies, as they continue to blithely pursue their own goals? What to say when another acts on the belief that their time, possessions, children, relatives alone matter, and although their words might be sweet, their attitude clearly indicates that YOU can go to hell in a hand basket (whatever that is!!!)?
[image error]Keep your word, don’t take things personally, don’t make silly assumptions unless you are omniscient, and always do your best—I appreciate the simple deep advice contained in this single sentence. Miguel Ruiz listed these four rules for golden living and I consider him brilliant and clear; following his advice has served me enormously. I have encountered intellectually brilliant folks who can grok the most subtle concepts, but are also often so arrogant that they neglect the vital task of building a strong ethical foundation. The sad truth is that this base alone creates a perfect launching pad for the investigation into Absolute reality and we cannot progress even a millimeter on the invisible inner road that leads to Hridaya, the Spiritual Heart if we do not clean up our relative lives by bringing our thoughts, speech and actions into harmony.
Greetings from Arunachala, Shiva the Destroyer in the form of a hill of fire and light, who vows to destroy all our vices and delusions so that we can realize that we are no less than the blazing light!
NEW!!! My latest book – COPPER MOON OVER PATALIPUTRA – just went live on Jun 30th. Read all about it and on how to get your own copy here.
If you’ve enjoyed reading my posts, please also check out my BOOKS and LINKS.
Follow Blog via Email
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Click the buttons below to SHARE if you liked this post.
Note: The REBLOG option is available only when viewing the post in full. Click on the post-title above if don’t see the REBLOG button below.
October 11, 2017
The Dark Hand
A life of dark cycles
Re – repeated
Indulgence wins
Good sense unseated
Cries out for help
All answered kindly
Yet ill choices made
Consequence never timely
No turning back clocks
No re-walking sly walks
Still the narcissist
Talks, talks, and talks
I’m Gonna’ I’m gonna’ gonna’
Theme of his whole life
Near six long decades proof
Not including many decade’s wife
No pity for his bad choices
And do not ever tell her
She does not understand
Many decades lost to ill choice
Of one most determined man
Bound to an ill fate
By his very own hand
(c) Janni Styles
October 9, 2017
The Dust Bowl of The 1930
The Manhattan I knew seemed to have no recollection of the Great Depression…I believe it is good to know our past so that we can honor the fruits of the present. Thanks, ALK3R!
The 1930s were some of the driest years in American history. Eight long years of drought, preceded by inappropriate cultivation technique, and the financial crises of the Great Depression forced many farmers off the land abandoning their fields throughout the Great Plains that run across the heart of mainland United States.
View original post 739 more words
October 8, 2017
The Search For True Love
“The search for true love is really the search for the ultimate reality of this universe.
I believe this with heart and soul – thank you Harsh Luthar!
The search for true love is really the search for the ultimate reality of this universe.
It manifests outwardly as the search for that perfect person, the search for God, the search for the mystery of our existence.
Underlying all fears and anxieties is the fundamental agitation of not knowing who we are.
To solve this existential riddle, Sri Ramana advocates the sincere and keen inquiry that focuses on the question, “Who Am I?”
It is this inward focus with intent and intensity, that leads the mind to dive deep into the very heart of the unknown.
It is in the deepest core of our being, that we find the Heart, that is in reality the Self.
One never feels complete until one realizes that one who has been pursued and sought as one’s true love is one’s own Self.
In coming close to the Self, one is drawn to…
View original post 36 more words
October 5, 2017
LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF SAMSARA
[image error]I’d been out of sorts for the past couple of days, and so I went to bed early, allowing my guest, exhausted as she was from long travel, to dive under the covers too. The dream came on quickly, swallowing me up in its awesome maw…lost, panicked, empty, I ran from home to home, from country to country, situation to situation, looking for refuge and finding none. I dreamed of three beautiful black babies; each had a strange device inserted into the mouth which connected them to their mother, who monitored them closely although she was far away. Oh, how I wished I could change places with these happy and secure infants! I flitted through smoky nightclubs and saw stoned and drunk party animals frenziedly changing dance partners; I wove in and out of them like a ghost, longing to flee but unable to find the door that led outside. The nightmare went on, as my big epical dreams usually do, and I continued to fall into the hands of shallow, fickle humans with glittering false smiles and hidden agendas. Worst of all was the feeling of being a puppet with no smidgen of control over my thoughts, emotions or actions. Dread threw her thin cold arms around me and I wondered in a daze of sorrow why I should continue to live. Suddenly I was utterly exhausted; I knew I had to sleep, and yet I shied away from doing so, not wishing to wake up to another day of soul-chilling angst. The dread was so thick and fearsome that it actually woke me up—and thank god for that!!!
[image error]The first words that came to my waking consciousness were those of Ramana Maharshi, the great sage of south India: Whatever comes and goes is not real. My satguru was reminding me that the ephemeral is not worth focusing on—except as a warning about the inherent vacuity of a life lived chasing egoic pleasure. Those who give up the preciousness of their lives for “a mess of pottage” as the ancient saying goes, those who chase fragile bubbles, those who repeat behaviors that can never make us happy for longer than a day, a week, a year, a decade, are those who also never fuse with what is an inextricable part of their nature, what Ramana again calls the “real”—that which is permanent and lasting, existence-consciousness and bliss, the Self. I showered and sat down to meditate; wisps of the dream flashed through my mind and disappeared into the nothingness from where they had come, and I focused on what was “real” within me.
During my years in Manhattan I used to write down my dreams/nightmares in a journal, distinguishing between what the shamans called the Big and the Little Dreams. The little dreams I let go quickly, but the big dreams I accepted as messages from my higher power, warnings, reassurances, whatever. Now I wondered again, why had this particular dream come to me now?
I believe it was triggered by a message I received from a friend in the West who has never been able to come to terms with her relative situation. It doesn’t matter how many friends tell her that she must first accept her situation before it can resolve itself—she howls about how hard she has it, and honestly believes that some man is going to arrive on a white charger and whisk her away to a life of bright pleasure. It also does not matter how many times she goes through this same situation and comes out at the other end, broken and defeated; she has not been able to stop herself from pursuing this elusive dream of happiness with another. Einstein’s powerful words—that we are insane to repeat the same behavior endlessly and to expect different results—and which I have transmitted to her several times, have not percolated down to her bones and marrow. And so she repeated her old behavior with yet another shallow lover and broke down again; as she gave me the details, I prayed that one day she would realize that that which comes and goes can never give us the peace and happiness we seek.
[image error]Does this mean we cannot seek meaningful relationships? Not at all! Little beats the terrific company of good friends who share our values and goals as we walk the narrow path to liberation, comforting and helping us disentangle ourselves from the demons of desire and fear that keep us spinning in a crazy cycle. But to be attracted to those who are shallow and dishonest, to those who demean us by not honoring who we truly are, and then to follow these temptations blindly despite past experience, is to waste our precious lives. Long ago, Gautama Buddha said: if you do not find a mate who is your equal or better than you, it is best to tread the solitary path—one does not find comfort with fools.
[image error] I think my dream was reminding me of how far I have come from my own early madness, when I too sought solace in the ephemeral. But if we look around our world with a clear and dispassionate eye, it is not difficult to see that what the worldly crave—mainly wealth, material and political power, beauty and fame—are like soap bubbles that must sooner or later burst in our faces, making us cry. It is the simple and profound human who is now my hero, who lives the essential life but is absorbed in the grandeur of the Self, which is no less than immortal bliss.
Greetings from Arunachala this cloudy morning, the sacred hill that vows to destroy all that keeps us from knowing that in essence we are nothing less than the shining and magnificent Divine!
NEW!!! My latest book – COPPER MOON OVER PATALIPUTRA – just went live on Jun 30th. Read all about it and on how to get your own copy here.
If you’ve enjoyed reading my posts, please also check out my BOOKS and LINKS.
Follow Blog via Email
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Click the buttons below to SHARE if you liked this post.
Note: The REBLOG option is available only when viewing the post in full. Click on the post-title above if don’t see the REBLOG button below.
September 30, 2017
Where reading can take you…Jean Rhys QUOTE FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
“Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.” Thanks, Bridget Whelan!
Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.Jean Rhys is the author of Wide Sargasso Sea, among other novels.
I don’t know much about her, but when I was surfing the internet for this post I found a 2009 newspaper review of her biography It offers an insight into her troubled life and it would seem that she didn’t find a home anywhere. It makes me want to go back and read more of her writing, and read this biography too.
September 28, 2017
Don’t Mess With Her…Art for Writers
This is a self-portrait by the New Zealand artist Rita Angus. She seems to be saying, don’t even think about it…thanks for sharing this, Bridget Whelan….
This is a self-portrait by the New Zealand artist Rita Angus. She seems to be saying, don’t even think about it…
I’ve chosen this painting because she has such a strong, commanding face and even her clothes seem to say that they are in control, don’t mess with me.
Write about her. Better still, write in her voice and once you’ve established her character give her a challenge to overcome. Or, in Stephen King’s words, throw stones at her because that’s the way we discover the person behind the defiant stare.
