government school

When did you last visit a government college or school in India? I had to get some certificates attested by a Gazetted officer. I know these kind of requests are very weird, time consuming and out of place. But still some systems demand these. So, i walked into a shop and asked him who on this earth can be called a Gazetted Officer. He pointed me to a "Sub-registrar office". I repeated my story. The peon said, just across the street there is a "Government college". Principal of that college can attest your documents. Religiously following his instructions, i went into the college. Nobody checked me. I walked directly into a small but spacious building. There is a good open space in the middle of the building covered by plastic sheet to reduce direct exposure to sun. I guess the same open space doubles as a prayer hall. Classrooms are somewhat dark, without any lights. Classes are very noisy. Class rooms have pretty minimal furniture inside as is the gray matter inside the teachers. I waited outside a classroom where this "Principal" is teaching accountancy 101 to students. I could overhear some terms like "Share price", "Base price", reading balance sheets etc., I am absolutely certain for most of the students these would mean nothing in their real life. I am more than certain that most of the students have never traded in stockmarket, nor read a company prospectus. I am also certain that their genealogical ancestors wouldn't have traded in these modern instruments (mans creation to equal the ingenuity of God with a small difference - God makes it simple, and man makes it complex). Looking at the class, it reminded me of my childhood, the uiseless classes i used to live through. It was kind of dejavu. I convinced myself that this kind of education would be useful in the future. After all who am i to comment on these. This reduced my depression a bit. A bell rang which disturbed my thoughts. I sat there reflecting a bit about education and what i would really envision it, if i had it all my way. I thought i would first remove the bell. Fill the classrooms with light. Reduce the contentious/continuous evaluation we do of students, which fill them with fright. Let the students interest fly and find their home. Have a space for teachers so they can speak out their heart. This is what my heart tells me. What i found is exactly opposite. Both the teacher and students have no freedom at all. How can we say, we are free. We are not free after all. We are slaves of a system that we defined and created. Suddenly principal finished his class and reached his room. I hurried inside got my certificates attested, thanked him. I returned happily since my work is done. But that system remains, taking away the creativity from scores of people. It turns more and more students, teachers into prisoners, who would latter create more and more of the same. I am shamelessly one among those.

what is waste

What is waste? Have you ever pondered over this question? I have and i don't have a definitive answer. What is wasteful in the short term may be of use in the long term. Carbon waste over time could become diamonds. Animal waste over time could become manure. This is all known knowledge. When i started living in my home 5 years ago; there were two small tree saplings just in front of my house. Instead of cutting them as usually the case, i let them grow. Unfortunately these two trees are not fruit-giving trees of some value. They are trees from forest, which drop their leaves Feb-May; during the other times they are fully green. Everyone would suggest me to cut those trees since they are waste and they don't have any value. There would always be a litter of dried leaves in front of my house which have to be frequently cleaned. After some push, i really started to entertain the thoughts of cutting those trees. Couple of days back, i was seriously reading a book and suddenly i heard sounds similar to those made by hen. I came out to investigate it further. To my surprise there were 7 to 8 white cranes on top of the trees which i thought were pure waste. They were lovely white cranes blissfully sitting on the branches of these trees and swinging back and forth. I started paying little more attention and i saw couple of squirrels have made this tree a home. They would eat the fruit of the tree which is not fit for human consumption - but looks like squirrels can happily feed and live on them. You could realize nothing is a waste, provided you can pay proper attention and wait a little longer. I hope the same thing turns true in my life as well.

connection that matters.

Divine, consciousness, love - these are some highly overloaded words with various connotations. Why should i start this with a sentence like that? I am going to go over some of these as i continue. In my recent 3 day process at Oneness University; i could get a glimpse of these and i should thank the In-dweller for everything. The first lesson i was told is to understand the real problem and problem. Any problem i encounter in my life could The process is all about Bhajans, Pranayams, Reflecting into the events of my life,

Dental problem or Mental problem

Around 15 days back, i had a severe tooth ache. It was on and off. So, i have taken an appointment with a dentist near my house(Dr. Pamela not the Pamela Anderson just Pamela). She examined the tooth, took an x-ray and uttered the dreaded r-word. For those of you who don't know this dentist's r-word it is the root canal. She said the cavity is large enough and it reached the pulp, there is no way but to do a root canal which means drill up to the root put a small anchor and put an artificial cap on it. The Dr gave me some antibiotic and painkillers to be used for couple of days and make another visit after couple of days. Crestfallen, i fixed another appointment for a different date. I came home and shared this information with my wife. My wife was very upset since there was a root canal performed already on one of the nearby tooth and this is the next one. Her point is that there could be some more like this and i may end up having these cosmetic teeth all over. I looked at my teeth in the mirror. It wasn't a happy sight. My right cheek was paining very badly. I told myself let me try something, so i called up Dilbagh Singh; the one guy i know who cured a lot of his ailments using Yoga and Ayurveda. It was night around 8 O' clock on a Friday. Dilbagh Singh told me that my cavity could be cured but i should do what he says for 2 months. I said okay. These are his recommendations.
1) 15 minutes oil pulling in the morning.
2) No toothpaste. Tooth powder(Vicco Vajradanti to be used). A good massage to be given to gums and teeth have to be brushed with a soft tooth brush. This is to be done twice a day.
3) Washing mouth with salt water 4 times a day.
4) One hour of yoga daily. (minimum 20 mins of Kapalabhati pranayam).
I agreed to do all these. Immediately i ran to a local store purchased a new brush, tooth powder, and Sunflower oil for oil pulling and i got to my work. I didn't take any antibiotic or painkiller. First time i massaged my gums it was terrible. Some of my gums bled. That night i had a very bad sleep due to constant pain. I was continuously aware of the pain. I would sleep for a bit and the pain would wake me up. Next morning i did oil pulling, brushed my teeth, and massaged my gums. But there was persistent pain near the infected tooth. So much pain that any effort to move the jaw would cause a lot of inconvenience. I lived it. That night there was bleeding in gums . There was pain on Sunday as well. I thought i would give this up and get root canal done. I almost swallowed the pain-killer and antibiotic, but i told myself that i should prove to myself that Yoga and Ayurved works. I followed the routine on Sunday(day 2), the pain was still there. By day 3, pain subsided slightly. Whenever i do Yoga, pain would go away. If i didn't do Yoga on any given day, pain would come back. Now i am into the 14th day, and pain is 99 percent gone. I am able to chew with that tooth. Slight sensitiveness is there, but i am sure it would go away too. All other teeth are feeling better. Because of Yoga, i lost some weight and my general health has improved. Looking back, I can say that the pain i endured had a purpose. Biologically because of pain, there would be enough blood flow to that part so any infection in that part can be fought. If i had used a pain-killer that blood flow would have reduced and no healing would take place. Because of that pain, i became more disciplined and discovered for myself that pain is not the one that prevents one from moving further in a path; but it is the mind. Once i was aware of the resistence, my mind gradually relented. Now i can say with confidence Yoga and Ayurveda works like a miracle and i wouldn't have to attend any dentist in my lifetime.
A dental problem has cured a mental problem.

Wait

Wait.. How many times I heard this.  My earliest recollection of this word is when my mother used to say- wait wash your hands before you take your food.  I have heard about it repeatedly when my teachers used to ask me to wait for answers to my questions, wait for the results. I waited for holidays.  Waited for my degree, my job. Now I am waiting for something to happen to my life.  While I have been deluded with this word wait,  I have lost an important aspect - experiencing now.  All the time I waited for the result, I forgot to experience the journey.  My mother should have asked me to just wash my hands in scented water, my teachers would have told me interesting examples to address my questions, my teachers would have given me reasons to smile at my results whatever they may have been.  I am still struggling with the word wait. Any better teachers out there who can explain wait?

forces of nature

It was couple of months ago, as i was crossing the corridor in front of my house i saw this beautiful small bird. It had a gray colored tail, black colored head and red colored rings over it's eyes. It was a pleasing sight. Little did i realize it's true intention of being in my corridor, i will come back to this latter. A month ago i went to market with my six year old daughter and on the way she kept on chattering away. Aanandita started saying that she likes pets and she wants to have small puppy as pet. My wife is not in favor of any pets, besides i myself know it is a very big commitment. I told her that pets need a lot of attention and they would not leave her any time etc.. But she wouldn't listen to it. In the end i lost my argument and said we would look into this after sometime.
The next day, i was watering the garden. I had some plants in pots in the corridor and i was watering one of these. This plant is unusually tall, around 8 feet in size with big leaves and a strong stem. To my surprise i found out a small nest neatly laid out on the top of this stem. I couldn't see what is inside, so out of curiosity i put a small chair stood on top of it and peeped in side. There you go, i spotted the same bird which i saw couple of months ago. On closer observation, i found that there are two birds not one. Few days passed by, and the female bird laid 3 eggs. Both father and mother sat on the eggs for around 3 days and they became beautiful babies. My daughter was very happy, now she had pets at home. These birds didn't mind us watching them.

enlightenment

Long ago i read stories on enlightenment on how it took couple of arduous years for Budhdha to attain enlightenment - it took thousands of years of practise for Vishwamitra to get enlightened. So, i discarded it as a goal unattainable. In 2000, my wife told me that one could get enlightenment without a lot of effort. This is what her Guru had told her. I dismissed it as nonsensical talk then. Over a period of time, i could sense a lot of struggle in my life despite the fact that i was having a good family, good relationships and good material comforts. I started to investigate it a little further and discovered that i really had a terrible mind, that it is not letting me be calm - all the time making stirring noises. I wanted to find out if there is any solution to this. I tried physical exercise, meditation, reading books but nothing helped me to my satisfaction. Then i thought why not i try from my wife's Guru. So, i went to Oneness University founded by Sri Amma and Bhagawan. I attended atleast 5 courses ranging from 3 days to 15 days. After each course, i found a profound shift in my mindset. I found myself very calm. I could stay with my emotions. I can confound fear to a certain extent. I discovered my emotional faultlines. I found what i lacked in my relationships. Then one day it came as a big realization to me that enlightenment indeed is possible. I am fairly confident now, that enlightenment can happen. All you need to do is to know yourself and accept it; then seek for enlightenment {from whom? i sought my Guru Sri Amma and Bhagawan, you could seek it from your God or Guru}.

Accepting oneself is the key- I would broadly say these would be the steps.
a) Discovering our resistance to events, thoughts, emotions, conditions - all kinds of resistances and identifying those in relation to yourself. Ex.. I had to meet my goal. I cannot work on it, because i have some resistance to it. When i look at it, the resistance could be because of a fear of failure. My self is not able to take fear of failure.
b) Knowing that we get these kind of thoughts .. jealousy, laziness, craving, selfishness, fear.
d) Knowing that you cannot do anything about these.
e) Finally you would be able to accept yourself as you are - this is either a total liberation from your old conditioning, or a deep awareness of your conditioning.

After the acceptance phase, enlightenment is a matter of happening. I can safely say that self acceptance itself is an exhilarating experience. I just feel enlightenment is around the corner. Even if i don't get it, i would have led a life of growth, purpose and fun.