Some Buddhist poetry I liked

Source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/


Wandering for alms -
weak, leaning on a staff,
with trembling limbs -
I fell down right there on the ground.
Seeing the drawbacks of the body,
my mind was then set free.

Calmed, restrained,
giving counsel unruffled,
he lifts off evil states of mind -
as the breeze,
a leaf from a tree.

See this:
the discernment
of the Tathagatas,
like a fire ablaze in the night,
giving light, giving eyes,
to those who come,
subduing their doubt.

My hut is roofed, comfortable,
free of drafts;
my mind, well-centered,
set free.
I remain ardent.
So, rain-deva.
Go ahead & rain.

Just as a fine thoroughbred steed,
with swishing tail & mane
runs with next-to-no effort,
so my days & nights
run with next-to-no effort
now that I've gained a happiness
not of the flesh.

Who scatters the troops
of the King of Death -
as a great flood,
a very weak bridge made of reeds -
is victorious,
for his fears are dispersed.
He's tamed,
unbound,
steadfast in himself.

Life beyond schooling and jobs

Life beyond

This is a hour long lecture by Prof Devdas Menon (Prof, Structural Engg, IIT Madras) on discovering ones life purpose and letting the inner seed flower to its fullest extent. The lecture is based on the speakers personal quest. He also supports it by drawing ideas from modern research in psychology & ancient wisdom from many traditions.

Though the context of the lecture is decided by the audience - 20 yr olds studying BE in IIT, I feel most of these ideas lend themselves to be adapted by everyone of us in varying contexts in our lives.

Please spend an hour watching this and reflecting upon the same!

Tagore to Gandhi

What power, is there in this world to rob
me of my freedom? For do not thy arms reach
the captive through the dungeon-walls bringing
unfettered release to the soul?
And must I cling to this body in fear of
death, as a miser to his barren treasure?
Has not this spirit of mine the eternal call
to the feast of everlasting life?
Let me know that all pain and death are
shadows of the moment; that the dark force
which sweeps between me and thy truth is but the
mist before the sunrise; that thou alone art
mine forever

-- Tagore (in a letter to Gandhi)

Extract from the novel 'Theatre' by Somerset Maugham

"Have you made up your mind what you are going to be yet?"

"No, is there any hurry yet?"

"You know how ignorant I am about everything. Your father says that if you are going to be a barrister you ought to work at law when you go to Cambridge. On the other hand, if you fancy the Foreign Office, you should take up modern languages."

He looked at her for so long, with that queer, reflecting air of his, that Julia had some difficulty in holding her light playful and yet affectionate expression.

"If I believed in God I'd be a priest", he said at last.

"A priest?" Julia could hardly believe her ears. "That was all right in the sixteenth century.", she said. "It is too late in the day for that"

"Much."

"What is it that you want?"

Once gain he gave her his disconcerting stare. It is hard to know if he was serious, for his eyes faintly shined merely with amusement. "Reality."

"What do you mean?"

"You see. I've lived all my life in an atmosphere of make believe. I want to get down to brass tacks. You and father are all right breathing this air, it's the only air you know and you think its the air of heaven. It stifles me."

"Dear, we are actors and successul ones in that and thats why we have been able to surround you with luxuries."

"I'm very grateful for all that you have done."

"Then, what are you reproaching me for?"

"I'm not reproaching you. As a child, I used to believe in all the stage emotions you showed. But, when I realized it was all false, it shook me up badly. I decided I am not going to be fooled again by you."

"But, darling thats acting." She gave him her delightful and disarming smile. "I think your understanding is wrong."

"Of course you do. You dont know the difference between make believe and reality. You never stop acting. Its second nature to you. You act when there's a party here. You act to the servants, you act to father, you act to me. To me, you act the part of the fond, indulgent, celebrated mother. You don't exist, you're only the innumerable parts you've played. I've often wondered if there was ever a you or if you were never anything more than a vehicle for all these other people that you've pretended to be. When I've seen you go into an empty room I've sometimes wanted to open the door suddenly, but I've been afraid to in case I found nobody there."

She looked up at him quickly. She shivered, for what he said gave her an eerie sensation. She listened to him attentively, with a certain anxiety, for he was so serious that she felt he was expressing something that had burdened him for years. She had never in his whole life heard him talk so much.

"Do you think I am only sham?"

"Not quite. Because sham is all you are. Sham is your truth. Just as margarine is butter to people who dont know what butter is."

She had a vague feeling of guilt. "You can hardly say that your father does not exist."

"Poor father, I suppose he is good at his job. But he is not very intelligent, is he? He is busy being the handsomest man in England."

"I dont think it is very nice to speak of your dad like that."

"Have I told you something that you did not know already?"

Julia wanted to smile, but would not allow the look of somewhat pained dignity to leave her face. "Its our weakness, not our strength that endears us to those who love us," she replied.

"In what play did you say that?"

She repressed a gesture of annoyance. The words had come naturally to her lips, but as she said them she remembered that they were out of a play. Little brute! But they came in very appositely."You're hard," she said plaintively. She was beginning to feel more and more like Hamlets mother. "Don't you love me?"

"I might, if I could find you. But where are you? If one stripped you of your exhibitionism, if one took your technique away from you, if one peeled you as one peels an onion of skin after skin of pretense and insincerity, of tags of old parts and shreds of faked emotions, would one come upon a soul at last?" He looked at her with his grave eyes and he smiled a little. "I like you all right."

"Do you believe I love you?"

"In your way."

Julias face was suddenly discomposed."If only you knew tha agony I suffered when you were ill! I don't know what I should have done if you'd died!"

"You would have given a beautiful performance of a bereaved mother of her only child."

"Not nearly such a good performance as if I'd had the opportunity of rehearsing it a few times," Julia answered tartly. "You see, what you dont understand is that acting is not natural; it's art and art is something you create. Real grief is ugly; the business of the actor is to represent it not only with truth but with beauty. Its cruel to say that I am not fond of you. I'm devoted to you. You've been the only thing in my life."

"No, you were fond of me when I was a kid and you could have me photographed with you. It made a lovely picture and it was fine publicity. But, since then, you have not bothered much about me. I dont blame you. You had'not got time in your life for anyone but yourself."

Julia was beginning to grow a trifle impatient. He was getting too near to the truth for her comfort. "You forget that young things can be pretty boring."

"But then why do you pretend that you can't bear to let me out of your sight. Thats just acting too."

"You make me very unhappy. You make me feel as if I had'nt done my duty to you."

"But you have. You have done something to me for which I shall always be grateful to you. You'v left me alone."

"I don't understand what you want."

"I told you. Reality."

Ullavaru Shivaalaya Maadvuvaru

Thanks to Pooja for introducing me to this beautiful poem in Kannada by Basavanna!

Ullavaru Shivalayava Maaduvaru

Naaneena Maadali Badavanayya.

Enna Kaale Kamba, dehave Degula

SHira Honna Kalashavayya.

Koodlasangamadeva, Kelaya

Stahvarakkalivuntu, Jangamakkalivilla

The rich

Will make temples for Shiva.

What shall i,

A poor man,

Do?

My legs are pillars,

The body the shrine,

The head a cupola

Of Gold.

Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,

Things standing shall fall,

But the moving ever shall stay

Not my will but thine be done

The great tamil poet Bharathi echoes these immortal words of Christ!

"தன் செயல் எண்ணி தவிப்பது தீர்ந்திங்கு,

நின் செயல் செய்து நிறைவு பெறும் வண்ணம்,

நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் கண்ணம்மா!"

This awesome poem by Bharathi set to soul stirring music by Ilayaraja

Om

An anecdote about Ramana from the book "Ramana Maharishi and the path of Self-Knowledge" by Arthur Osborne:

A chinese visitor once wanted an autographed book about Ramana. Maharishi, as was his usual stand, refused to sign as he did not want to identify with a form and name. After being relentlessly and courteously pleaded with, he signed the book as OM!

A tingling sensation went up my spine as I was reading it!

Martin Luther King on poverty

Martin Luther King on poverty

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Man to God

If Gita was gods advice to a lost man, this is what a realized man has to say to a lost god! :) - "You might be the god with three eyes. You might have shown me your third eye. You might burn me down by filling your body with eyes. Still, a mistake is a mistake"

நீரே முக்கண் முதல்வனும் ஆகுக. உமது நெற்றியில் ஓறு கண் காட்டிய போதிலும், உமது உடம்பெல்லாம் கண்ணாக்கிச்சுட்ட போதிலும் குற்றம் குற்றமே.

Mind Control - by Prof Devdas Menon

When it’s hot, we switch on the fan,

When not needed, we switch it off.

When it’s dark, we switch on the light,

When not needed, we switch it off.

We switch things off when they are not needed,

To conserve power, avoid waste and be efficient.

We switch things off because we can switch them off.

We are their masters, we can decide: on or off.

But there are some things we cannot switch off.

We cannot switch off our minds.

They operate relentlessly, whether we like it or not.

We like it, when they serve our purpose, which is rare.

Most often, they serve no purpose.

Mental activity is just a lot of noise.

Mental noise interferes even in the best of times,

When we try to enter into relaxed concentration.

Ever tasted fully every bite of your favourite meal?

Ever listened to every note of your favourite music?

Within a few moments into every such activity,

The mind slips away into needless distraction.

And yet we believe we own and run our minds, our thoughts,

When in truth we are not their masters, we are but their slaves.

They draw us away from the task at hand, the present reality,

Into an unreal world of fantasy, into the future or the past.

We are at the mercy of thoughts and emotions,

It is they who run, and often ruin, our lives.

As when we get confused or enraged

And say and do things we regret later.

Or when we are consumed by desire

And cannot rest till the craving is fed.

Or when we fret and worry endlessly,

Unable to concentrate and plan skilfully.

Or when we are bored and feel lethargic,

And the mind engages in mindless ‘surfing’.

It’s like a computer that keeps running,

Scorning our best efforts to switch it off.

So many hidden programs run in the background,

Draining off our attention, energy and efficiency.

No wonder, at times when we really need to focus,

Distractions get the better of our concentration.

And at crucial times, the system just ‘hangs’,

Paralyzing our efforts to respond appropriately.

Why allow the uncontrolled mind to govern our lives this way?

Why be victims of random thoughts and conditioned reactions?

Look for ways of taming this mental noise,

Of gaining control over the on-off switch.

And moving consciously in the ‘right’ direction,

Rather than operating helplessly on ‘auto-pilot’.

Are there such ways? Sure, there are!

Though not yet in our curriculum.

Modern education gives us a livelihood.

It does not teach us how to live wisely.

It takes wisdom to realize that we cannot be happy,

Pursuing never-ending desires for money and fame.

It takes courage to pause in the rat race, to question,

And see that we need a radical change in attitude.

And it takes skills to nurture a meditative mind,

That is anchored in stillness, harmony and wisdom.

Such a mind acts as a moral compass that points clearly

To what is wholesome and skilful, and what is not.

It enables us to watch the rising and passing of every experience,

Not getting trapped and ego-identified, and yet responding skilfully.

May our education expand to include this art of wise living,

May we all awaken and stop sleepwalking through life!

PS: Posted here with the permission of Prof Devdas Menon (Prof, IIT Madras)

JK and ADM

Reading the works of Jiddu Krishnamurthi and Anthony de Mello alternately, is like sitting in a very well presented theoretical computer science talk where rigorous proofs and intuitive examples are provided alternately.

Aldous Huxley on The Truth

On his death bed, Aldous Huxley was asked what he had learnt about The Truth from the great masters of the east. His answer was,

Its embarrassingly simple.

Indian parents

There are a friends words on her mom and this mostly sums up young Indian adult's (especially the not so conventional ones) relationships with their parents.

and mom is only concerned about my well being endlessly. she is happiest when i am tied down in front of her eyes, eating endlessly and buying expensive indian clothes.

Last Temptation of Christ

"Not my sins. I am a liar, a hypocrite. I am afraid of everything. I don't ever tell the truth, I don't have the courage. When I see a woman, I blush and look away, I want her but I don't take her, for God and that makes me proud, and then my pride ruins Magdalene. I don't steal, I don't kill, I don't fight, not because I don't want to, but because I am afraid. I wanna rebel against you, against everything, against God, but, I am afraid. You wanna know who my mother and father are? You wanna know who my God is? Fear. You look inside me, and thats all you find."

Dialog from the movie 'Last Temptation of Christ'. What words!!! Amazing!

PS: Courtesy - note from KG on his Facebook page!

மதுரம் மதுரம்!

மனத்தை மகிழ்த்திடும் மார்கழி மழை! மதுரம் மதுரம்!!

Heart soothing rains in the tamil month of margazhi! Madhuram Madhuram (Melodious melodious)!!

JK on discontentment

JK on discontentment from 'Think on these things'

Do you know what it means to be discontented? It is very difficult to understand discontent, because most of us canalize discontent in a certain direction and thereby smother it. That is, our only concern is to establish ourselves in a secure position with well-established interests and prestige, so as not to be disturbed. It happens in homes and in schools too. The teachers don't want to be disturbed, and that is why they follow the old routine; because the moment one is really discontented and begins to inquire, to question, there is bound to be disturbance. But it is only through real discontent that one has initiative.

Do you know what initiative is? You have initiative when you initiate or start something without being prompted. It need not be anything very great or extraordinary - that may come later; but there is the spark of initiative when you plant a tree on your own, when you are spontaneously kind, when you smile at a man who is carrying a heavy load, when you remove a stone from the path, or pat an animal along the way. That is a small beginning of the tremendous initiative you must have if you are to know this extraordinary thing called creativeness. Creativeness has its roots in the initiative which comes into being only when there is deep discontent.

Don't be afraid of discontent, but give it nourishment until the spark becomes a flame and you are everlastingly discontented with everything - with your jobs, with your families, with the traditional pursuit of money, position, power - so that you really begin to think, to discover. But as you grow older you will find that to maintain this spirit of discontent is very difficult. You have children to provide for and the demands of your job to consider; the opinion of your neighbours, of society closing in upon you, and soon you begin to lose this burning flame of discontent. When you feel discontented you turn on the radio, you go to a guru, do puja, join a club, drink, run after women - anything to smother the flame. But, you see, without this flame of discontent you will never have the initiative which is the beginning of creativeness. To find out what is true you must be in revolt against the established order; but the more money your parents have and the more secure your teachers are in their jobs, the less they want you to revolt.

Creativeness is not merely a matter of painting pictures or writing poems, which is good to do, but which is very little in itself. What is important is to be wholly discontented, for such total discontent is the beginning of the initiative which becomes creative as it matures; and that is the only way to find out what is truth, what is God, because the creative state is God.

So one must have this total discontent - but with joy. Do you understand? One must be wholly discontented, not complainingly, but with joy, with gaiety, with love. Most people who are discontented are terrible bores; they are always complaining that something or other is not right, or wishing they were in a better position, or wanting circumstances to be different, because their discontent is very superficial. And those who are not discontented at all are already dead.

If you can be in revolt while you are young, and as you grow older keep your discontent alive with the vitality of joy and great affection, then that flame of discontent will have an extraordinary significance because it will build, it will create, it will bring new things into being. For this you must have the right kind of education, which is not the kind that merely prepares you to get a job or to climb the ladder of success, but the education that helps you to think and gives you space - space, not in the form of a larger bedroom or a higher roof, but space for your mind to grow so that it is not bound by any belief, by any fear.

Problems in understanding spiritual literature

Reading and understanding spiritual literature is an important tool in assisting ones own realization. Of course, it is not absolutely necessary. Ramana, as every one knows, read none initially. Nevertheless, for most people, its an important tool whose importance wanes and grows at different times in ones effort for realization. But, there are many issues that I faced in understanding. Listing them here. Might be useful.

• The biggest and most important problem is that of appropriateness. Different books are useful at different stages. I think, for beginners, JK's writings are impressively incomprehensible! But, beyond a point the truth of his writings become clear. So, its important to choose appropriate books and authors. A lot of exploration is needed to find out appropriate literature.

• The second biggest issue is that the different people use words differently and there is a constant conflict to give different meanings to words. For eg., a lot of writing in this subject is on fear. Fear usually only means fear of being eaten by a tiger but rarely about the fear of not making it in the society (which is what is meant in this subject). So, a lot of patience is required here to dig through the subject to find out what the author means. Very often, I find that in discussions with friends, there comes a point where we have to define almost every non-trivial word. This makes it a little hard to begin with.

• The third issues is lack of what is called vitarka - scientific reasoning without a prior bias that looks down upon the subject. When scientists talk about youngs double slit experiment, we gape at the results and explanations with child like wonder. This is great. But, when any genuine spiritual writer starts to say things, our patience with them is minimal and our pseudo-intellectual biases convert our reasoning from vitarka to kutarka, which is reasoning with a prior bias that looks down upon the subject. Spiritual truths can never be recognized with kutarka.

• Another issue is the esoteric nature of the subject. For beginners, its a bit like learning a new language where every book teaching that language is in that language itself. Its hard, but with patience the breakthroughs come. Many times, a prior understanding of the truth to some extent is needed to understand more. In reality, a real time shock in life is needed that will shake the egoic structures. But, most of our lives are so fragile that our normal flow of life provides them in umpteen amounts.

• Another issue is that spiritual truths cannot be studied like how we study human anatomy. A sincere effort is constantly needed for personal transformation also. Without this, no progress can be made. Most people are only interested in intellectual understanding without serious personal transformation. In my opinion, that is not possible. Personal transformation is the hardest as it requires a total abandonment of ego!

• Another issue is that words are many times inaccurate and seldom possess mathematical precision. Also, authors sometimes miss out words that would make things clearer. For the author, the context might make the meaning obvious, but may be not for a beginner. This is true with all books but is probably more likely in this subject. For e.g., When JK says 'an action that is done with a desire in mind, can produce no genuine change for the good', people usually ask 'how is it possible to do an action without a desire in mind. When food is given to the hungry, there is the desire of elimination of their hunger'. Of course, this objection is correct, when interpreted in the way the listener did. What, I think, was actually meant there is the action done with a personal desire - the desire for greatness or moksha or something else!

Second

Love might be the first god. Nevertheless, a good belly laughter comes a close second.

Silence might be the music of the gods. Nevertheless, the sound of rain droplets hitting anything / everything comes a close second!

Single singam

Rough translation of a poem by Kabir found in a book I am reading. I just loved it!

Diamonds are not found in heaps

The fragrant sandalwood trees do not grow in rows

Lions do not move in herds

The spiritual man has no followers

PS: You need to watch rajni movies to understand the title.. :P

Agent Smith dialogue from matrix

Agent smith says this to Neo in the third part of matrix

'...temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect that is desperately trying to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose...'

WOW! This seems so spectacularly true to me when applied to most 'egoic' human emotions (fear, pride, desire, anger, etc...)!!