The Divine cocoon

A few days back, a friend wanted to visit the Ramakrishna Math book stall inside the railway station. Now, the railway station is the place that hosts the sleepwalking aspect of most humans. People from all walks of life, in the thousands, day-in and day-out pass through this space almost as in trance. It takes a great deal to stay alive in an atmosphere like this. So, a shop in the middle of this place, which was not new to me, since I traveled nearly four years to college and about an year to work in trains, was as invisible like any other entity in vicinity.

But that particular day's visit was revealing. It was as if we had stepped into another world. A work of ingenuity - the shopkeeper had done two things that created a different kind of ambiance there. One was the use of fragrance (incense and ash) and the other was the use of a very mild chant in the background. Either the Math trained the shopkeeper to do this, or he did this out of awareness of the situation at the place. But it was like watching the outside world in video alone, without the situational aspect, from the comfort of distant observation.

It was a great lesson. This is how we must live. A divine cocoon must envelop us at all times when we tread the world. Like fire that turns everything it takes in to itself, so is the divine. Except that, it needs an alchemical process that makes it so. Most masters call it awareness.

It is not training or conditioning or learning to smile in the face of adversity. Rather, it is un-training or un-conditioning or knowing that adversity is on the surface while the center remains untouched. If you have a Sadhana that helps you with it, you're luckier. We need more people who carry this cocoon both to show what is possible and to transmit to others.

The reservoir of pain

I think, within humans, there is this access to pain - pain that was not created out of personal history, but pain that we all share as part of our existence together here. We seem to touch that chord of intense pain when something that is not at all in relation to what our highest possibility is plays out. The experience of this pain is very personal, not in the sense of losing something of value; but it is more in the sense of relating to what we long for in terms of ultimate potential - when it gets dragged to the ground and gets trampled upon. It is seemingly inexhaustible and you can never run out of this pain - as long as you remain connected to it. Accidentally, we are pushed into these situations - and whatever we perceive as ourselves gets crumbled to pieces on the weight of this inverse-existential onslaught. I think it is part of the design for us to grow forward.

This incident.

The Native Americans: I read about how the invaders announced a bounty for the "officer" who removed the most Native Americans. The officer, as proof of having removed the Native American, would have to bring the scalp of the person. The one who turned in the most scalps collected the bounty. The height of barbarousness, where you walk into another's house uninvited and rip them off all they have and finally take a shot at their dignity and what ever they hold as highest and strip them off that as well!

The Rwandan Genocide

Very recently: A police SI was murdered in Thirunelveli. A group mistook him for another SI and hacked him with sickles and a crude bomb was detonated. You're wondering this isn't unusual news? It so happened that he did not pass on right away. A group (that comprised of a minister and probably a few other police officials as well) arrived at the spot. Some one also caught this on video footage and they happened to show this on "news". The SI was seen writhing in pain (and even tried to get up) and a man goes near him and offers him water. There were several vehicles on the side of the road and no one seemed to be ready to take him to the hospital. They were all waiting for the ambulance. He was eventually declared dead at the hospital when they finally got there. It was the sickest display of human cruelty (first) AND apathy (next). This man was a father of two children, and I wonder how they felt when they saw this on "news".

We humans are here with a totally different potential. Barbaric acts are animalistic. The ones that are on the other extreme, where no animal can ever imagine treading and only humans are capable of are what seem to trigger the chord of pain - where pain only treads, intensely and without beginning or end!

Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West -- the myths that mystify

Devdutt offers a bubbly talk on the differing "stories" that build east and west. I cannot help have a large smile on my face as I listen to the talk being an "east" representative. He ends the talk with an excellent thought about having these "stories" in context as we approach a person.

TED really brings inspiring thoughts and people to the podium!

Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting

An extremely inspiring talk! When most of the country is talking about water shortage, Anupam Mishra comes with simple processes that have lasted hundreds of years in the Jaipur/Jaisalmer area. He even has the audacity to ask people from Chennai and Bangalore to come to this area in case they every run out of water - and this area receives between 6cm to 10cm of rainfall every year. But he has a very gentle tone about him, and it is clear that the talk is going to be cute when he starts with "please switch of your 'proper english' check programs". Why can't we take a leaf out of what our own country has already achieved and apply to the rest of the country? So so inspiring!