Living dreams

I can’t stray, mother.

I Love you, and I was born to strengthen you

I was born to find the happiness deep within

I was born to brighten your wings

Just like you brightened mine.

I can’t stray, teacher.

I was born to memorize your facts

And think beyond the horizon

To bring meaning to lives

And let pride bubble in your chest.

I can’t stray, my love.

We were born to enrich our lives,

Care for each other and embrace in love.

I wasn’t born to stride between human libraries and

Cuddle parties, in deep pain.

I can’t stray, my boss.

I was born to find God in everyone,

I was born to work in tandem,

To find each day a new beginning,

And be a part of human upliftment.

I can’t stray, my master.

I was born to imbibe your ideas,

Realize those were not to prevent me,

From following my path to find the truth

And merge into the Oneness.

I was born to understand the different roles

In this human life and do my Karma,

According to my Dharma,

For that is what sustains this world,

That is a beautiful jigsaw puzzle.

I was born to meet life head on,

To have the courage to change things when I can,

To remain serene when my role is nil,

That is possible from the wisdom

Imparted to me by my mother and master.

Before I was born, as a soul I had sketched out,

My path for this life time.

Let me not deviate, but finish this journey,

That I had meticulously drawn,

And leave the rest for other incarnations.

One life is too short to feel everything,

To taste everything, but I need to,

Learn to embrace change gracefully,

Uncover the truth and learn to fly,

Come what may be around me.

When I am old

I will be proud of my journey

Which could uplift all loved ones,

That made difference in many lives,

And filled peace in my heart.

I was born to be free,

And to realize that the freedom is within.

Mind to mind, Heart to heart

When you are in tune with nature and work from your heart, there’s a huge burning flame in your heart space which lights up the heart spaces of those coming in contact with you. As there is a general awakening happening in the present times, the inner opening happens in a large number of people. Sometimes they haven’t done enough inner work or they are influenced by a less than optimal surrounding (place or people). Then the mind comes into play when they transmit this knowledge to others.

Enriching others

In both cases, people who come in contact with them do benefit. In the first case, it is like a flame burning a lot of unwanted energies inside you and lighting up the Divine corners that were overshadowed so far.

In the second instance, the person working through the mind is like putting some food into those who are hungry and have approached with open mouths. It really does satiate their hunger for the time being, but no permanent transformation can happen.

Listen through your heart

When you are absorbing energies from a Guru/teacher, try to feel from your heart, is it coming from his/her heart space, or is it colored by their mind?

If you are a mind centered person, you will be impressed and you will benefit as it forms part of your journey. For a heart centered person, it can prove a regressive step.

Encounters and blessings from Monkey Gods

Almost a decade back I attended an Ayurveda conference in Rishikesh and was listening to a very interesting discourse by Dr. Robert Svoboda. When he started chanting Hanuman chalisa and asked us to join, I realised the sad truth that I didn’t know it by heart. I felt ashamed that Dr. Svoboda, a westerner knew it and I didn’t. On coming back home I learned it and started chanting every day.

A couple of years later we were in a Shiva temple in Lucknow. When we came out, I noticed that one of my chappals was missing. I heard some sounds from the top of a nearby tree and looked up to find a monkey holding my chappal. I looked at it, pleaded in my mind to return the chappal, and it promptly threw down. 

In Myanmar too

We reached Yathaypyan cave in Myanmar on 11^th September 2019 at around 3.30 pm. It was drizzling and the sky was cast with dark clouds. 

We had to pass through a small bridge, where so many monkeys were roaming, and go up through steps to the cave on the mountain. I was hesitant to take off chappals and walk all that way. But that was the rule there. So hesitantly I left the chappals and off we went. On coming back I noticed my chappals were missing. We searched all around, but couldn’t find them. When we reached our car, told Mr. Amo (who was driving the car) about missing chappals, and voiced our doubt that somebody must have taken them. If it was taken by a monkey, most probably it would have taken only one, not both the chappals.

Mr. Amo was very perturbed to hear that. He told that it has never happened that people have stolen chappals. As we got into the car, He went off to search. After about 15 minutes, he came back beaming, with my chappals in his hands. He told that he and another local person searched and saw they were lying at quite a distance from the bridge, one on either side.

Thandayuthapani temple

On 13^th September 2019 we started from Mawlamyne (Myanmar) early morning, Mr. Amo told there was an Indian temple on the way. I was chanting Kamakshi mantra in the car (I chant different mantras at different times) and was surprised to see an idol of Kamakshi Devi when we stopped at the Thandayuthapani (Indian) temple. 

We noticed that there were too many steps to climb to reach the main temple and since we had a long day ahead, thought of saying namaskar from down only. I was feeling a little uneasy regarding that, and then noticed a monkey sitting on the top in a small opening on the archway. It was looking at me intently, and I felt ok, it was fine not to go all the way up.

I took a photograph of the monkey sitting there. Then Mr. Amo saw it and he tried to take a snap and I saw to my amusement, it turned its back towards him. 

“Open your heart”

The moment we landed in Myanmar on 10^th September 2019, I started getting the message, ‘Open your heart’. I have done Heart opening meditations and attended a ‘Heart Transmission’ session from Jacqueline before. So throughout our stay in Myanmar I was consciously doing ‘breathing from the heart.’

It was on 19^th that we came to The Mingun Pahtodawgyi, which is an incomplete monument stupa on the banks of the Irrawaddy river in Mingun.

As we were approaching the monument, my inner voice said, “This is it”, and my heart started beating in anticipation. I was curious to observe what was in store.

About the stupa

The massive construction project of this stupa was begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790 which was intentionally left unfinished. King Bodawpaya had acquired a sacred Buddha tooth relic as a gift from a Chinese delegation that visited the King’s court. To enshrine a Buddha relic of such great importance, the King wanted to build the largest pagoda in the country and probably in the world.

Bodawpaya used thousands of prisoners of war from his expansionist campaigns and slaves working on the construction of the stupa. The construction was also seen as having a heavy toll over the people and the state, thus a prophecy was allegedly created, to stop the project. The prophecy went "as soon as the building of the pagoda was over, the country would also be gone". A variation stated that king would die once the project was completed. Thus, construction was slowed down to prevent the prophecy's realisation and when the king died, the project was completely halted. By the time the construction project was abandoned, the pagoda had attained a height of 50 metres, one third of the intended height. An earthquake on 23 March 1839 caused huge cracks to appear on the face of the remaining structure.

Buddha with hand on his heart

As we entered inside, I was awestruck. There He was standing- Buddha with hand on his heart.

During these ten days of touring, first time we came across an idol like this. I just stood there, mesmerized, absorbing all the transmission that was happening from that divine heart to mine! I can now  feel a vastness, an expansion, lightness in my chest. After doing a short meditation, we left the place.

The result

I can sense an increase in compassion inside me. The physical proof?  Birds and animals like cats, and dogs just are not bothered of our presence. It is as if they know that we are aware of our oneness with Nature. A pair of crow pheasant would slowly walk in front of us. Yesterday night we were standing in the portico when a cat came in and was searching for some prey. It would walk around so close to us, without even looking at us, as if it was unaware of our presence. It was such an unbelievable experience!

References:
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/09/the-mingun-pagoda-and-worlds-2nd.html

Peace transmission from a thread

 Being sensitive to the energy vibrations, I am not comfortable anybody tying sacred thread on my wrist. The Universe brought an opportunity to make me realize that there can be exceptions. On 12^th September 2019 during our trip to Myanmar, we visited Kyauk Ka Lat pagoda, which is a Buddhist temple in the Kayin State. Kyauk Ka Lat Pagoda balances on the peak of a limestone rock formation dominating the beautiful manmade lake located near the Mount of Zwegabin in Hpa-An. 

This pagoda defies all gravity rules.  The island is reached by a wooden footbridge and visitors are permitted to reach as high as a shrine halfway up the outcrop.

The summit can only be reached by a precarious wooden ladder. The complex at Kyauk Ka Lat contains a number of structures, shrines, and temples. The temple complex is a place of meditation, an active monastery, and is open for tours.

When we reached the shrine half way up, I saw a pious monk sitting near a Jade Buddha. 

The dark green color of the Jade has a special attraction to me and after we paid obeisance, the monk took out some sacred threads and tied on our wrists. Then we enjoyed the view of the lake, mountains and another pagoda from there. 

As is my usual habit, I thought of cutting and removing the thread on reaching back the hotel, somehow I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I could feel some soothing waves permeating from the thread into my body. And it is still on my wrist, as of 3^rd October.

Finally on 27th October on Diwali day, it was removed.

References:

https://osugamyanmartravels.com/hpa-an-kyauk-kalat-pagoda/

Ancestors’ blessings in Myanmar

When we started our trip to Myanmar, I knew that the pitru paksha dates would fall in between. Every year I pray for my ancestors and make sweets to offer if I am at home. On 21st September 2019 when my husband told that the first place we would visit that day was Nat Taung Kyaung monastery (Bagan, Myanmar), where spirits are worshipped, I decided to offer my prayers to ancestors there.

When we reached Nat Taung Kyaung, we were enthralled by its beauty. 

Built in 18th century, this wooden monastery is still standing today. It is located in a secluded clearing amidst a wide variety of trees and vegetation. It is probably the region's oldest, as well as its finest, wooden monastery. The Nat Taung complex actually contains two monasteries, numerous pyatthats (multistage roof, with an odd number of tiers), pavilions, rest houses and ancillary buildings. It has the finest of wood carvings. 

I did namaskar, touching my forehead on the ground and prayed for the harmony with ancestors. 

My daughter was just doing circumambulation, with the thought in her mind, ‘This is enough no? Should I also touch my forehead down?’ Then she noticed the sign of a Trishul on the otherwise straight  carpet, which was the indication for her.

I requested for a definite sign to let me know that prayers have been well accepted. After the sightseeing we had our lunch and decided to go to the room and take some rest. Then it started to rain heavily, and we had a nice nap.

In the evening we saw the sky was clear after the rains, so decided to go to some nearby place to watch sunset. While just driving around we noticed a building like a watch tower. It was the Nann Myint viewing tower of Bagan.  It was just a matter of chance we came across this, the driver didn't know about it and we had not read about it in any reviews.  

We went in and had an awesome view of pagodas all around and a spectacular sunset. 

Yes, I got my proof for the acceptance of our prayers.

References:

https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/526/myanmar/bagan/nat-taung-kyaung-monastery