Solstice and Merry Christmas

"Through your mercies, Lord, may the months
be for us the source of joys, the years, of delight;
let them bequeath to us in peace, O Lord:
Nisan has its flowers, Iyyar its lilies too,
Haziran its sheaves, Tammuz its heaps of grain;
let Ab and Illul bring along grape-clusters on poles,
let the two Teshris give response to each other in the grape-pressing;
let the two Kanuns bring rest, Shebat and Adar, the Fast.
To you, Lord, be the praise."
King’s prayer to help God Marduk “renew“ everything, a 12-day yearly AKITU Festival at the beginning of new year, Babylon, from 4500 BCE (some 6,500 years ago)

THE PAGAN CELEBRATION OF Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. Ancient people were hunter-gatherers and spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. (And along the same lines the zodiac system was developed.) The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.

Newgrange is a beautiful megalithic site in Ireland. This huge circular stone structure is estimated to be 5,000 years old (older than the Egyptian pyramids)! It was built specifically to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber at dawn on winter solstice.

An utterly astounding array of ancient cultures built their greatest architectures - tombs, temples, cairns and sacred observatories - so that they aligned with the solstices and equinoxes. Stonehenge in the Salisbury plains of England was designed some 4,000 years ago to be perfect for both Summer and Winter Solstices.

The ancient Romans also held a festival to celebrate the rebirth of the year. Saturnalia ran for seven days from the 17th of December. It was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Men dressed as women and masters dressed as servants. The festival also involved decorating houses with greenery, lighting candles, holding processions and giving presents.

After the birth of Christianity, Christmas was transplanted onto Winter Solstice some 1,600 years ago (around the beginning of the end of the Roman empire near 400 CE).Carrying it into the 21th century, the festival has been transformed, commercialised, and have become soft of a “Holiday season” rather than “Christmas festivities”. While there may not be any literary objective objection to the changes for the sake of having a "progressive religion", the following dialogue may highlight the need to have a culture-centric festivity for the sake of peace and harmony in the society and her values.

Bill Moyers: The society has provided [the young people of today] no rituals by which they can become members…
Joseph Campbell: There has been reduction… Reduction… Reduction of rituals even in Roman Catholic Church, by God… They have translated the mass out of a ritual-language into one that has a lot of domestic associations… Every time now that I read the Latin of the Mass, I get the picture that it supposed to give you… A language that throws you out of the field of domesticity, you know… The alter is turned so that the priest is with his back to you, and with him you address yourself outward like that… Now they have turned the alter around, judging you like a child, giving you demonstrations, and it is all homely and cosy… Hey listen, they have forgotten what the function of a ritual is! It is to pitch you out, not to wrap you back in where you have been all the time…
BM: So rituals that once conveyed an inward reality are merely a form…
JC: … Well, with respect to rituals, it must be kept alive… and so much of our ritual is dead… it is extremely interesting to read primitive, elementary cultures, how the folk-tales, the myths, that are transforming all the time as per the circumstances of those people…

With that best spirit ever... Merry Christmas!

Shrek As Your Soulmate (Part 2 of 2)

This is Part 2 of a two-part post on the title; Get to Part I here.

ONE MAY ENCOUNTER one’s Soulmate in a seemingly accidental manner perhaps at the least expected place at a seemingly odd time. But then, that “accident” may be perceived as such simply because, like all accidents, one was not expecting it. However, in all probability it was designed to be revealed in this way (God moves in mysterious ways, remember?), only that one perhaps couldn’t appreciate the moment, and thus lost it.

As my master would invariably inquire with me or pose a counter-question: have you recognised the moment? Have you appreciated (and honoured) the guide-signs? And I suppose that’s what it might finally boil down to: recognising the moment, the event, the potentialities, the true perspective and relevance, and also recognising our Soul Mates…

Whatever our justifications may be, in any case, we are talking about a certain “divine intervention” where all that matters is the paring of our souls bounded by love irrespective of race, creed or standing (because a soul does not have a race or a creed or any socio-political standing! A soul is, after all, *cough-cough*, a Soul!).

And that’s where Sherk-the-Ogre enters the scene. IMHO, Shrek is the perfect example of a soul mate - perhaps a really ugly looking outcast one might argue (Ogre, anyone?), but a true (platonic?) lover nonetheless, and a humble mate divinely created for the deserving soul provided you are blessed enough to recognise it..! Also a practical person who's primary motive was to save his habitat - the swamp - though he lands up falling in love with someone in spite of heart-break after heart-break and blows after blows.

That leads us to my question to you, dear friend:

• Would you consider Shrek as your, *hold-thy-breath*, soul mate, if s/he really loves you?
• If there is a certain “divine intervention” as in the movie Shrek, which also happens in the real life more often than the statisticians care to count?
• Are you willing to consider the potentiality that s/he indeed is your soul mate, perhaps in disguise?
• Don’t you think that, like Princess Fiona, all of us too are “Shrek-alike” in certain aspects of our individual personal lives; such as, say after dark when we too become an ogre-of-sorts like Fiona, albeit only we know about this secret thus far? (And though we never wanted to admit it, we always live in the fear of being revealed someday?)

Unfortunately, it has become rather common for a certain Princess Fiona’s to judge (in stead of recognising) Soul Mates for her…! (Wonder any more why true love is so much in demand?) And as it almost always tend to happen, one becomes the soul mate of her dreams and destiny until, *sigh*, one takes off one’s helmet (like Shrek did, after rescuing her from the dragon-castle). The helmet, by the way, was not for deception or disguise in the first place but was there for protection from the fire-breathing dragons. His expectations of being ogled at notwithstanding after slaying all those dragons which must have given him some sort of a halo of angle's; turns out, the colour of his skin must be, err, Green - like Shrek's, and that did (or say, didn't) the trick…

The ideal of a soul mate gets upheld and defeated in the same sequence of scenes…

The (lady) dragon, on the other hand, perhaps sets a better example by accepting a, umm, donkey!

Long live Soulmates!

God Bless…

[I think I again saw that guy later on ridding the same tube. He was alone this time; and also the next...]

Shrek As Your Soulmate (Part 1 of 2)

This is Part 1 of a two-part post on the subject. Part 2 is here.

COULD AN OGRE BE the hero of our lives? Could someone that didn’t appeal much at the first glance turn out to be that special someone? Yes if you have followed the fantastic fantasy of Shrek (movie); but highly unlikely in this selfish, mean, big, bad, ugly, “practical” world. Wink twice with me for an agreement and luck… Obtw, this is coming from a recent experience, trust me…

Though they were trying to maintain decency in a public place like a commuter train, it was it seemed hard for them to stay apart. Their hands were entangled between them, with their breath almost merging. 

In her seemingly immature ways, she suddenly asked, “Do you believe in an ‘Ideal’ Soul Mate?”

I think the guy somehow managed to save the moment one way or another, the question however got me thinking…

So, let's see what do you think about - ideal soul mate? To me it suggests that by excepting it we are also considering the possibility of an “un-ideal” soul mate (what?). On the other hand however, it seems the term “soul mate” itself is supposed to be self-explanatory and suggestive enough that we are referring to an ideal sort of match for you and me in terms of physic and psych that is supposed to be possibly out there waiting (just as you were), divinely created in the given space and time as a soul by that unseen-but-all-pervading force to partner (or mate) with us for our this lifespan. (I just spent last seven minutes pondering over and editing the previous line, and it doesn’t seem to me as a mere pile of words any more. Think about it...).

And thus I am happy to conclude that whenever we talk about “Soul Mate”, it by itself means an “Ideal Soul Mate”.

Now, don’t you think there is something spiritual about this term - soul mate? First, it recognizes the possibility of soul as a “reality“, as a manifestation of your self (alter ego paired with your pronounced ego, like physical body and its visible shadow) in the time and space of the present, here and now. And second, since we accepted the preceding notion, we are positively looking for our “pair” in the realm of duality; where our soul’s pair, or counterpart, or consort, or mate, is our so-called soul mate.

Let me slow down a bit; let’s take a moment to reflect on what we just talked about:

• We are talking about duality. Duality as in, this temporal world here and now - this carbon-composite world where our physical senses prevail; where we see, touch, and feel, and consume all that is consumable and physical. And in such a world where we have our experiences, everything is dual, everything comes in a pair such as: Likes/Dislikes, Sin/Atonement, Noble/Evil, Day/Night, Right/Wrong, True/False, Is/Isn’t, etc.
• Further, we are talking about a “pair” in a similar context, meaning we and our respective other “being” (mate), co-joined with the bond of love.
• Finally, we are talking about pairing of our soul, and that means our soul in a perfect unison with the soul of that other “being”. A unison of love blessed by the divine… Perhaps as a complementary to one-another , or may be (as it happens so often on the screens of Hollywood) as “made-for-each-other” (or, “maid-for-each-other“?)…

[to be concluded in Part 2]

Spontaneity Sublimated

In the Far-east a) since the beginning of writing a certain kind of rice-paper is being used for all sorts of (traditional) art and calligraphy. The paper is very thin, could be easily abused, and has to be carefully handled especially while using ink. b) the Chinese and Japanese character-set (alphabets et al) grows to a couple of thousands glyphs - a wide array of choices, one might argue.

Given this premise, when one deals with rice-paper using ink, a moment’s worth of hesitation can blot the paper, spelling ruins and messing up the whole of “creation” thus far.

This is thus becomes the premise of Spontaneity.

Spontaneity, as exhaled in the Shinto texts saying, “… every natural impulse is [not to be rejected, but] to be sublimated…”

This wonderful little Zen story below brings the point home well:

The apprentice was watching over.
The Zen master was at the drawing board, painting.
The apprentice was nervous. He had never seen his master err.
The master was worried. He had never let his disciples down.

This was a different day, it appeared, for the master and his disciples. On this day, things started taking a turn, one after another, for the worst.
The master was conscious, trying to watch over each and every of his own moves, adding to his worries with every step.
A moment’s hesitation on the master’s part started messing up things. Trying to control things that were taking birth at that moment started blotting the paper.
The apprentice, perspiring from nervousness, shook his head every time he was looked upon by the master (for approval).
The rice-paper was not easy to deceive. The rice-paper was ruthless.
Every attempt to impose control and to dictate the flow from the subconscious added to the mess.
What was taking shape on the paper was not a Zen painting, not at all!

The master tried. And then tried some more.
Until the ink ran out. The Zen painting was, however, nowhere in sight.
The master asked his apprentice to go out and make some more ink for him.
The apprentice promptly obliged. He stepped out, making more ink for the painting that was to be.
A few minutes later he entered the room, and what he saw spelled bound him.

"But this is perfect! This is a painting like none before!"
"What happened?"

The Zen master steps back from the board, admiring the new painting that he had just created in those few moments, he laughs to himself.
"I became aware of your presence..."
"Became aware of the very idea that someone is there, next to me, judging."
"The possibility of this judgment disturbed my inner still-point, putting me off-centred."
"To be judged favourably I was ‘trying’ to make it ‘perfect’. But now, I shall not be judged by anyone else but me. I shall not be disturbed."
"I shall not attempt to make it perfect."
"It would be."

“I was yielding to complexities than simplicity in my such attempts.”
“I was yielding to hesitation than spontaneity in my such attempts.”

See also: Meditation with a "Rational" personality

Behind Closed Eyes

Only recently a loving friend directed me to an interesting discussion thread where I read responses on the question “[What do you see] when you close your eyes”. I didn’t reply there as I didn’t belong to the group, it was irresistible however not to response to such a call anyhow!

I suppose it really depends on the context, environment and motivation (it was very tempting to say, "purpose") of “closing the eyes”. When I close my eyes simply for the sake of closing them, the immediate experience comes from the suspended particles in the air stuck onto the retina. I see them as irregular chain of sausages descending down on an unpredictable path. A (senior) friend calls it "cosmic tetris" only that the blocs are no longer in your control...

When I am lying down at bed time with eyes closed, about to doze off, images start taking shape from “garbage thoughts” arising from the semi-conscious mind. This however doesn’t happen too often (and I am sure there is a proper technical term other than the one in context of depression for what I called "garbage thoughts"). Essentially I'm trying to refer to - incomplete or half-backed thoughts / ideas; or ideas that my conscious mind has “rejected” due to certain “reasons”; or thoughts that were utterly nonsense yet remained as residual of something within the scope of the mind. At times it become easy to capture and decipher them when you suddenly come back waking up from your dozing. And I wistfully intend to consider them as “waste-disposal” from the conscious mind after a certain hectic activity that it has performed. I further tend to believe them "spent" because they hardly ever repeat themselves or those acts.

Whilst concentrating with my eyes closed, I might see images of entities related to the “thought” that I am concentrating about. The thought itself should be fixated, for that is the purpose of the concentration, and my consciousness ensure that for me. (The word, thought, is important here I suppose for our consciousness cannot hold onto a physical object but only chit-subjects - an idea or a thought.) Here the attempt would be to consciously channelise information related to the thought under focus - a train of thoughts (illustrations) linked together with "logic".

Its only when I tend to drift from conscious concentration to the beginning stages of meditation that the real circus begins. A few years ago under the strict scrutiny of my hon. master when I learned practicing meditation, it always began with concentration on a certain prescribed “thought”. The thought is then glorified so to speak, say, by being plunged into complete chaos and randomness such as raising it a few miles in the sky and then suspending it in mid air. And there she goes… As an example the thought sometimes becomes a comet as it were charting its own course and highlighting the cosmic realm that is absolutely dynamic and constantly in motion. All you have to do is to follow the comet and enjoy the ride ;-) On other times you sit on the wave of the musical water-bowl rising at the centre and spreading with the music outwards (do try sometime to capture the marvelous experience of mediation with musical water-bowls). And on yet another day, it would...

The Alchemist - a masterpiece

While I was looking for simple works of Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz, I ran into The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (MWSHF). Quite a lowering of the aim, one might be nasty enough to argue, but it was a nice easy-going tale with messages sprinkled along the way. Honestly, I began well but couldn’t complete those 200 odd pages without interruptions from loosing interest in the topic, and yet again coming back to the book.

On a different day, during a different pursuit, I ran into The Alchemist (by Paulo Coelho). It proved to be utterly difficult to resist picking up this book that day. Perhaps also because this time the book was on display on a stack in the middle of the path rather than on the "self-help" stand - sometimes a heaven for popcorn-nirvana material. This one I started while I was still somewhere during the middle stages of MWSHF (Julian is explaining the rose-meditation to Jon). And it spelt the end of my journey with MWSHF, and beginning of the thought for this blog.

It perhaps is a repetition arising from micro-vanity that The Alchemist is a masterpiece. Micro-vanity, as in, most of us likes to play Archimedes in our own rights, reinventing the wheel per our own sights, yet expecting the same credits from the world comparable with those cavemen who in reality invented the wheel and fire for humanity a few millennia ago. Well, that however doesn’t prevent The Alchemist from being a masterpiece.

It appears that the book has successfully justified its projection of three avtars:

• The first one is for my Mom while she would read it during one of her intra-city travels as a nice little desert fairly-tale. And that’s it - she wouldn’t care much to think about it barring a couple of residual thoughts or ideas. But above all she would feel entertained.
• The second avtar of the book is for my teen-aged niece who always has a million questions in her armory, ready to go at war any time, and my forehead being her favorite target practice (Gosh, one more explanation for my suddenly receding hairline!). She would read the book, but more than that she would try reading between the lines of every plot, thought and poem (adding more questions to her armory!). She would feel motivated.
• In its third avtar, the book would make certain compelling calls to the dreaming mind and would appear speaking with the inherent voice - creating an echo that resonates the song of the universe. One would feel spoken to.

The first two avtars helped make the book a NYT bestseller, and the third avtar helped it move from the “self-help” stand to the middle of the path. All the three put together made it a masterpiece. For me, personally, I think MWSHF was perhaps the fourth contributor.

Celibacy and yoga

SANSKRIT FOR CELIBACY IS "BRAHMACHARYA". According to one of the popular etymological understanding of this Sanskrit word, Brahmacharya = Brahman (force) + Aacharan (behaviour). That is, to behave like Brahman (not the caste, or the God with the namesake). Brahman is neither male nor female, and hence has no genital properties, or any sexual inclination of any sorts. In simple words, then, celibacy is to act like the divine mystery where the divine mystery has no gender and sex-drive-less.

It may not be surprising that this Sanskrit word comes from a civilization that has created various disciplines of Yoga and Meditation. And in doing so, have instilled celibacy at the root of these disciplines, making it a sort of prerequisite for any aspirant. It may be worth noting here though that the "real" rational/philosophy behind doing this a few centuries ago has become somewhat fuzzy today, with the message not coming out clearly and reaching us, and the so called "Gurus" differing among themselves on the subject.

(From a sociopolitical perspective, it is interesting to see the paradox above where on one hand people are practicing religion(s) where celibacy is fundamental, and yet the country gains the second largest population in the world.)

"... the sex force is sacred; sex is sacred. It is one of the most sacred of all things. But sacred sexuality is a misnomer ..." One could only wonder if the people of the said practice have decided to let off celibacy considering it nothing more than an inherited burden. Tibetan Buddhism, for instance, includes sacred sexual union as the final act for Nirvanic attainment (perhaps as a symbolic reference to reincarnation after/inspit of Nirvana). Or is there a deeper meaning to the concept which got masked off by layers and layers of metaphors over the centuries? Or is it simply that good old one-forbidden-thing motif?

This should prompt an inquiry as to where the paradox arises from for a system known for its harmony.

If one attempts at going through many websites and write-ups, and googling for a few hours, one would indeed find a variety. Following are a few excerpts.

• ... Brahmacharya or celibacy is a rational process of preserving and conserving precious energy so that it can be utilised in other very essential and indispensable functions 
• ... To understand the inner implications of a guru’s instructions requires a special type of intelligence... If the guru is speaking of an abstruse subject not within the normal range of your ordinary human experience, you require a special subtle type of understanding. And that understanding develops through brahmacharya 
• ... “Brahmacharya is the basis of immortality.”
• ... from a purely scientific and technical point of view, one of the yogas where celibacy is absolutely essential and indispensable is kundalini yoga. There is no compromise with that. Right from the beginning it is absolutely essential and indispensable. Otherwise it is dangerous to go into kundalini yoga
• ... bhakti path (path of devotion) — does not make any distinction between a celibate brahmachari, a married householder, and a retired couple living a spiritually oriented life after they have finished their duties as householders
• ... a sort of celibacy in the form of self-control and fidelity in your sexual relationship with your recognised legal partner can also be regarded as brahmacharya... So here the sex life does not in any way go contrary to spiritual life
• ... the sex force is sacred; sex is sacred. It is one of the most sacred of all things. But sacred sexuality is a misnomer

Here is an interesting dialog on the subject with Swami Sivananda.

Whole is not always sum of its parts

Not at all times do you need to get up-close-and-personal to comprehend things. On the contrary, many a times, things make proper sense only from thousands feet hight.


In other words, you got it! This picture makes sense only as an icon!

Zodiac symbols explained

Aries (Ram): Mar 21 – Apr 20

Mid-March to April is the time of the year for the sheep (Ram) to produce their young. This increases produce of milk and wool - two important items of trade and cheese making for the ancient farmers.
Features Speed: Ram
Colour: Red
Effect: Hot and Dry
Nature: Fiery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Mars

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Taurus (Bull): Apr 21 – May 20

For the agriculture dominated civilizations this was the time of the year to employ bulls for tilling the land. Trading of Bulls is also undertaken, for the best and healthy Bulls ensure better seeding for the harvest.
Features Speed: Bull
Colour: White
Effect: Cool
Nature: Earthly
Ruled by Lord Planet: Venus

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Gemini (Twins): May 21 – Jun 21

Domestic goats usually produced two young ones (twins) around this time of the year following their seasonal reproduction patterns of the ancient time.
Features Speed: Couple (Man & Woman)
Colour: Green
Effect: Hot & Wet
Nature: Windy
Ruled by Lord Planet: Mercury

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Cancer (Crab): Jun 22 – Jul 22

Like a crab crawling backwards the Sun begins to turn back towards the equator from the tropic of Cancer.
Features Speed: Crab
Colour: Milky White
Effect: Cool
Nature: Watery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Moon

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Leo (Lion): Jul 23 – Aug 23

At its full force like showing mane of young and furious lion, Sun comes at its zenith and becomes as powerful and dominating.
Features Speed: Lion
Colour: Copper Red
Effect: Hot & Dry
Nature: Fiery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Sun

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Virgo (Virgin): Aug 24 – Sep 23

This is the time of the year when girls in the household (virgins) used to glean the ears of the corn harvest - typically the result of the tilling by the bulls in April.
Features Speed: Girl
Colour: Green & Coloured
Effect: Cold & Dry
Nature: Earthly
Ruled by Lord Planet: Mercury

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Libra (Scales): Sep 24 – Oct 23

Like the scales having equal weights, day and night becomes of equal strength (duration) during this period. The cosmic energies are held in balance.
Features Speed: Scales
Colour: White
Effect: Hot & Wet
Nature: Windy
Ruled by Lord Planet: Venus

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Scorpio (Scorpion): Oct 24 – Nov 22

The Sun starts to retreat towards the pole, lowering its intensity, giving rise to diseases with apparently (scorpion's) "poisonous" effects.
Features Speed: Scorpion
Colour: Red
Effect: Cold & Wet
Nature: Fiery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Mars

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Sagittarius (Archer): Nov 23 – Dec 22

(in the planes of northern hemisphere) Beginning of the hunting season!
Features Speed: Cow & Archers
Colour: Yellow
Effect: Hot & Wet
Nature: Fiery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Jupiter

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Capricorn (Goat – or sometimes crocodile): Dec 23 – Jan 20

The Sun (moving towards North) begins to rise higher under the sign of wild goat (ibex, or Capricorneus).
Features Speed: Crocodile
Colour: Black
Effect: Cold & Dry
Nature: Earthly
Ruled by Lord Planet: Saturn

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Aquarius (Water carrier): Jan 21 – Feb 19

First hint of the rain (rainy season) appears on the horizon at this time of the year.
Features Speed: Pitcher full of water
Colour: Black
Effect: Hot & Wet
Nature: Windy
Ruled by Lord Planet: Saturn

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Pisces (Fish): Feb 20 – Mar 20

The Fish begin their journey downstream towards seas – making it fishing time!
Features Speed: Fish
Colour: Blue & Yellow
Effect: Cold & Wet
Nature: Watery
Ruled by Lord Planet: Jupiter

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Dynamic blog entries

Welcome! A word or two about these blog entries:

"The best things cannot be told; the second best things are misunderstood; and the third best are everyday conversation." -- Heinrich Zimmer

Thinking is a continuous process, or so I believe. It is also a resource-hungry activity, which, when not controlled by proper means, could lead to a lot of waste of time. Changing times means changing thoughts. Writing based on thinking also has to be dynamic as such. Further, I would rather avoid pretending that I create the perfect write-up at the first draft. These posts are rather thought through and improvised articles then simple musings (admittedly thought, musings are important in their own rights. Anyway...)

I like to revisit words over time. When a thought or an idea originates, it remains stuck in your "mind" while you mull over it over time - the digestion process! If it is a book or some material, I try and revisit the idea there at different times (and get a different flavour and perspective of the stuff over visits). If it were of my own making, such as this blog entries, I try and revise them in a bid to marshal the connection between the original 'thought' and its evolved representative 'word'. (Poems, being a subject and product of spontaneity, are to be exempt.)

What this also means is that these posts are changing most of the times after you have read it at the first ping (for example, this one had eleven revisions). Content is revised and added to the entries - some times I get a better way of expression, and at other occassions I react on the constructive feedback and comments that I keep getting.

Thank you for your visits, thoughts, feedbacks, and participation! I appreciate the support and love that you have shown :-)