Sadhan on sunsets

 

Contd....

Sadhan on sunsets

What happened?

The whole of this – mostly in Hyderabad (of India) it was either cloudy or raining. So, it was not possible to do this exercise literally!

Some didn’t even go out at the appointed time thinking ‘oh, it’s cloudy so its waste of going’.

Some cursed their fate for not being able to do it because of rain. Some of them even thought it was ‘bad sign’?!

Few got angry at me for choosing this week while it was raining for this exercise.

Some cursed God for letting it rain when they had to follow their Guru’s orders!

Few went to terrace come what may, were present through the time of sunset. They watched the clouds, birds and listened to all noises around them. They even got wet in the rain. For them, they had to be there for sunset. If they can’t see it’s not their problem. They followed their Guru’s words and they celebrated there after! They came out of this week thankful and joyous. They thanked me, God and Nature for this lovely experience. They didn’t get stuck at the point “..but we didn’t see Sunset maam…” They didn’t invest their attention, awareness and energies in something that didn’t happen. They only invested in what they received, how they experienced that and how they felt about it!

Returns from this exercise :

Few among you must be waiting to hear that you’ll receive ‘X’ by way of healing as returns or benefit of this healing. That is not the returns of this exercise.

Contd....

# sunsets and sunrises, on little joys of life, miracles of life, wow moments, everything happens for good, abundance, life as it is, awareness, mindfulness, being available to the miracles of life, happiness, state of mind, 

also read previous post : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=applications+of+il+dolce+far+niente 

Look at images in every post - they too give out messages and answers. I am to write and address everyone's questions and emotions. Can't do one way so to some your answers are in images and to others in pointers and to some in the link....some find it in post......everyone's query, situation is addressed in a single post/article. Be open to receiving your answer once you have asked for an answer. It is found in some form - search for it and get it! Itna tho kaam karo yaar......

Pointers in this post :

"Few went to terrace come .....and how they felt about it!" - Life offers us vada pav (Indian bread delicacy worth dying for!) when we are waiting for sandwich. Grab it! Yes, sometimes - maybe with blessed few most of the times, life gives something totally different from what we are looking out for or working or dreaming about. Don't miss out on this bonus 'gift' that we received from Universe. Just be open to it. How can we 'label' SURPRISE GIFTS as unwanted or 'what I was not looking for ?' - surprise gift - whatever it is, is beautiful. Open your eyes to it. Once we learn the art of seeing beauty of 'surprises' thrown at us by the Universe, we'll start enjoying the 'fun game' that Universe engages in with each one of us. Life is a gift, open it - we'll understand then. 

Let's stop conditioning everything in life. When someone brings 'pineapple cake' don't end up saying ' but I like chocolate cake. It is gift. Appreciate the thought. Thank for the concern. Look at the effort of that person. Instead we end up putting all that in trash by saying 'but he spoiled my perfect idea of birthday by bringing in chocolate cake'. Listen to yourself! Life is giving in abundance don't throw it away with such tantrums and then say 'but why no miracle happens in my life maam?'

Applications of Il Dolce far Niente!

…contd….

“So true and so sad! It also shows our stupidity of both complaining that ‘no miracles happen in our lives’ when we actually don’t validate them because of our own conditioned way of thinking and set belief system of perceiving or accepting things”.

“Not only that but also that we are more ‘package oriented people’ than the ‘stuff oriented ones’.

I mean, we give importance to packaging more than the talent or the intrinsic value of a good or person. No doubt, we are such poor judges of people and hence suffer with wrong type of people in life.

“Only a jeweler knows the worthiness of a diamond”

 एक जोहरी को हि हीरे का मोल का पता होता है !

Ek johri ko hi heere ka mol ka pata hota hai!

 

Monkey will throw away diamond as a waste or useless stone. So to recognize a diamond, do I have qualities of a jeweler? No. and yet go around ‘placing or gauging worthiness of everyone in our life”. No doubt our pricing is never right.

“And have you realized, how many times we would have to let go off precious ones in our lives thinking them to be a ‘waste’ or ‘replaceable’ and had held on to fake or glass ones assuming them to be diamonds. No doubt our expectations were not met by ‘glass artifacts’ as our assumption doesn’t make a glass a diamond. How foolish of us!”

These explanations came one after the other in such a sequence that it seemed perfectly coordinated and orchestrated. It seemed as if everyone’s thought process was in sync here today – at least with regards to this issue and understanding. It seemed musical and also overwhelming. 

...contd.... 

Listen to this song from 1980s hit movie 'Aasha'. The one who plays guitar is 'Star of his times' Shri.Bhagwan Dada who had to play such small roles in his later days...he saw such poverty after reaching pinacle of his success.....

Live the moment while it lasts.......don't take anything for granted....

 

Applications of Il Dolce far Niente!

…contd….

(Listen to this ghazal by the ghazal king "Ustad Jagjit Singh" to understand the importance of childhood and its memories...)

I didn’t take it as a single moment that happened accidentally. I sat down, jotted down my feelings, action in fact everything to get the understand of the whole structure and then came to conclusion that I can actually apply this in each and every act of mine and trust me I’ve been doing it consciously now and the result is amazing. I am more relaxed now. I am happy more often, less irritated and tired, I don’t know if I made myself clear but try to understand what I am trying to tell and apply it on day-to-day basis. Trust me, your world will change fore sure!

Thank-you!” so saying she sat down. We all could see that she was clearly moved.

Later when we were discussing among ourselves, we realized something more from Deepa’s experience. We all shared our experiences. That was so routine. But she didn’t stop at that experience or feeling, she went to analyze it, understand it and above all apply it in her life. That made her special. Our Guruji always said “Don’t get stuck at any ‘good experience’. Move on” and also “Instead of learning 1000 techniques and using it once, use one technique 1000 times and it’ll transform you and your life”. So true! We were regulars and most of us were ‘advance students and even some of us masters’ but we had actually only learnt 1000 techniques (not literally just figuratively) but applied it only or hardly once. No doubt our progress was more or less nil. But this girl hardly came but when she did she picked all in that class and applied it so often that her progress was so evident to all of us. She didn’t know that of course! She was her humble self with us treating us as ‘advance student et al’ but most of us were actually envious of her progress as we felt she was just II degree. But today, we knew where the problem was or should I say ‘her secret lay’.

...contd.......

Applications of Il Dolce far Niente!

….contd……

“I had practiced IDFN in my tea-drinking act” started Neha “I just love tea and so thought it right act to practice it. For first few days, I drank tea as usual. Nothing happened. After weeks of ‘mindful practice’ I realized on day that I was relishing tea with every cell of my body and through every pore of my being. I can’t explain that state but it felt wonderful. It was as if I didn’t exist. And yet I had never felt more alive than this – ever! I was not there and yet was there in my totality. Weird paradox! I can’t explain how’s and why’s of that

experience but can tell one thing for sure – that I experienced that because of repeated practice. Yes, I now understand the actual need to practice something repeatedly. Initially, in most cases it is to learn it to perfection but later it is to lose ourselves in that act. Yes. Be it hands-on, meditation, dance, singing etc the purpose ultimately to lose ourselves in losing ourselves to gain ourselves completely. Incidentally this also applies to mundane routine acts of cooking, cleaning, driving, bathing etc. So, I started doing everything ‘mindfully’ as much as possible. I didn’t get that experience again but I know I need to keep working on myself to get there!

Trust me practice ‘mindfulness’ in every act – be it as simple as talking over phone, walking, cooking, eating or anything. Explore this possibility to unleash the treasure-trove of experiences and understanding” she sat down a bit emotional.

Most of us didn’t get what she was trying to tell but yes understood one thing, that she wanted us to be ‘mindful’ through all our actions. Our Guruji had talked about this so many times and pushed us in so many ways to practice it but we being we, found it really boring.

...contd.....

Applications of Il Dolce far Niente!

…..contd…..

Moreover, we didn’t get to understanding the tangible benefit of this ‘tough and boring act’ and so put it aside. Neha’s talk threw light on its possibility and a chance to experience something surreal. But was it enough to tempt us to act on this thought! I doubted it though I wished we give it a try!

Many others gave expression to their experiences and I summed up everybody’s experience at the end.

“From all that we shared and discussed, few point shave become very evident. IDFN is by itself good but its benefits are so vast and varied. To benefit those goodies we need to follow simple rules as –

·         Every day-to-day act, be it walking, eating, playing etc should be done with ‘mindfulness’.

·         Its time we stop multitasking and put all our efforts in the work at hand 

·         Slow down a bit to relish the ‘moment’ of life. Afterall, life is lived in moments.

·         All these years we had been giving importance to the ‘activity at hand’. Its time we look and see ‘how we are doing’ instead of ‘what we are doing’.

·         We have been giving importance to ‘doing’. Its time we shift to ‘being’ instead of ‘doing’.

·         Our worthiness has been always been based on ‘what we were doing’, when in actuality it is ‘what we are’ or ‘how I experience a moment’.

·         We are so ‘market-oriented’ that we price every act based on its value, its ‘return-on-investment value’. Instead we should realize that acts that don’t have any value are also very valuable nay infact priceless many times. Some examples are –

-          Watching sunset

-          Listening to the roar of waves

-          Listening to your favourite song oblivious to your surroundings

-          Dancing or getting drenched in rain

-          Reading a novel (even keeping aside house-hold chores)

Afterall, life is ‘lived in these precious moments’ not in the ‘to-do-today-list’.

...contd.....