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.....

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…..

Murali smiled and nodded his head “Thank-you. You’ve all explained it and understood it the way I wanted to put it. So I think I don’t need to explain further.

Just would like to add that I have made little changes in my life and the way I am living now. I am talking things slow. I have cut out on my social-site engagements and time. I am more in real life than in virtual world. I observe and relish my surrounding and little nothings of my life. I’ve realized that every moment is a moment of miracle if seen and understood correctly. My gratitude scale has gone up and yes, I am happier, relaxed and peaceful. I am not trying to ‘be on the run’ anymore. I think I have made my point and looking forward to seeing more smiling faces, grateful eyes and hands rose to sky and fulfilled hearts dancing with joy in coming days’.

We nodded our heads. Yes, it was so clear, simply obvious that we couldn’t find excuses to overlook these facts of our life. We need to do corrective measures before it’s too late. And yes, for once we didn’t need lots of plodding in this area. It was our understanding today. We held on to it clearly in our heads and hearts. And our “sure, sure” reiterated our promise to him regarding our resolve to work on the same.

Were we glad when someone suggested that we go for tea-break?

We needed it very badly. We formed groups and sub-groups to discuss and exchange our ideas on what we understood. I found it amusing to note how the groups formed effortlessly. Tea served and relished left us ever so fresh and eager enough to march ahead on this topic.

...contd....

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....