Reflections – On change and growth

 

Contd.....

Reflections – On change and growth

So, since it is a ‘compulsory question’ that we need to answer in life’s exams, it’s better we equip ourselves with ways to deal with it.

The body doesn’t need much training. A little change in dietary habits and a little exercise should do the trick – well, most of the time. It’s the mind we need to address!!!

So, bring out all your forgotten techniques and sharpen them. Put them to good use. Let’s heal by taking any one fear, dislike or so and start healing for 5 days from today. Use any technique as per the course you’ve done.

Then wait! Notice your way of dealing with a similar situation for the next 15 days. Get back with your experience.

May you outgrow your pain and fear – at least a small part of it for now!

Concluded.....

***  

# on change, change and growth, every change has some good in it, on impermanence, change is for real, on life, 

read suggested:https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-impermanence.html 

Read the complete post of the above given link.....

Points to ponder:

• When change is, life is. Where life is beauty is, growth is. Imagine being how you are, what you are for ever. Then you will have your children as they are, they will never grow. If you don't have children, then you never will, for you don't want change to happen in your life. Now, apply the same to every aspect of life and see how you wanting things to be as they are will have an impact on your life.....
• Now the question is "Do you really don't want change not to happen?"

Questions to work on:

• Now for some real homework - What are the changes you have found in yourselves - before and after Reiki? Was change pleasant? Was it beneficial at the end?

On impermanence

Refer to the comment by Madhumita dt.7/1/14  “Maám, this post reminds me of an old chinese proverb posted by you. "You can wash you feet in the same river only once" on Impermanence..........

On impermanence, I’ve writen “…..everything is subject to change and only change is certain…..”

Take an eg. of body, the size of body and it’s parts at birth and see the body of the youth – it belongs to the same person but still difference is world apart. Again, the same transformes as we age further – though we try to look the same – what with dyeing of hair,face-lifts and dozen other medical procedurs – but the truth is “package may look” near to “youth” but the fact is body is old.  Cells and organs have aged and they’ll show signs of the age they are of only!

Look at our city.  Can you remember, how it was 10/20 years ago?  The same roads have been transformed and we’ve even forgotten the then landmarks.  Fly-overs are being constructed and so is metro – the city would be totally changed in 5/10 years – yeat it’ll be called Hyderabad and we’ll relate to it the same way – the change has happened, is happening and will be happening but still the city continues to be the same in books/talks……….but the question is which is the Hyderabad we are talking about? The one we know 20 years back or now or 20 years later?

………..contd………….

Reflections – On change and growth

 

Contd.....

Reflections – On change and growth

Sit with at least one of them. Understand it. Do the required healing. Because, if you don’t heal your past, then even in the future you’ll end up suffering a similar situation again – may be more this time!!

As sadhaks, that doesn’t make sense. I should be able to handle a situation better this time when it pops up in my life. Let’s prepare for it by healing ourselves from our past impressions.

Let’s work on our weaknesses. Let’s gain strength. So that, when the situation demands we are more strong facing it now than then.

You may well ask “but why at all should it come maam?”

A good and fair question indeed! But these things just don’t go away because I am uncomfortable with them. No dear, it doesn’t happen that way. They keep coming back – again and again till we learn to deal with them right, till we outgrow the fear of facing them, and till we stop generating karma that creates such situations in the first place!

Contd.....

# on change, change and growth, every change has some good in it, on impermanence, change is for real, on life, 

read suggested:https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2017/07/on-changing-destiny-me-my-guru_12.html 

Points to ponder:

• Change is inevitable. Suffering it or putting it to good use is the only option available to us!

Questions to work on:

• What are the changes in life that I was uncomfortable with in the past?
• How did those changes affect me and my life in the later years?
• Does change bring only pain? How many times did change bring joy in my life?
• What does impermanence mean to you?

Strength of the soul!

 

Contd....

Strength of the soul!

Well, the answer is both yes and no.

We are helpless in the way that we can’t do much to affect this going up and down of the World and everything in it.

But, we have a choice regarding the “ride and quality of ride” that we have on this roller-coaster.

We can “scream and shout and have loads of fun” or “end up full of fright and suffer the ride”

Both, remember that “fear” is certainly experienced by all whatever be their choice. Well, the ride is such that “fear” can’t be done away with! But, are we experiencing that as “excitement” or as “I just died 100 times feeling”???

The choice certainly is ours to make!

But, one who is “weak” of “soul” can’t make the right choice. And to increase the strength of our soul we need to work on ourselves. And for that, we need to look within and find out how our mind works and how to overcome that. So, look within, accept who you are, and then choose areas you want to change and overcome them. That way, bye the by you’ll gain “strength” that no power on Earth can bestow on you. Similarly, no one and nothing on Earth can take away from you!

********

Soul strength, weakness and strength, ups and downs of life, life, uncertainty of life, change, being prepared, sudden happenings of life, nothing is permanent, impermanence of life, 

also read: https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-impermanence.html 

Reflections – On change and growth

 

Reflections – On change and growth

The other day, one Reiki Channel from abroad called me. The weather there was around below 0 dg temperature. RC told me it would even go to -20 dg C. It was a bit confusing for me. How can an Indian who is used to 40dg temp cope with such low temperatures? But, when that RC explained it became clear to me. RC said “The first couple of weeks, of course, it was difficult – but with the right clothing it didn’t affect so much. Moreover, I was excited about the change, etc. In my second year, I was able to go about in normal clothing like the locals here even in 2 dg C. I am used to this cold now. It’s the ‘heat’ I am not able to bear. I realized that when I had to go to another part of this country which was way hotter than the place I live in, I realized how I am finding heat unbearable now!”

That was quite a revelation.

I found the same explanation from people who have come from North to South of India and vice-versa – always! So, our body does have capacity way beyond our ‘assumption’. It’s the mind that fears the facts, but the body, well it adapts to the new conditions pretty effortlessly. Those who let go of the processing, enjoy the change, it is not all that bad. They don’t suffer though everyone has to endure the effects of every change. 

But the person who sticks to his preferences, choices, and tastes suffers a lot. His pain is way higher than it needs to be! He also suffers from the changing way longer than others. His complaints are more. His ‘good moments’ are less. And who is responsible for all this?

This not only applies to weather or climate but also to relationship status, physical comforts and needs, aging, change of job and its’ profile etc etc….take a moment and see which change frightens you the most. See which change affects you more? In the past, what were the incidents that affected you which involved a change of any kind?

Contd.....

# on change, change and growth, every change has some good in it, on impermanence, change is for real, on life, 

read suggested:https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2021/07/fact-about-world.html

Points to ponder:

• Change is inevitable. It has to happen whether you like it or not. So instead of focusing on what can't be changed, think about what can be done with this change in life.
• Change is inevitable, but growth is optional!

Questions to work on:

• What is the change that is painful to me and why?
• Is there something called as 'unchanging' in life?

Change of weather

 

Change of weather

In Hyderabad (of India) as is in every nook and corner of the world, there is change of weather happening. Couple of days it is hot summer feel and then it rains like never before. Weather is totally unpredictable. It is what it is. We take or leave it! The weather is not going to act to please us and make itself viable to our schedules and tastes.

So it is with life. It happens as it chooses to happen when we are planning other things. The pain is not as much about what is happening as it is about ‘how we expected it to happen’. Because we plan our lives and days, when it doesn’t go that way, we feel let down. We feel enraged. We are depressed. We are sad. We complain. We are angry. We feel cheated.

Think about it! Who promised us ever that ‘Life would be as we plan it’? No one…and yet we PRESUMED IT WOULD! And we are angry, frustrated, depressed that our ‘presumption’ didn’t work out right? Think about that! Sit and meditate on that. Don’t analyse, you wouldn’t get it. Don’t try logic here – you would miss it yet again. Meditate on this.

If and ONLY if you meditate and realize this fact and understand about the ‘presumption’ would you be free from pain of the unexpected.

Bondage or freedom from pain – choice is yours!

**** 

# change, life, seasons of life, ups and downs of life, on permanence, 

also read previous post on this subject : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=On+impermanence 

On impermanence

…contd….

But, without knowing this, without accepting this we long to relive the same experience – again and again and get confused when we can’t! instead of ‘wanting to experience the same joy’ and in the process creating the same atmosphere (externally!) if only we had worked at the start point of experience – we can be ever in the state of eternal bliss – satchitananda every moment of our life.

Why we are not able to do that is because of reasons on which we don’t work or don’t want to work.  Manytimes we don’t even know the existence and the effect of these factors within us!

One such reason is “data comparison”.  For eg. when I go to eat haleem second time, I immediately log on to the previous experience and compare with it and praise the previous one, compare them to find the difference or try to do away with things which I think are responsible for letting me not experience that ‘state of bliss’ Again! But I forget, first time I was with the moment.  Now I am not.  So, I can’t live ‘this moment’. 

In simple words ‘just live the moment’ to actually be with the event/experience.  As simple as it sounds, it takes ages nay janmas to practice this simple act of “Being”.  Don’t analyse! That’s why I am not explaining it completely, because then you may get the meaning of the words and miss out on the practise of this ‘experience’.

…contd….

Fact about the world....

 

Fact about the world....

Everything in and of this world follows one rule for sure - "CHANGE".

No two days are same.

No two moments are same.

All factors being same too, it is not same. For eg. now that most of the people have experienced being at home and working from home. We have been confined to the four walls for long periods of time. People in the house - that being our family is same. The members of the family are same. House is same. Our work is same. And yet, look back at the past year. No two days were same. All the factors - people, place, things etc were same and yet.....

People have complained of it being boring and same. But it only looked so because of how we looked at it. We wore the glasses of conditions. We felt 'happiness' is going out. We defined happiness as shopping and travelling. We define being in the crowd as 'good'. And since we missed all that we defined as 'good' and causes of happiness, we felt we were missing out all the fun. But it was not so!

We must have realised that we don't need to shop most of the things in our life. We could live without the usual purchases. We could eat at home and yet be fulfilled. 

Every day being the same, yet it came out with different results from each home. Each family have come out differently in the past year. Just look around. That is the beauty of life. It looks same and repetative and yet the change is happening slowly and steadily and one day the change is huge to notice. 

But as our mind wants to hold on to pleasant time and is averse to bad times, it creates friction and calls it fear. But good and bad times keep changing from one to another. Pleasant and unpleasant news/time keep happening one after the other. The impermanence of life is the beauty and rhythm of life. 

Contd......

# change is inevitable, impermanence, facts of life, truth about life, pain and suffering, acceptance of the reality, pain, life,

read further on this topic : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=change 

Those of you who are going to read any post of the above given link, give your feedback on the post you have read so that it would be easy for others to check it too.......

Questions addressed :

• What is change?
• What is the only thing which is constant in life?
• Why we suffer change?
• What is the reason for fear and suffering?
• What is the cause of pain?
• How change effects us?

(Hope all of such questions are understood ..)

Wow moment :

An old favourite played on the radio....wow! The surprise that comes with wow feeling of hearing my favourite song.......simply wow!