Reflections- On Cleaning – 2

 

Reflections- On Cleaning – 2

I had wanted to clean my balcony windowsill since long. The very thought kept nagging at the back of my head – all day long – every day since it became due for cleaning. And yet, I would say “I’ll clean it later since this work is more important etc etc" 10 times a day.

Today, I set aside all other works and decided to clean it. First, I had to go to my downstairs neighbours and intimate them that I would be washing my balcony grill. This was to avoid creating any inconvenience to them. The water wall falls into their balcony while I washed my balcony grill. You see, they could’ve put some edible for sun-drying or they had hung their clothes and so on. So, I always made it a point to tell my neighbours living below our floor of my such activities. Today was no different.

Then, I saw the ‘disgusting piles of garbage’ on the grill. This was one of the most ‘putting me off this activity’ cause. But, today, I was so clear in head that it didn’t bother me at all. I took an old broom to clean it. The one I use to sweep house can’t be used for this purpose. How can I let that broom sweep the indoors after touching all that was on balcony sil. This old broom was the discarded, ragged one that I kept just for such purposes. I dusted with it and it hardly took 10-15mts to push all that I loathed off the sil. Next, was to just put water there. I did. And lo! It washed on its’ own. It was that smooth. I didn’t do anything except pour water on it. The rest was taken care of by water.

Contd....

# outer world reflection of inner world, on cleaning, cleanliness and happiness, abundance, attitude, little nothings of life, mundane routines of life, spirituality in day-to-day life activities, perception, awareness, mindfulness,

also read suggested : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2013/02/me-and-my-guru.html 

On Post :

"I had wanted to clean my balcony windowsill since long. The very thought kept nagging at the back of my head – all day long –" Don't we all do this umpteen times a day...we keep postponing "doing" something. It can be a simple cleaning or making that call. It can be writing a report or making some changes in house. It can be "Being happy"!!! It can be about 'using something' as we wait for the 'special day' to come.....

In all this, we postpone 'living'. And the NAGGING - well that makes life more miserable than ever....so think about postponing every time that temptation comes your way....

"First, I had to go to my downstairs neighbours and intimate them" - If we decide on doing something, it should not be a problem to others. We should take care of that first. Let our joys not eat away others peace of mind. That is important. 

"This was one of the most ‘putting me off this activity’ cause." - There is always something or someone who is 'responsible' for us to postpone doing what we need to do. But once we decide to do it, then we realize that 'the thing' was not that big a deal! 

Try it - even things like 'forgiving someone' is easy once we decide to do it. 

" I dusted with it and it hardly took 10-15mts to push all that I loathed off the sil." - In our head, all work looks big and difficult. All times seem problematic. Our future looks bleak in our imagination. But, as you see here, it took just 10-15 mts to clean that window sil. Same is the case with life. Once you decide to move on, forgive, become calmer, disciplined, no one can take that away from you. But you should decide first....

Next, however messy our life may be now, tomorrow it will sort out fine - if only we keep making our 100% effort in the right direction with right intent and with right purpose....

This week's HW : 

Take one patch of your house and clean it - one day at a time.....

Those who can, clean the entire wardrobe or room....

By weekend we would have cleaned major portion or maybe whole of house too.....

Let's compare notes and see how this cleaning helped us in our state of well being....

Change the perspective lady!

 

Change the perspective lady!

When our expectations are not met we get angry!

At that time we justify our emotions and we identify with our expectations. But if we look at others situations and understand that – many times instead of anger, we could’ve generated love and respect for the same person! It’s all about perspective. Their actions don’t generate our emotions. Our perspective does it all. So, if there is lack of love in our life that is not because of people in our life! It is basically because of how we see and look at people in our life!

Change the perspective and let love flow in and through you!

Change the perspective lady! 

There once was an old woman name ‘mayya’ in a certain village named ‘Reason’. She was always sad and crying her heart out – day in and day out! She had two daughters whom she loved dearly. They both were married and lived in nearby villages. One was married to ‘an umbrella seller and the other to ‘a fisherman’.

Whenever it was sunny, she would cry thinking “oh my poor child! How will husband of my eldest daughter sell umbrellas enough now, since people would not buy umbrellas when it is not raining?” Thinking of her eldest daughter’s problems and lack of abundance, she would worry and cry the whole day!  

When it rained, she would think “Oh, my poor second daughter! How will her husband go fishing now that it is raining? How will my daughter wade through these tough times?”

Contd........ 

# change the perspective lady story, perspective, perception, attitude and its effect, good and bad, seasons of life, life and its aspects, celebration of life, reasons to celebrate in life, complaining about life, grateful for life .... 

also read suggested : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=cleaning+the+window 

read the link to understand the following points : 

What is the definition of good and bad?

Are we really good or in relation to someone else only? 

We presume we are good, but are we actually good - think about it...

When we change for good our world changes for better. Does that not mean the 'bad' that we encountered, saw and hated was actually within us all this time? think about it!

Pointers in this story : 

"When our expectations are not met we get angry!" - This is the premise for this story......many times we have held discussions on expectations and anger and yet it remains a subject worth discovering and understanding. We may understand the words many times yet when it comes to applying, that's when our logic buts in to negate all our understanding and say " yeah, true, but...." and lo! down the drain goes all our hard earned understanding. 

Understanding is no understanding if it is not applied, ingested into our persona and it reflects in our way of thinking and living it out! 

"There once was an old woman name ‘mayya’ in a certain village named ‘Reason’. " - Look at two major characters here that are distractions and culprits that distract us from our understanding and our desire to be balanced in and through all stations of life. 

One is 'mayya' loosely translated means 'mother'. The central character is called mayya and is also a mother. We usually identify ourselves with our roles in our life. We become the roles we play and start arguing from that identification. That way our 'logic' says we can hurt the other person or make him lose his argument in our favour - whichever the need may be! 

How many times you must have said "but maam, as a mother is she not supposed to...etc, etc"

"but maam, as a mother how can I not worry about my child..."

"but maam, is it not my duty to see my child get married etc, etc..."

replace 'mother' with any other role of a parent, young man, spouse, sibling, relative, elder person, friends and why even God...we justify their duties and also our sufferings based on these relationships or roles that we play. 

The logic may seem right, but it is basically stupidity and flawed and hence doesn't hold good in the region of 'Truth'. 

"Reason" - We think we are arguing on the basis of reason but it happens otherwise - always. We argue from the basis of our assumptions, definitions of relationships and expectations. Hence our suffering is baseless and useless. And we get angry that no one is taking us out of our misery! How sorry is our state!?

Where did you apply this understanding of today?

Belief systems

“But, I am not like them. We can’t be like them. God knows how they are like that!”
“I am Ok, but the world is not Ok”
“It’s always the other person who creates problem in my life!”
“But, I am so good….” Such statements and like are actually a Belief System that stops us from seeing the actual truth.

Who use it?

It is commonly used by one and all with an assumption that everyone else is wrong/ bad, but they are not so. It is called as indirect marketing of one’s image, which we consider as good. By stating that others are bad, we actually want to prove and establish the assumed belief that I am good.

But, if the goodness is in relative to people whom we consider as bad, then, is the goodness worth a dime? I doubt.

Just think about it. That means, I am good ONLY as long as they are bad. I presume it would be good news if they are bad for long. Because the day they become good, then I am no longer good. Bad news!!!!!!!!

Once, a newly married couple moved into a new flat. The lady would notice her neighbour - wash and dry her clothes through her window. They always appeared dirty. She used to always think that “This lady doesn’t know how to wash clothes!”

After a holiday, when the wife returned home, she noticed that her neighbour’s clothes appeared very clean. She thought “At last this lady has learnt to wash clothes.”

When she told her husband about this he said, “Darling, just yesterday, I had washed our window as it was too dirty.”

The women then realized her mistake. All the while, her window was dirty and she always thought the other woman didn’t know how to wash clothes.

Kabir said it so beautifully,
“बुरा जो देखन में चला मुझसे बुरा न कोई”

When I went into the world to look for faults, I didn’t find a person with as many faults as mine………

So, as I go to clean my window, you can go to clean yours (optional only),

Till then, keep smiling even as cleaning,

revathi

On absence, love and relationships!!!

I was in Kashmir since a month....being away from home and most importantly from 'Our Guru's place' made this stay differently difficult and yet it gave me it's own share of happiness to me... It was confusing to me all through....what was it that i was undergoing....there was a pain - a sweet pain of missing not going to 'her place' and attending those sessions (most of which i didn't understand and few i even didn't accept or figure out then) and yet now that i wasn't in a position to go, i felt the absence more than ever...

this was a strange feeling...i never thought i would miss our sessions or being at her place so much....i never knew she had grown so much into me...this office job actually did me good in this way of getting to reveal this facet of mine to me....

I had this strange habit of collecting pieces of paper lying around at her place whenever we went to do the cleaning work (or seva as others would say)....no one noticed and no one seemed to care...many times I didn't even read them, yet would collect them....and they came handy now....as i was packing to come to Kashmir on official trip, i decided without any reason to just take few of those pages with me.....i went through them in the evenings in the still of my room...they seemed to come alive - i can't explain how and why but they did....i had my share of experiences with them and my understanding seemed to have increased like never before....was it the beauty of the place, the serenity of the mountains that peeked through the window of my room...whatever it was , it seemed to work best here ... i liked it.......i was enjoying it.....the pain of absence brought with it a joy of knowing a presence felt that went beyond barriers of time and space.......

i looked out of the window.......the mountain peak filled with ice seemed to calm me and a smile lingered on my lips for a long time to come..........

"Is this all love was about?" I thought! "When we notice someone's absence and hate that absence more than anything? More, even than we loving their presence?"  This paradox hit me hard......and I let this thought put me to sleep.....

contd.....