Who might be listening??

`
Watch what you say child! Who knows “who” might be listening?

The Universe: I am listening! I am not a place, but all places are within me. I am not a person, but all persons are within me, including you. I am not a concept either, concepts cannot contain me.

So, say what you will child. You are only creating the winds of your thoughts, and they have no place to blow but within me.

.

No Complaints

'

I was walking through a land which was cleared recently out of its bush for cultivation. The bush was once consisted of tall trees, under growth, and vanes that held it all tight. Now, the trees lie flat on the ground, under growth is chopped up, and vanes aren’t holding anything tight any more. Although, there was a bright Purple flower that caught my eye. It was beautiful, not because of its charm; rather due to its aliveness among the lethargic. It is a vane called “Boo Ma” that managed to survive the carnage.

This certain vane seems to have no remorse, no complaints or no agony about its situation. It is simply doing what it suppose to be doing, and for it, it was the time to blossom. With this realisation as I looked around I could see life leaping out from the dead. Ants are walking in lines again, certain birds are searching through the branches for fresh warms, and the grass is growing green on the naked soil. Nature continues on ever so silently.

It had made me to wonder… Is everything we complain about so passionately so often really worth a complaint?

"The magic is in the doing
Not the thinking, reading
Talking or listening about
But in the get down hands dirty
Shirt off doing."

by Heather Saunders

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In Sri Lanka

'

It had been a good five years since I last stood on this magical land called Sri Lanka. Many forgotten memories kept rushing back, in a way to confuse - things are after all quite a bit different from back in the days...



~Kiri Vehera, Katharagama (a giant Buddhist Stupa)~



~Kirinda Temple, South East Corner~



~Passing through Udawalawe National Park - spot the elephant in the distance??~



~Baby Tea plants through the covers of a greenhouse, I have been putting together~



~Handy commuters, the Three-Wheels~

.

2010

'
To all my dear friends:

For those of you who endure in Time, wishing all of you a Happy Twenty Ten !! and, all the more years to come...

For those of you who don't, wishing all of you a Happy Today for an everlasting Today, forever...

~ Keshawa ~
.

Past few weeks...

`


~Impenetrable Amber Fort - ancient capital of Jaipur state~



~A grand entrance~



~The surrounding hills of the Amber Fort are protected by lookout posts and secondary forts - Amber Fort was founded by Maharaja Man Singh, the Rajput commander of Akbar army~


~Who ever they had to feed by cooking in these must have been really hungry!! umm may be an army??~



~Sun set over the glamorous city of Jaipur, viewed from the Tiger Fort, a truly tranquil place~



~Taj Mahal, what Love can do to the soul of a man~



~North West post of Taj Mahal - on the horizon with the Yamuna River lies Agra Fort (hard to see), where the Emperor Shah Jahan was held imprisoned during his final years. His only wish upon custody was quarters where he can watch the sun rise over the Taj Mahal, for which he said, "the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes".



~My father and I~


~Three weeks ago~

_

Wake Up

`

From time immemorial, I am trying to wake you up but you don’t.

Not complaining, for such is not my nature; mine is to wake you up.
Not frustrated for I can’t be, just know that I have to wake you up.

I put melody in bird’s chirping, coolness in the summer breeze,
Burning heat in midday sun and deafening noise in monsoon thunder
To just do one thing, wake you up.

Spark in your first kiss, comfort in mother’s embrace,
Rush in your home run and the musky flavor in lobster bisque,
I did it all to do just one thing, wake you up.

Desire to own, taste, destroy, love and hate,
I placed so you’d WANT to wake up.
Also put the fear in you
So you’d keep on desiring all and to wake up.

I made life beautiful,
So you can love the beauty and wake up.
I made it miserable
So you will hate the misery and wake up.

Now I think it is time you woke up.
Don’t argue about genetics, Darwin, evolution and creation.
I made them so, don’t ask me how and when,
All I know is why, and that is to wake you up.

You say, you can’t or you don’t know how?
For millions of years, in thousands of ways
As guru’s, gods, priests, friends and lovers,
I have been telling you how.

As Krishna, I told you to see me, see you
Not yours who you kill, to rid the world of evil.
As Buddha, I told you to pay attention
Be mindful of sufferings (good, great and bad).
As Shiva, the Tantric, I asked you to find me
In all ecstasies, from sex to breath of fresh air.
As Nisargdatta Maharaj, I told you,
You are That whom you look for.

Do ask me why I want to wake you up?
That is simple; you are asleep.

Do ask me, who am I?
That too is simple; I am you, asleep.

~ by Sunil K. Vidyarthi

_

Isipathanaye (Saranath's) Migadaya (Deer Park)

`
The legend says that after attaining the enlightenment the Buddha had made his way from Bodhgaya to Saranath's Deer Park, where he held his first sermon. As a Buddhist kid growing up I remember this place as the Isipathanaye Migadayeda on the story books. Overall, a very quiet place and very much a village. If I leave the guest house after breakfast I could definitely get back for lunch after walking right around the whole Saranath including those chai (tea) stops of cause, and I did that at least twice.

A person known among the villagers as Dr. Jain and his family (wife, two daughters and a grandpa) runs the guest house, but it felt rather like they are hosting me at their house - so I decided to address them as Uncle and Aunt. Aunt of cause a housewife, cooks three meals a day as much as you can eat, delicious to the bone, vegetarian of cause. Uncle, however, runs a free school for a hundred odd village kids and other community work. He gets funding through an organization he had set up: SAVE Programme (Social Awareness in Village Education), http://www.visitsarnath.com/.

I guess this is the most rewarding part for me, I thought I would share this with you also: there is a way of life outside the running society. This whole family is well educated, Dr. Jain in fact holds a PhD and once held high ranking positions. He said it was busy. Now, to me he looked busy occasionally, but he says he's happy. I am not implying a way of living for anybody, rather I say the running society is in fact within you no matter what you do. The running society: always about getting somewhere, achieve something, next thing and the thing after. It is the heavy baggage everybody is carrying, constantly - sometimes even at sleep or while on a vacation.

What if we leave past in the past and future to the future - what about the Now? Future plans are necessary, and when you plan, plan; what's the point in thinking of the plans constantly? When there is a problem there will be a solution - I mean haven't you solved problems before? So have faith in the present. In the present the baggage is light and not much need to be done. Right now things are pretty easy, until the thinking happens about the imaginary future.

Somebody once told me, "sit-back, relax, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!!". Free as that, and free enough to enjoy the small things.

From what I remember I think this is what I wrote in Jain family guestbook: Dr. Jain, you must be a free man for doing what you do - I am glad and wish you well; and Aunt, thanks for your yummy food :)



~Dhamek Stupa built by King Ashoka, 500AD~


~Buddha preaching his first sermon~


~3hrs a day of schooling plus a lunch for free, otherwise schooling is not an option for these kids~


~Village school was interrupted by unexpected visitors~

_

Mystical Varanasi

Ancient city of Varansi, also known as Baranas is truly the beating heart of Indian spiritual culture, and the oh beautiful holy river Ganges is it's main artery. They say that by taking a bath in the river, at least once in their lifetime for a Hindu would wash away their bad karma. Hence, millions of Hindu devotees from all around the world make pilgrimage to Varanasi.

Varansi had seen thousands of years of civilizations come and go, parish and reborn. It tells the stories of that it had witnessed by it's colors, the culture, arts and the music. It is this sacredness, all the mystics and the culture that caught my heart in this beautiful city of Varanasi, may be my favorite city in India.

~puja at sun rise~

~One of the many river ghats~

~Sun rise over Ganges~

~Along the river~

~Wall art~