The calm and the chaos

Till a few weeks ago, despite the grim reality of COVID 19 and it's effect on humanity, there was a general consensus that this was an individual time of rejuvenation and reflection. And almost as test, to see if humanity is on track of better deeper living, chaos was " thrown " in.

 Humanity is it's own worst enemy and every human is capable  of  this dualism in some form or the other.

While at an individual level the journey is to become aware and accepting of people, experiences and situations as is, the society and humanity that we currently live in calls for action - to condemn human acts of violence against another human. Where and how does change begin ? 

In this social media dominant world, quotes , texts, pictures , and justifiable anger in print exists as reminders and perhaps a way of " talking" about the issue. But how and where should change and action begin?

If every person modeled the change he or she wished to see, within themselves, in their families, in their community, in their friendships, if acceptance was consciously practiced , what a beautiful world this would consistently be.

We as humans are so capable of this, of living in and with love and harmony
 Here is to the hope that love and goodness will prevail above all, in this world . And until then the practice of holding love and acceptance within the self continues. 

As is

Universe does conspire to make things happen: but i feel, that it happens exactly the way it should be ,rather than the way one wants it to be. Awareness and acceptance of all events, experiences and  things as is makes it seem ( and perhaps that is what alignment is) like a universal calling.

A few learnings in the past week culminating with a beautiful reflection and practice on love and kindness this morning leads me to pen this down .

It is amazing that when old materials read or imbibed are looked at with awareness and acceptance of it as is, the understanding that is arrived at, creates such harmony, and allows deeper understanding of how perhaps some beautiful verses or thoughts got lost in translation, interpretation or perhaps the lack of , over time. Resistance of the same often deprives us of the ability to receive from it. However to be fair, everything does happen exactly when it should - and perhaps this is the time to receive.  I am so grateful for a chance to re-aquaint myself with past and new learning, using a fresh pair of eyes. Universe did conspire to bring me to this place so i may hold , understand and incorporate the essence of some of these learnings into my daily life with deeper faith and equanimity.

We live in a world with constant stimulation to all our senses.But there has been an upsurge in individuals trying to find their sense in this world- youngsters included- which is so amazing. But spiritual growth and finding balance is an individual process defined by own pace . In this world of " relativity" and comparison- remembering the line" It is a marathon not a sprint" helps lead to a heartwarming thought and realization;

We are all our own unique butterflies, with our own flight , which we must take, each for our own self. The cocoon time for each butterfly is important and takes it's own time for each individual butterfly. The process cannot be rushed. A break in one's own " cocoon time" to pursue the trail of another butterfly's path , can take away from enjoying the beauty of the process itself.

Love and kindness (the thought for today) for self and others is the way. 

Language conditioning

We have always learnt that adjectives qualify/modify  nouns. Thus we have learnt : a big ball, tall girl, red shoes, brick house,  etc. If the ball is big( relative to another ball next to it) and if it can be pointed out as the same by all, then we can definitely  say " big ball". But when we use it ( and we do, and that's how we teach our lil ones too) as a stand alone " this is a big ball" then there is scope for disagreement.

Just imagine how easily " mean boy" " sad girl", " angry person" " over friendly person" " party person" etc, is used and associated with people. If there is a context to it , the adjective might hold true but often the adjective (by virtue of position in reference to the person) is stuck to a person and often used to describe a person, (like, " that___ person" ) even when the context changes.

 If a ball can be a red/round/big/ soft/ , i.e a color, a shape , any attribute, isn't a person so much more than 1 quality that is often used as a defining one to describe him or her?

In my field of work we consciously use the phrase " child with autism", but isn't that something we should always use in our acceptance and inclusion of all people? A person is "struggling with depression" rather than a "depressed person.", a person who enjoys parties rather than " party person", person who makes questionable choices rather than " bad person".

Consciously practicing it brings into awareness and therefore acceptance of , the whole person.

A shift in our own choice of words, a correction of  when it is used by our family and friends can slowly but surely help all see and include the complete person, because everyone is perfectly flawed.

Let's recap

A little pressure behind the ear, a little fluid perhaps, an itch on the foot, a broken favorite keepsake perhaps, is enough to disrupt that moment, that afternoon and sometimes even a day.
Today grateful for
the sun rising
being able to watch the sun rise
the falling rain,
the birds chirping
planet revolving
planets coexisting
galaxy in sync
We are a micro speck in this galaxy, universe, planet, continent ,  state , town , community , home .
Perspective check.