the forgiving mind

Joey took me up on that invitation to tea. In fact she took me out to lunch first and then bought me tea. Very nice of her especially since it was I who invited her. She still insisted i am compulsive obsessive and this time i decided to give in. This was necessary because I wanted to keep the peace and tranquility between us. I have always felt that it is good to compromise especially when I feel that I have much more to lose when I hold on to my views and policies. And Joey is definitely worth compromising for!
But somehow nothing came close to another incident that happened to Joey and me, involving another friend from the centre, Sean. Sean is this fine gentleman who is extremely accommodating, friendly and very helpful. Sean was helping Joey and me out on some issues out of sheer sense of responsibility but got told off for something that was totally out of his control. Well Sean took responsibility for his actions, apologised if he was out of line and went on with his life. Made mention of it to me only because I asked and made me promise never to speak of it again. Sorry Sean, I just could not help it!
Some people think of forgiveness as being cowardly. Some people think it is a sign of weakness. Some even think of it as demeaning. But Sean just invited tremendous relief, peace and happiness to his life by forgiving as forgiveness holds tremendous healing power and liberation to his soul.
My swamiji always says forgiveness becomes easy when we realise that whatever dislikes or circumstances of dislike that we have is a creation of our own mind in our mind. When we acknowledge that everything starts and ends in our mind itself, it becomes so trivial
and unimportant.
Sean obviously has understood Swamiji's message well. Somehow i feel very small next to Sean as I would have reacted differently if i had been in Sean's shoes. Do I invite Sean to have tea with me in Lotus this time? ...hmmm

the attentive mind

I had an excellent time with my buddy Joey, from the Centre today. We spent the whole day at the flower nursery getting pots, plants and everything else we needed to make the garden in the centre look good. Well, Joey thinks I have an obsessive compulsive streak in me. Just because I am a little particular about shapes and colours and sizes I dont think I deserve to be called an obsessive compulsive. I like to think that I have an eye for detail and a mind that has its quirks and peculiarities for the things that matter to me; which is by the way practically everything! Oh dear...was Joey right afterall? Am I obsessive compulsive?
My swamiji however is someone who thinks that everyone should be sensitive and attentive to not just details but also to every aspect in life. He thrives on an attentive mind and I honestly have not seen anyone else who is so attentive.
Swamiji always says that eventhough it normally doesnt make any difference this way or the other if someone does a particular act imperfectly, he is first to point out that it shows the person's state of mind. He says that to do any act perfectly, one needs perfect attention. An attentive mind would strive for perfection!
Coming back to Joey,(by the way, i love Joey) I think i need to explain to her the difference between obsessive compulsive and striving for perfection. Be it plucking that blade of grass or performing that heart bypass, lets deal with it with sensitivity, attentiveness and utmost perfection. Joey, can we meet for teh tarik at Lotus?

the smart stupid mind

So did u meditate yesterday?
This mind is a funny thing. It is both smart and stupid. Lets do the smart aspect first. If u feed it with positive, uplifting and lofty thoughts; it holds on to those thoughts and u, believe it or not, somehow become all of those. However, if you decide to be negative, grumble and complain about all and sundry; the mind will then hold on to those thoughts stronger. Hmmm...
Then again our mind is like a monkey right? Our thoughts jump from sad to happy to uplifting to downright downtrodden within seconds. Mind is given to thinking and naturally that is what it would do. I would be worried if it doesnt!
My swamiji however has a formula; he says that the mind has to digest all the positive, uplifting and lofty thoughts and to do that you need to spend some mind hours doing that. He says that for any significant concept or attitude or perception to be part of the mind process and stay there for good, one has to actually spend about 50 mind hours on each quality.
That, my gawd, is a whole lot of mind hours and yes...one way of achieving that is by meditating upon that very quality that u wish for. Remember Rome wasnt built in a day and yeah; it might take a lit bit of hours but we can be there too!
So, what is it that u want?

the agitated mind

swamiji said today that an agitated mind and an overworked body makes people say things they wont normally say. he said we have to look within ourselves everytime we fumble or do something we should not have done or putting it simply...get angry! swamiji says go back within yourself and introspect.
thats what swamiji says and i know he is right. of course he is right. how much i can go within myself is something else. i am trying, i am trying...
going within a.k.a. meditation(the new buzz word) is as old as age itself. yet we find it so difficult to sit still, go within our minds and watch the movie within ourselves. we have a meditation session in our centre every sunday morning for fifteen minutes. all of us have definitely graduated from where we were before. i know i have!