Landlocked In Fur

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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
Image of the Week

देह की सीमाओं (रोमों ) में क़ैद , तुकाराम

पिछले दिनों मैं अपनी बिल्ली के साथ ध्यान कर रहा था

और अचानक वह चिल्लाकर बोली,

“क्या हुआ?!”

मैं ठीक-ठीक समझ गया कि उसका मतलब क्या था, लेकिन मैंने उसे

और कहने के लिए प्रोत्साहित किया—मुझे लगा कि अगर वह अपने मन की

सारी बात खुलकर कह देगी, तो उस रात उसे बेहतर नींद आएगी।

इसलिए मैंने कहा, “और बताओ, प्रिय,”

और उसने बड़ी आत्मीयता से म्याऊँ करते हुए कहा:

“दरअसल, मैं आकाश के साथ घुली-मिली हुई थी। मैं इधर-उधर

तेज़ी से दौड़ते हुए धूमकेतु थी। मैं तपते हुए सूर्य थी—अरे,

मैं तो आकाशगंगाएँ थी। लेकिन अब देखो—मैं

रोमों में क़ैद होकर रह गई हूँ।” ( यानि देह की सीमाओं में कैद होकर रह गयी हूँ )

इस पर मैंने कहा, “मैं ठीक-ठीक समझता हूँ कि तुम क्या कहना चाहती हो।”

रहस्य दर्शियों (Mystics) के बीच होने वाली बातचीत के बारे में और क्या कहा जाए?

मनन के लिए बीज-प्रश्न : “ देह की सीमाओं ( रोमों) में कैद होने की इस अनुभूति से आप किस तरह जुड़ते हैं—वह विराटतर स्वरूप ,जो आकाश के साथ घुला मिला था , अब जो अब एक शरीर और एक जीवन की सुंदर सीमाओं के भीतर कैद है, उसको याद करने की टीस ? क्या आप अपने जीवन की ऐसी कोई कहानी साझा कर सकते हैं, जब अचानक आपको अपनी असीमता जिसे आप किसी गहरे स्तर पर अपना अस्तित्व मानते थे, —और आपके आम दिनों का वह छोटा, निश्चित और विशिष्ट आकार के बीच का अंतर महसूस हुआ हो ? और जब आपने उस भावना को अपनी आवाज़ देने दी, तो वह अनुभव कैसा था? आपको इन दोनों चीज़ को एक साथ अपने साथ रखने में किस चीज़ से मदद मिलती है बिल्ली और धूमकेतु , और आकाशगंगा और उस साधारण कमरे को, जिसमें आप आज सुबह जागे थे?

Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion of being "landlocked in fur" - that ache of remembering a vaster self, mingled with the sky, while living inside the beautiful constraints of a body and a life? Can you share a personal story of a moment when you suddenly felt the gap between the boundlessness you somehow know yourself to be and the small, specific shape your days have taken - and what it was like to let that feeling speak? What helps you hold both at once: the comet and the cat, the galaxy and the ordinary room you woke up in this morning?

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Add Your Reflection

15 Past Reflections
LM
Sep 29, 2026
At 72, my happiest experiences of being in my body are in my dreams, where all movement is possible, and nothing hurts. What soothes my soul is the small domestic times knowing my people are all OK. But I remember having that wonderful relationship with my body, being a dancer, with dancer's highs simply from the exhilaration of moving with music (totally without alcohol or drugs) to the point where it burbled to the top in a laugh of pure joy. I have to be careful about laughing for pure joy. People always think you are laughing at them.) I try to be grateful to all the body parts that got me through life and good experiences with relatively few problems. But pain and limitation are nature's way of convincing us we won't be here forever. Still, the plan is to take each day as it comes, staying open to grace and little miracles.
SE
seth
Sep 29, 2026
Yes, I felt this strongly looking in the mirror on my 5th birthday, it was pretty sad! We had tacos and cake and I was surrounded by love, but I expected something to be different on my birthday and it wasn't....
MA
Maggie
Sep 29, 2026
Yes.
NO
Norma
Sep 29, 2026
I love the art work and title . I'm trapped between a labyrinth of misunderstanding and heightened sensory perceptions. Phenomena everywhere
AJ
Sep 27, 2026
The best is yet to come! My joy, hope and Love tells me I was not born for this world…but for Him/His Kingdom. I want to go Home one day! I have no idea what tomorrow holds … but I know someone who does!🌱
ER
Erick Sep 29, 2026
Tellement d’accord avec votre vision des choses ! Je vis cela aussi !
DD
Sep 27, 2026
I believe Ultimate Being that is eternal and infinite appears as the universe and each of us is "landlocked in fur," as Tukaram says, or is the universe embodied in human form for a brief time. I sense that essential is vaster than this human form. I accept this arrangement and don't ache for the vaster self. I believe that someday I will be out of this form and back to being solely vastness. I am aware of the gap between the boundless and the bounded me, and I accept the gap as my human condition for now. I feel awe in regard to the gap. I'm not aware of a voice from the feeling. What helps me hold both the galaxies and the landlocked self at the same time is that is what I sense. I sense that I am in this world but not of it, that is, I am in this bounded embodied form but am of the boundless universe.
AH
Sep 25, 2026
Honestly, I find myself resisting such thoughts, partly because I don’t feel I can know anything other than here/now. Anything else is conceptual. Even as imagination is so powerful for changing my world, here/now, I have to accept the reality of finality, at least in regard to my idea of self. This would be the final defeat, if I’d never experienced love/beauty. Do we leave a ripple in Sea?
A
Sep 25, 2026
I feel honored to be landlocked at this time serving other landlocked aging seniors who are at the end of their journey with so much to look forward to or not. Helping them to enjoy the small things, a lollipop at my parties. Just having someone sincerely listen to real or imagined stories. I just lost a dear one who was always filming a movie, so much so someone asked "was she a filmmaker"? She just escaped reality in such a creative way always making us laugh hysterically. A few weeks ago she said "Well they already buried me and had my funeral so now I don't have to go"! Now she is with me as that energy of the cosmos and I laugh at random at her memory.
DD
David Doane Sep 27, 2026
I can relate. Some of those closest to me have died bodily and are still very much with me.
JP
Sep 24, 2026
I appreciate receiving a weekly gift from Awakin Readings. I also deeply appreciate the thought-provoking weekly articles, such as Landlocked in Fur, authored by Sri Tukaram. These weekly gifts fill my heart with curiosity, compassion, gratitude, and peace. There are two kinds of landlocking: the landlocking that binds us and the landlocking that frees us. Empathizing with the landlocking of others expands and deepens my consciousness, while narrowing my awareness narrows my consciousness. Ultimately, it is my choice how I live. When I reach out and touch the minds and hearts of those who need a helping hand, I experience deep gratitude. Helping others through their suffering fills my heart with compassion and gratitude. Serving others with compassion and kindness enriches my life. It is up to me to decide how I choose to live. Living with an open heart and serving others unconditionally brings me great joy and fulfillment. My prayer: Make me an instrument of service, comp... View full comment
JA
Sep 24, 2026
Landlocked

Bobbing about

On a sea of eternity

A message in a bottle

No one - not even me -

Will read!

And even if I could

What would be the use?

It not in the reading

But in the bobbing

That we understand

The up and downs

The laughs the frowns

That make us who we are

Not some far off distant star

Though it lights our way

It's the kindness we do today

The contribution we make

To not cultivate hate

That make life worth living

Worth the joy of giving

And receiving friendship

And love

That make us feel closer

To mystery above

and beyond the bobbing about

That gives us faith

without doubt






JA
James Sep 24, 2026
This is the revised humorous post, think the ending makes more sense, to me at least.

Bobbing about

On a sea of eternity

A message in a bottle

No one - not even me -

Will read!

And even if I could

What would be the use?

It's not in the reading

But in the bobbing

That we understand

The up and downs

The laughs the frowns

That make us who we are

Not some far off distant star

Though it lights our way

It's the kindness we do today

The contribution we make

To not cultivate hate

That make life worth living

Worth the joy of giving

And receiving friendship

And love

That make us feel closer

To mystery above

beyond blind faith

without doubt

while bobbing about
A
A Sep 25, 2026
I love the image of bobbing about on the sea! Recently we had a 70's party and I was reminded of the walking and dancing of that time at least in movies and Scooby Do of a kind of bobbing, bouncing dance walking down the street. Let's bring that effortless joy back!
DD
David Doane Sep 27, 2026
I like your post. We're bobbing along.