The difference Between Knowing and Not Knowing is a fascinating read for me. It helps me understand the difference between knowing and not knowing. The known is in the past and what is unknown is the future. The present is here and now, not there and then.
The present is the reality. Like the authors say in the beginner's mind the possibilities are endless. I know the past which is gone and the future is unknown and has not yet arrived. If I hold on or am attached to the past there is no room for living freely and if I worry or think about the future then there is no possibility of living fully. The reality is in the here and now consciousness. Fresh and new ideas arise in the mind which is free from the past and future. As Swami Ramdass says in his book Here and Now, the reality is here and now. That reality is mysterious and true. The bottom line is to live in the world of the present, in the here and now consciousness. Such a way of living generates intimacy with me and with the mysteries of living.
I have experienced such a mystery when I keep my mind and heart open, unbound by the past which is already gone and the future which is yet to arrive. I have such experiences when my mind and heart are open. Practicing mindfulness meditation, being fully present and awake in whatever I do such as walking in nature, washing dishes, brushing my teeth, taking a shower, listening to music, listening to me and others, doing Kirtan, chanting together and in my everyday life. Such experiences are very profound and they resonate deeply in my mind and heart. Such experiences are real and reliable. They create deep joy, love, fulfillment, peace and happiness in my life. This is the Beginner's Mind as The Zen Master Shunryu Susiki describes.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
We all receive gifts or blessings from nature and from human beings. Everyday I get gifts from nature-the sunshine and the sunset, from the rainy clouds and from the mother earth. When I was born everyday I
got the milk from the breast of my mother that nouruished me.
Everynight she used to sing sweet lulabies. They still resonate with me in my heart though she passed away many years ago. She lives in my heart. My father taught me valuable lessons to know how to live spiritually. And I was blessed by many known and unkown people during my long life. I am grateful for their loving gifts. They will reside in my heart until I say goodbye to the world. How can I forget their blessings?
How do I express my gratitude for their blessings? I thank them from my heart for thier pricelss gifts. Such memories are precious and unforgettable. Sometimes I bow to them. Sometimes I express my feelings of gratitude in words but mostly silently. Sometimes I let my heart sing songs of gratitude. Sometimes I cry when I feel their presnce in my heart. I am deeply grateful to all of them for being in my relatively long life.
I have come across many people in my life who have extened their loving hands to help me, to take care of me and haven't abonded me inspite of my blunders. How can I forget them? And how can I forget mother earth and and the natural elements for taking care of me day and night.
Friends: Let us pay our homage to all living and not living people in our life. They have blessed our life amd we are indebted to them.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Alisha Gorder's Article Why Do We Seed Flowers is very interesting and instructive. Reading and reflecting on this article makes me think about how to live wisely. According to my understanding, life is fleeting. We tend to live in the delusion and fantasy that life is eternal. This delusion keeps me abiding in darkness and I forget that life is fleeting and one day my body and mind will go away. This article makes me think and live with a clear understanding of how I live my life. My life is very precious. It is very important. Today I am here and tomorrow I may not be here. This is the truth. Realizing this truth makes me live mindfully. Every breath of my life is precious and to breathe wisely. Today is the day. I may not be here tomorrow. Knowing this truth helps me know how to live daily and fully. Each day is a good day. Each day is a God's day. Each day, each breath is very precious.
Seeing many people passing away in my long life has taught me how to live my life everyday. I have come to realize how to live everyday and every night. Today I am alive. Tomorrow I may not be here. Knowing this truth I have come to see the value of living everyday mindfully. Realizing the impermanence of life keeps me awake and mindful of living my life meaningfully. May we realize how to live fully and gratefully. This is my prayer.
Amin.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Who am I? Am I my body? Am I my mind? Am my ego? Am I my breath ?Am I an Indian? Am I a Hindu? Am I my breath? I have been exploring these existancial questions for quite some time. I have come to realize that I have many external froms but my Inner Self is formless. I am a five dimentional human being: physical, mental, emotional, breathing and relational. This my understanding of me. I also have come to realze that they are transient aspects of my life. And my Real Self is beyond all
these dimensions. There is an ancient saying in Sanskrit: ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti. There is OneTruth expressed in different ways. There is Oneness in Manyness. There is Universe in Multiverse. There is Unitive Consciousness that shines in all of us regardless of differentiating individual consciousness.
Sadly we get caught up in individual consciouness and walls between ourselves and others.
I see the value of objective and scientifick knowledge. Such knowledge is necessary for survival, worldly living and wordly progree. However, Knowing who I am is essential and valuable to all of us. Such knowing builds bridges that bring us togtether and create oneness.
I have been practicing Mindfulness Meditation that has helped me to realize the Truth that we all are children of God and we all are connected with each other as children of God. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation helps me free from the egoistic living. Such freedom from my ego's existence makes me live fully and joyfully.
May we all learn to live freely and fully! This my prayer.
Amin!
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave
We all want and aspire for freedom. Freedom from what? According to my understanding derived from my experiencing freedom, freedom is a state of mind. A noisy mind is not a free mind. It argues back and forth to prove who is right and who is wrong. There is no peace in my life if my mind is caught up in this right-and wrong game. In order to realize the truth of isness I need to keep the light of choiceless awareness, inner freedom which will not get caught up and bound by either or mindset. Realization of the inner pure truth makes me from a self-created prison.
I am regularly practicing non-judgemental awareness, mindfulness and that helps me not to be bound by myself created blindness. When I lose my path of self realization I create clouds blocking my inner light and I go astray. I have learnt how to keep the inner light shining to keep me walking on the Divine Path.
I know it takes time for self-realization. I am not in a rush. Last night I was listening to a beautiful uplifting song sung in Hindi- Dheeme dheeme means slowly slowly. I am not in a rush. Light comes and goes. And I have learned to walk on the path of liberation. It is a pilgrimage and I am not in a rush. I am walking slowly.
May we all be blessed to walk on the path of liberation.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
We all have desires to achieve something and we get disappointed and upset when our desires are not fulfilled. We may continue to fulfill our desires or we may give up our desires. What kinds of desires do I entertain is another significant question for me. Is my desire for personal gain, pleasure, profit or prestige or for the welfare and wellness of others? And the third question I ask is am I attached to my desires or I am not attached to my desires? Attachment to my desires may create temporary gratification but it may not last forever. There are two words I have learned: Asakti and anasakti. These words are in Sanskrit. Asakti means attachment and anasakti means nonattachment. Asakti may bring temporary satisfaction but eventually it causes suffering. I have learned the value of nonattachment called anasakti Yoga, the art of living without attachment. It is a matter of choice making. I can make a wise choice or an unwise choice. Gautama Buddha, the awakened being shows the path of nonattachment for personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of humankind. It's up to us to make a wise choice.
Learning the path of nonattachment takes some time. It is like a tree. It needs to be nurtured by awakening, awareness, nonattachment and compassion. I have been walking on this path of awakening and freedom for quite a while. Practicing mindfulness and non attachment creates joy, gratification and fulfillment. This is a pilgrimage and I am happy to walk on this path with loving kindness for myself and for others. I am very grateful to my teachers like Gautam Buddha and Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama for teaching me the path of inner liberation.
May this path bring joy, fulfillment and nourishment to all. This is my prayer.
Amin.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
Life is like a river flowing through ups and downs of living and I need to go with the flow. As a human being I have gone through many ups and downs in my life. Rather than fighting against the ups and downs of life I have learnt to accept both. When I accept both I do not block the flow of energy. I accept the ups and downs of the current of the river in my life. Maintaining a dynamic balance between ups and downs saves my energy and it helps me to go with the flow.
As a growing human being I have learnt that to err is human and to forgive is divine. When I err I do not deny my error. I forgive myself, learn from my errors and move on. I do not create a wall of denial, deceive myself and continue repeating the same cycle of misery. From my experience I have learnt the lesson of not to stop the river of life flowing. From my experience I have learnt to let the river of forgiveness flow. Forgiving myself and the others in my life and loving myself unconditionally has lightened the burden of living mindlessly.
I practice the art of living mindfully accepting the truth that I am not perfect and other people in my life are also not perfect. We all are on the path of learning and transforming ourselves from darkness to light.
May we all join our hands and walk on the path of learning, growing and relating to each other as children of God.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Like a bird I sing my own song. it is natural for a singing bird to sing. I sing my song not for an audience. I sing my song because it delights me.
A song represents me. A song sings my authentic self. When I sing a
song from my heart, it expresses me. It is my own song. It's my own life story with different colors. Each color of the story represents different emotions. It's like different colors of a rainbow. Different but real. I like the phrase " unity in diversity." Each color represents its own unique and authentic story yet each color has something in common. I describe it as "oneness in manyness."
Like all human beings, I go through a wide spectrum of emotions-glad, mad, sad. I have learned that all emotions are sacred. I have learned to accept them without resistance. Accepting all emotions mindfully frees me from myself-created bondage and helps me fly freely in the sky.
In my opinion we all go through ups and downs in life. Life is not like a straight line. It has its own curves. I have gone through many curves in my life. By the grace of people who love me unconditionally I have gone through difficult life cycles and my faith in the awakened self and in the goodness of people around me have helped me grow holistically.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave.
Our mind gets attached and addicted, not our body. The desire to eat sweet or fried foods arises in the mind, not in the body. We have five senses: smell, taste, touch, hear and see. The mind may make harmful choices and cause problems for the body. Mind is the cause of physical problems. So it is up to Buddhi, the intellect, to discriminate between what is helpful and what is harmful. Discretion is the key that opens or closes our mind's doors. Mind is the cause of freedom or bondage. We need to make wise choices for our physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual well-being.
It took time for me to go beyond my self-centered ' I story'. I have been practicing the path of going beyond "my my, me me" walls and embracing my "us us, us us" self. Walking on this path creates a deep sense of oneness, a sense of unitive consciousness.
Practicing mindfulness in different areas of my everyday life helps me walk on the pilgrimage of my life. It creates and sustains joy, love, and serenity. May we all find and follow the path of liberation, union, and harmony!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Who am I ? Am I fully present with my body, with my breath, with my emotion? With my thought? With my being? All these parts of myslelf are inter- connected. This is an experience of unitive conscousness. In that state I feel one with myself, with nature, and with human beings. In such a state of consciousness, all man- made differences fade away and I feel oneness.
When I do Yoga and Meditation I feel oneness with myself and with others. We are capable of having such experiences. Practicing nonjudgemental midfulness helps me create and sustain the flow of unitive consciousness. It helps me to be connected with myself and with others in my life. It is a blessing.
Namaste.
Jagdish P Dave
There are two worlds we live in: one world is a world of sleeping; the other world is the world of awakening. The the first world is a world of illusion, the world of darkness. The second world is the world of light. In the first world of sleepimg. I am ignorant of my True Identity. Who is Mu? Who am I? The first world is a world of separation, a world of disconnection. The second world is a world of union, a world of harmony. The first world is the world of bondage, the second world is the world of freedom. In the first world I am bound by a gate of separation. The second world is gateless, a world of union. In the gateless world I feel oneness and harmony.
Life is a jouney with ups and downs. When I am awake I realize the difference between freedom and bondage, Gate and Gatelessness. At times I lose my awareness of the Gateless Gate and create walls of separateness. When I get awakened I see the Gatelss Gate and live with freedom. I live in the world of connecteness and harmony.
Awareness of the world of Gateless Gate and living with that awareness helps me not to be bound by the Gate of seperation. This is my pilgrimage and I am not in a hurry. May we all find our path of awakening, a path of Gateless Gate. Amen!
Namaste,
Jagdish P Dave
According to my experience prayer creates intimacy and a sense of oneness with existence. Prayer has helped me to be one with me, a sense of wholeness with existence. Prayer helps me to see the truth. Prayer takes me to a place which is beyond right and wrong, a place of oneness.
When I was a child every evening we were chanting Divine songs.we were doing what we call Kirtan. Chanting together created a sense of intimacy, a sense of oneness or "onening". My childhhod experiences have built a spiritual foundation of my life. This foundation has helped me go though thick and thin times of mylfe. It has helped me go through all seasons of my life.
I love to read spiritual books and aricles, relfect on what resonates in me, have discussions with friends and family members and regularly pracice Mindfulness Meditation. We have created a spiritual community, a sangha where we virtually get to gether once a week for practicing Midfulness Meditation and have spiritual discourses. Such weekly spiritual gatherings have helped us in our journey of life.
May we all find our way to walk steadily in the journey of our life! This is my prayer.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
Mind and body are united. They are two sides of the same coin. Believing mind and body are separate creates dichotomy, a big gulf between body and mind and creates psychosomatic division. I have been learning Functional Medicine or Holistic Medicine. I have been developing scientifc understang of the union of body and mind. What we do affects our mind and what we think affects our body. They are dynamically connected. If I see a medical doctor he or she asks me queations about my body. If I see a mind doctor, he or she asks me queations about my mind. Believing and practicing Mind-body are disunited is sadly very prevelant. Glad to know that there is a movement to realate to body and mind in an integrated way. Ayurveda is an ancient wholistic health paradigm which is based on the unity and interaction of body and mind.
Stress affects body and mind. I learned abot this as I was growing up. I learned from my father how Astanga Yoga and concenric meditation buld a body-mind bridge, a union between body and mind.
I strongly believe in this holisic paradigm and impelementing it has extended my life span. Keeping my mind and heart open and practicing what creats and sustains my holisic-physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being- has been very helpful to me. It is the action that counts, not just reading, writing and talking.
Namste.
Jagdish P Dave
I deeply resonate with the wise words of the author David Bullon of this passage:
" But a silent voice lures me inward. The deep -now seeks to liberate my meaning -seeking mind."
I have been learning the value of silence. Our conditioned mind tends to oscillate between past and future and gets away from the deep flow of here and now. The past is already gone and the future is yet to come. The challenge I face is how to remain centered and go with the flow of the here-and-now consciousness.
I have been learning not to get attached to the past experiences and the future aspirations. I have learned to be awakend and say good bye to the past and hello to the present. Such an understand of the deep now helps me to step outside of my echo-mind and go beyond a search for meaning. I realize it is hard to break the old pattrens of dwelling on the past and worrying about the future. I am gald to know that I am on the path of freeing myself from the grip of the past and the future. I have leaned how to live in the here-and-now consciousness.
May we all learn how to flow in the river of here-and-now consciousness!
Namste.
Jagdish P Dave
The foundation of all religions is spirituality. If our religious practices are not expanding our circle of empathy, compassion, love and care , what is their purpose? We need to join hands with each other to create Heaven on Earth. Living in Heaven is living a spiritual life here and now.
Being contextually relevant means being relevant to the present times, people, and events, and the world at large.. Past is gone, future has yet to come. Living spiritually is practicing spirituality in the here and know.. According to my understanding spirituality is responsive, not reactive to what is happening. Reactivity breaks bridges. Responsivity builds bridges. I daily do self-examination to be aware of my inner world: How am I responding to people different from me in many ways? Am I reacting or responding to people with different religious and cultural orientations? With different political ideologies? The world we live in has been divided into different and opposite worlds generating frustation, anger, and hatred-Me against you. Spirituality, not religiosity, can build the bridges. History shows how many religious wars have been created in the name of religion? How many religious conversions have been made by religious leaders? Spirituality unites, religiosity divides.
Heart-to- heart connections with open heart and open mind are the ways to build the bridges of compassion and kindness. May we join our hands with each other to create a peaceful and blissful world!
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love the wise Statement of Rumi: "Sell your cleaverness and buy bewilderment". We are on a journey and we need to keep our mind and heart open to see the bewilderment that unfolds spontaneously without preconceived notions. A mind free from the bondage of preconceived notions shines and helps us see the light. When I face a fog of confusion as I move on the path of life, I face it with clarity, calmness and courage. When I bear witness to what is happening in my life, I do not get attached to and bound by my desries and wishes, by ups and downs in my life.
It is very difficult for me to go through pain of several losses of people in my long life. Bearing witnees to such losses in my life has been very helpful to me. Witnessing and accepting what is happeng in my life has helped me to remain grounded and centered.
Practicing mindfunees with loving kindness, patience and perserverance has been very helpul to me after a long exile.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
I love the way Mark Vandeneijende shows the integration of Head and Heart. I will quote a couple of statements made by the author.
One to listen and one to talk.
One to think and one to feel.
One to sense and one to see.
One to Do and one to feel.
This saying reminds me of the Zen Koan: What is the sound of one hand clapping? My response to this Zen question is that we need both hands to make the meaningful sound. They are together. By togetherness of sound and silence, a melody of oneness is created.
The greeting Namaste comes to my mind as I am reflecting on this writing. By joining my two hands you and I are becoming one, a Divine Union or Unitive Cosmic Consciousness.
Like any new significant learning, realizing the Divine Oneness requires time, patience, and perseverance. With non-judgemental awareness I have been able to integrate both head and heart. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation has been very helpful to me to integrate both aspects of the divide.
By holding my hands and touching my heart, I am saying Namaste to all!
Jagdish P Dave
Who am I is a profound question explored by spiritual seekers and mystics. Am I my body, Am I my mind, or I am beyond my body and mind? We usually identify ourselves with body and mind. My true self, my authentic self, my essence is beyond body and mind. Sadly, as we grow up, our personalty is shaped by what the people close to us define our real and authentic selves by our looks, by our worldly possesions, our professions, prestige and power. Sadly we lose our authentic self, our true identity. The story of the eagle and the chicken narrated by Jamie Glenn is quite revealing: How the mighty and free eagle turns into a chicken, the eagle looking like a chicken and quacking like a chicken and becoming a chicken.
Sadly a majority of people in different socities and cultures tend to define their members by the external apperances, ranks, money and power. No wonder, why such socities and cultures create materialistic, power and prestige hungry leaders.
I was blessed to have parents in my life who lived authenically and provided good modeling. They played a significant role in shaping my authetic personality.
Forming eagle-like authentic self is not easy for us as we have to depend on and rely upon significant people in our childhood. It requires courage and determination to sing my song and dance my dance, to be an eagle and not a chicken.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
There are two ways we use language. One way is for survival and the other way is for evolving our consciousness. The author of this article, Vyaas Huston, uses two different phrases to differentiate the two modes of communication: survival language and sacred language. According to my understanding, we need survival language to meet basic mundane needs such as food, water, clothing , shelter, and mate. We also need to evolve on a higher level of living, to evolve on a higher level of consciouness, from me to we, from mundane to sacred.
The challenge is how to evolve from survival to sacred. According to my experience we need the helping hands of caretakers, to not fall down and hurt ourselves and others, and to slowly and gradually move up on our own. Parents can provide good modeling to their children. I was blessed to have such elders in my life. They would provide help when needed and let me walk on my path freely.
My parents used to tell me in Gujarati, my mother tongue, 'Vicharine yar uchhar vani'. Think before speak. That was very helpful advice which I still follow. In other words, this means to cultivate mindfulness of your inner world of thoughts and feelings before hurting yourself and others. Empathy and compassion for myself and others is very helpful to allow me to talk and relate to others in a sacred language.
Life is a journey and I have been walking on this sacred path with compassion and kindness, with patience and perseverance.
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
A long time ago I had read that childhood is the fatherhood of a human being. How I am raised as a 2 to 3 year old child lays the foudation of my adulthood. Seeds of "true self" or authentic self are planted in early childhood. Our "true self" is naturally developd by the unconditional love and positive regard by our parents or care takers. If as children we were raised by adults who were raised in authoratarian ways our adult self will be shaped by such experiences.
I was raised by parents who were neither authoritarian or "do as you please"- laissez faire ways. They woud let me follow my needs, wishes and passion if that way of behaving did not hurt me and hurt others. This way of being raised by my parents created wholesome balance in my life. There are many examples of narcisstic, self-centered and autocratic leaders in the world we live in. It is very imporant for us as parents to raise our children in loving, caring and authentic ways.
This is a challening task for us as parents or care takers of our children. Family dynamics is very crucial for the wellfare of not only families but for the world at large..
Namaste!
Jagdish P Dave
On Oct 31, 2024 Jagdish P Dave wrote on Between Knowing And Not Knowing, by Ruth Ozeki and Ezra Klein: