'U' For Umbrella

                                               
Today, I share with you a nice and inspiring story about Umbrella. I am also sharing a beautiful song on Umbrella by the famous country singer Faith Hill.

First the story:

                                                     Bring Your Umbrella

When severe drought hit a small farming community in the Midwest of the USA, a local church called a prayer meeting & everybody showed up. A crisis has a way of getting our attention!

As the pastor stood before his packed church he noticed an 11 year girl sitting in the front row, beaming with excitement. Lying next to her was her bright red umbrella poised for use. The beauty & innocence of this sight made him smile as he compared the faith of this child with that of the rest of the people in the room. You see, the rest of them had come just to pray for rain – but she had come to see God answer!

One of the dangers of praying, is praying, yet not really expecting anything: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that… He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb11:6)

But what if your prayer lines up with God’s word, yet the answer is delayed? Keep praying & believing! “Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Heb 10:35-36).

So, when you pray for rain, bring your umbrella.

I am reminded of the same concept in Reiki too, which also emphasises that we must always believe that whatever we want has already happened, for when we go with that kind of confidence, the Universe has to give it to us. If on the other hand we go with 'hope', we are going with doubt, which automatically puts blockages in our wish being actualised for our prayers lack confidence. A little girl too can show us the way  to achieve our goals in life.


Now listen to this lovely song called the "Red Umbrella"

Lyrics of the song " Red Umbrella":

Sometimes life can get a little dark
I’m sure I’ve got bruises on my heart
Here come the black clouds full of pain
Yeah, you can’t break away without the chains

Your love is like a red umbrella
Walk the streets like Cinderella
Everyone can see it on my face

So let it rain, it’s pouring all around me
Let it fall, it ain’t gonna drown me
After all, I’m gonna be okay
So let it rain

You can wear your sorrow like an old raincoat
You can save your tears in a bottle made of gold
But the glitter on the sidewalk always shines
Yeah, even God needs to cry sometimes

Your love is like a red umbrella
Always there to make me better
When my broken dreams are falling from the sky

Oh let it rain
Let it fall, I’m gonna be okay so let it rain
Let it wash my tears away
Tomorrow’s another day, yeah

So let it rain, it’s pouring all around me
Let it fall, it ain’t gonna drown me
After all, I’m gonna be okay
So let it rain.

"Red Umbrella" is an up-tempo song consisting of abstract imagery, in which the narrator explains that she will be all right despite the troubles in her life. She compares love to a "red umbrella" to cover her from the rain.

Billboard gave Red Umbrella a positive review, saying "It's a positive love song that is uplifting and sweet, but doesn't venture too far into saccharine territory. And just when you'd think the world's songwriters might have run out of new ways to describe love, here's a fresh analogy: 'Your love is like a red umbrella/Walk the streets like Cinderella/Everyone can see it on my face.' Hill's performance is perfection."

Faith Hill the singer too, had struggled a lot to come to a stage where she  is now: it was her faith in her talents and abilities that has brought her here.  So have faith in your goals, intent your intentions with faith and see them happen, for it is all in our hands. Never pray or ask for things halfheartedly

Isn't it interesting, how even a simple Umbrella  can  be turned into an inspiring topic?

Do you also know some Umbrella story?

I would love to hear from you.

Travelling Back In Time : A re- post

During my younger days, (eons ago, I must admit) I had the great good fortune of traveling and living in several distant parts of India, thanks to my father who was serving in the Indian Army.

My traveling days started with my father being transferred from Bombay ( my birth place, now rechristened Mumbai ) to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. I was barely a year old at that time. We moved into a neighbourhood called Halwasiya Market, Hazrathganj. I remember we had a spacious apartment on the third floor of an old residential building. The rooms were laid out along a straight line like compartments of a train, each opening out to a corridor running alongside :

first the kitchen, then a living room and then two bedrooms, and at the far end the bathroom and toilet, a design reminiscent again of the Indian Railways. Breaking the monotony, the living room also opened out onto to a fairly large grilled verandah, an appendage to the corridor. From here a view of the several tall minarets, a legacy of the Moghul past of this gracious city, and a vista of open terraces of lowlier tenements that spread out as far as the eye could see. And during the kite flying season, the eyes of the entire city would turn to the skies to watch the kites bobbing, dancing, and suddenly fiercely swooping down and pouncing upon unsuspecting targets, much like the bird of prey they are named after.



We were a family of six : my parents, my two elder sisters and one brother. I was the youngest of the lot. We also had countless pups and kittens roaming around the house, for my father loved to rescue stray pups and kittens and give them a home and shelter. You can read about these (mis) adventures here :

http://rama-ananth.blogspot.com/2010/09/tragic-leaps.html
Do read it, for it will move you to tears.

For my education, I was admitted to a nearby convent school called "The Cathedral". School days very pretty boring, always dreading the arrival of my class teacher, Miss Williams, whom my mother and I nick named as “Miss Pulliams” (Pulli means Tiger in Tamil), for she would pounce on us the minute she saw us and start complaining to my poor mother how hopeless I was in my studies.

My mother would come everyday around 12 Noon with my lunch of Rasam mixed with rice and some vegetable curry. She would feed me, and I would make such a fuss saying everything was so hot with lots of chilies, and she used to somehow cajole me into finishing to the last morsel saying it was not hot at all, as she had put lots ghee/ clarified butter, and that it was very tasty. If that didn't work she would say to eat fast as she could see The Pulliams coming our way.

My nose can never forget the aroma of my mother's rasam, nor my tongue the sweet, sour pungency of the heavenly thin tomato soup(Rasam) garnished with a myriad condiments. And on occasions when I manage to recreate the aroma and taste of my mother’s rasam, I am absolutely thrilled, literally over the moon.

After lunch, I would not want to go to the students’ washroom as it always had a nasty stink like all school washrooms of the day and public toilets in India to this day. So we would quietly sneak into the staff wash room and hurriedly finish our business inside and walk quickly away with a conspiratorial grin on our faces. My poor mother, she had to put up with all my tantrums.

Later in the afternoon when school was over, my mother would come to fetch me home. And when we reached home, I would start pestering her to buy me a bar of Cadburys Chocolate from one of the several shops on the Ground floor of our building. I would simply refuse to climb the stairs to our third floor apartment without that prize in my hand. Without exception this was the sequence of events every school day as long we lived in Lucknow.
In the evening my second sister used to go to Bharatanatyam dance classes, and I would tag along with her, for I also wanted to learn dancing. But after just a few lessons, I refused to go, for I was clumsy of foot, lacked the suppleness in various body parts and graceful movements this dance form calls for. The dance teacher, never the one to spare the rod, took a devilish delight in spanking me for every single misstep that I was unable to even sit down for hours after class.

In the evenings my father would take me out with him, to free mother from my constant badgering while she cooked dinner for the family. I did not relish the prospect of going out with my dad, for he was a strict disciplinarian. But he would cajole me, saying he would buy me an ice cream and take me to his friend's place where I could play with kids my own age.

He would take me to the nearby Mayfair Cinema, famous in the city for its ice cream parlor, and buy me a big plate of ice cream. How I used to love those ice creams at Mayfair! A large thick slab of ice cream was served with two triangular crème wafer biscuits stuck artistically at an angle to each other. I can't say which I enjoyed the more - the wafer crème or the ice cream.

One such evening my father took me along to a photo studio run by a turbaned true blue Sardarji (a Sikh) since had to collect some passport photo prints he had ordered. The Sardar was a good friend of my father and never missed an opportunity to kid my father that I was so cute, (I looked a lot like the famous child artist of the day - Daisy Irani) that he would like to take a photograph of me, and put it up on the wall like you see in such shops all over India as testimonials of their craft. So the very next day my father took me to the studio dressed in lovely orange colored pants, a matching green printed shirt, and me holding a yellow and orange coloured umbrella for a prop : Colour photographs were a novelty and all the rage in those days.

The good Sardarji kept on asking me to smile, ( ismile pleej – ismile pleej ) but I could not smile, for this tall, hefty figure with the long Osama like bushy beard and moustache and the turban really frightened me. I was so fidgety, I could barely stand still leave alone smile. With the promise of a bar of chocolate and two helpings of ice cream at the Mayfair parlor, my father finally succeeded in making me stand on the bench with my colorful umbrella. The photo did indeed come out smashingly well. For many years thereafter this framed picture of mine found pride of place in our home wherever we went, till one fine day when we were living in Guwahati in Assam, it just vanished into thin air, never to resurface. I somehow suspect it was appropriated by my sneaky second sister and it must be with her in Boston where she now lives. I only have an impoverished copy of it - a small smudgy black and white passport size picture… sad really sad.

                                                    My God! how frightened I look

There is another tale I must recount which to this day makes me recoil in shame and horror. 

 For the Annual School day celebrations, the short skit staged was that of the adventures of Little Red Riding Hood. Out of the hundreds of kids, I was singled out to be part of the forest shrubbery in the background : No lead role, No Little Red Riding Hood dialogues for me, not even the big bad wolf / grandma role. A green coloured saree with flowery prints was wrapped around me and I was made to sit absolutely still in the background through the ten minutes of the play, and not so much as a whisper from me, nor the slightest movement. I daresay I played my part with great equanimity despite the Sardarji’s false prophetic words ringing in my ears, taunting me – “you are fit to be another Daisy Irani” .

Finally to my one memorable culinary experience in Lucknow, which still lingers on my mind and on my palate. Being a strict Vegetarian at home (and outside of home as well, unlike my dear husband), I am unable to make any learned, authentic comments on the much touted “Awadhi Cuisine” of Lucknow fit for debauched carnivorous moghuls. I simply loved the “Milk Badam” (Almond Milk) of streetside vendors. Yes – Milk Badam it was called and not the other way around. I am yet to taste a concoction close to that heavenly beverage of Lucknow, although I do believe MTR Badam milk today comes close - but no cigar. I also loved drinking ice cold Coca Cola and Fanta in glass bottles. Somehow it doesn't taste the same these days, - may be it is my aversion to PET bottles, and I hate drinking from a can (I am yet to master the intricate art of opening the can with the pull tab on top). In fact I have stopped drinking soda pop for a long time now.

Oh, the good old days will they ever come back? Lucknow ! Dear Lucknow ! how I miss you.

Our family next moved to Assam on the Eastern frontier of India. Can you imagine travelling all the way from Lucknow to Guwahati by train?

It is a very, very, looooong journey, with so many states to pass through, and so many trains to change.... well that is another story and another blog to come

Happy Ganesh Chathurti Y’all.

                                   My home made wheat Ganesha, eating Ladoos and Modhaks
                                               
P. S : Did you enjoy the travel back in time with me?

'S' For : Sleepless In Seattle and Serendipity

Last Saturday, I was bored and was just surfing through various TV channels, when I came upon some movie channel, and got to know that the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" was going to be aired in a few minutes, I was happy, that at last a movie which I always loved very much was going to be aired.
I must tell you that, I must have seen this movie at least 10 times, but still I never get tired of watching it. I literally know almost all the dialogues by heart.
Everybody from Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, the boy, Ross Malinger who acts as his son, all the actors have acted very well in this movie.
 I loved the way they connected the story of yet another romantic classic "An Affair to Remember" with this movie very much. I am a hopeless romantic, for I too believe in all the nonsense that is shown in such movies. Me and my daughter, we have watched "Sleepless in Seattle" together  on the TV many times together.
This is the houseboat/ floating house in Seattle in which the hero  Sam Baldwin ( Tom Hanks) and his son Jonah (Ross Malinger) live. I really fell in love with this house, and why wouldn't I?


Anybody would love to live in a house like this. 
One couple who saw the movie fell in love with this house and they were lucky for they grabbed this house as soon as the house was put up on sale.


This what I read about them:

Loretta and Jim Healy bought the four-bedroom houseboat in 1993 for $550,000

Couple briefly put home on the market in 2008 for $2.5 million, but decided in the end that they could not part with it

They had their wedding there six months later, and claim that they have lived happily ever after since then. 

'I love the place,' Loretta says. 'It's really magical.' 

The unique property is one of the largest floating homes in Seattle, and features floating gardens and killer views. 

Jim (her husband) even jokes that he doesn't mind being mistaken for Tom Hanks, who played widower Sam Baldwin in the film. 

And finally they meet, everything is so magical, and so natural: the best scene, not many words, and they don't need words.

(PUBLISHED: 19:51 GMT, 14 August 2013 | UPDATED: 14:56 GMT, 15 August in MailOnline)

Another movie is : "Serendipity". This movie too, I have seen as many times as the previous one. The actors in this movie too have done a really lovable job. The title itself sounds so romantic, and the movie was awesome. Some of the best scenes from this movie:

 

And finally they meet : destiny led them to each other

I am sure many of you must have surely seen these movies, and those of you who have not seen should make it a  point to see these two lovely movies, where the people in the movie want to leave it to destiny but, they come to a point, where they can't wait till it happens, for their love is so powerful, and this quote is so true: 

"when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true". Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist.


Did you enjoy these movie clips?
Do you also have some favourite scenes from these two movies?
 Please share them, it would be so good .

'R' For: Rewards Of Good Deed

One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia, USA. Trying to get out of the rain, the couple approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter for the night.


“Could you possibly give us a room here?” – the husband asked.

The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and explained that there were three conventions in town. “All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said. “But I can’t send a nice couple like you out into the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the night.”

When the couple declined, the young man pressed on. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll make out just fine,” the clerk told them.

So the couple agreed.
As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, “You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.”

The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh. As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk was indeed exceptional, as finding people who are both friendly and helpful isn’t easy.

Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and enclosed a round-trip ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay them a visit.

The old man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a pale reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the sky.

“That,” said the older man, “is the hotel I have just built for you to manage.”

“You must be joking.” – the young man said.

“I can assure you I am not.” – said the older man, a sly smile playing around his mouth.

The older man’s name was William Waldorf-Aster, and that magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw the turn of events that would lead him to become the manager of one of the world’s most glamorous hotel.

Author Unknown.

I had passed by this famous hotel many times during our stay, in New York,  but I was not aware of this lovely story. I had even taken pictures  of this hotel, but I could not find it, so I had to take this photo from the net.

"‎Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
Buddha.

A story to inspire each one of us. The moral of the story is to do good to others without any expectations

'Q' for: Quest for the elusive freedom, are we really free?

"No Nation is Perfect,
it needs to be made Perfect "
India
Happy Independence Day!

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell."

This is just a part of the speech given by Nehru: and today, despite the messed up state in which our country is, we can surely say, " there is light at the end of the tunnel"

Let us never give up our quest for freedom.

We hardly get to hear this beautiful song these days. 

There is so much unity in our diversity.

P: For- Power Through Reiki

                                                         

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Energy.  It is an ancient healing art, rediscovered about more than a hundred years ago by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese spiritualist, healer, physician and scholar. He was guided to search for the secret behind the miracle healings of Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. After many years of dedicated research, and travel abroad to countries like America, China, India and Tibet, he discovered the key to understanding the miracle healings in the Tibetan Lotus Sutras. In order to read and understand the Sutras in their original script, i.e. Sanskrit, he even learnt and mastered that language. 
Realizing that he had found the key to the healings, Dr.Usui went back  to Japan, to the Zen monastery  which had all along supported him in his quest.  He had knowledge – but that was not enough : he had to be empowered to use it. Along with the Abbot of the Zen monastery, Dr. Usui decided to meditate. Together through their meditation, it was revealed to them that Dr. Usui should proceed to the sacred Mount Kuriyama,  and commence a 21 days fasting and meditation . 

 Nothing unusual happened, until the last of the 21 days dawned. it was still dark about, when he saw a shining light moving towards him  at great speed. It became bigger and bigger, and finallly hit him in the middle  of  the forehead.  Millions of white glowing bubbles, each one containing a three dimensional Sanskrit character in gold, appeared one by one just slowly enough for him to register each character. He was now completely empowered- he was connected to the cosmic energy and was armed with the knowledge and ability to transfer this unique power of healing to others. 

Thus was born the Usui system of natural healing- or Reiki, as it is popularly known to us.

Shortly before Dr. Usui’s death, Dr. Usui charged one of his most devoted teachers, Dr. Chijiro Hayashi, a retired naval officer with the responsibility of carrying on the traditions of Reiki. Dr.Hayashi founded the first Reiki clinic in Tokyo.

In the year 1935, Hawaya Takata (1900-1980),  a young Japenese – American woman from Hawaii was led to Dr.Hayashi’s Reiki clinic for treatment. Once she was completely healed, Madame Takata became a student of Dr. Hayashi.  After years of dedicated practice, she was made a Reiki Master by Dr. Hayashi in the year 1938.  On his death in 1941, Madame Takata succeeded him as Grand Master.  It was through Madame Takata that Reiki was made available to people all over the world.  She brought it to mainland United States, and finally to Canada and Europe.  In the last 10 years of her life,  from 1970- 1980, she initiated 22 Reiki Masters,  both women and men .

  
This is only  a very brief history of Reiki.  You would have to read some good books on this subject to get a better idea  about Reiki.  The books that would help are: Reiki- Universal Life Energy by Bodo J.Baginski, The Complete Reiki Handbook by Walter Lubeck, Reiki The Healing Touch First and Second Degree Manual by William Lee Rand, Empowerment through Reiki by Paula Horon.

                                      
The Attunement

  

  What makes Reiki different from other healing methods is the attunement  (initiation) process which the student undergoes in the various levels of  the Reiki class.  Reiki is not taught in the way other healing  techniques are.  It is transfered to the student by the Reiki Master during the attunement process. This process opens the Crown, Heart and Palm Chakras, and creates a special link between the student and  the Reiki Source.  In the few short minutes of attunement process, the reciever of Reiki energy is given a gift that forever changes his or life in every positive way.

                                       

                                How Does Reiki Work ?

 Reiki energy is naturally available to all living beings from birth.  In time, various life experiences, emotional and mental stress, obstruct the free flow of Reiki, and the natural healthy connection is distorted.

 Just as Television waves flow in the atmosphere,  but require a suitable reciever tuned to its frequency to reproduce the sound and visual picture, similarly, we too need to be re- attuned to the cosmic energy to remain healthy or regain lost health.

 The attunement does not give the receiver anything new – it simply opens up and aligns what was already a part of her/ him. the process  is very much like plugging in a lamp in a house  already wired for electricity. Once you have received the attunement, you will have Reiki for the rest of your life.  It does not wear off, nor can you ever lose it.

                                     Channeling Reiki

After attunement, all that is necessary for the practitioner to use  Reiki is to place their hands on themselves, or on the person to be  healed, with the intention of healing. The healer may not know what needs healing , but Reiki  energy has an intelligence far beyond human, and will go where it is needed. It heals on all the levels – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It can never do any harm- one can never use it for negative purposes.  Since you are not using your own limited energy  to heal,  you do not have to fear that you might end up with symptoms of your patient, (unlike other types of healing). You are using only the Reiki energy or the Universal life force energy, and you are just the channel.

Reiki can be used alone, or in conjunction with conventional medical treatment. It will improve results of all medical treatment, acting to reduce negative side- effects, shorten the healing time, reduce or eliminate pain, reduce stress and help create a calm state of mind. 

                                              Is Reiki A Religion?

Reiki is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in, in order to learn and use Reiki . Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with experience of their religion, rather than having only an intellectual concept or awareness of their own religion.                                    

                                                                                      

Most learning about Reiki comes from doing healings , and letting the energy teach the healer.  The more the student uses Reiki, the more it teaches him, and stronger his healing ability becomes. The more it is used the more Reiki also works in the healer’s life to accelerate her or his personal growth and self- healing.

                                What Reiki Can Do For You

1. Reiki brings the body into harmony by relieving the physical and emotional blockages.

2. Reiki heals the root cause of any ailment and eliminates the effects of imbalance.

3.Reiki helps minimimize your sense of helplessness when facing disease or trauma of modern society.

4, Reiki helps lower the increasing cost of conventional medical care , easing strain on your finances .

5.Reiki is completely impersonal and positive- you can’t do anything wrong with it.

6. Reiki is a technique which allows you to assume responsibility for your health and well- being.  It shows you how to become the master of your destiny.
There are 3 degrees/ levels to learn in Reiki. The 1st level, empowers you ot heal by placing your hand on yourself or on others, called Touch Healing.
After 21 days of  sincerely practicing it , you should go in for the 2nd level. The 2nd level empowers you to send healing energy to anybody or anything without touching, this level is very powerful and is also important in the completion of this course for normal people.
The third level is for people who want to take it up as a profession, they are empowered to teach. All the levels are certified.
All that I have said or claimed is true, for I have been in this field for the last 18 years.
However, Reiki is all about seeking for your own self and finding the right road that would lead you to your destination. There can be no forcing, convincing or persuading, for we believe when the time is right you will find the right master, and if you are meant to learn and use it for your own well being you would do it, and would never stop using it.
Anybody who has done the Reiki course or had some experience with Reiki healing, are welcome to share it with all of us here.

So do you think Reiki is for you?
If it is, then all you have to do is to look for a good Reiki Master near your place and get down to learning this wonderful art of healing not only yourself, but also others.

                                                         

(Compiled from various sources )

'O' For Ocean

                        

                                                                  Ocean

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. -Jacques Cousteau
Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away. -Sarah Kay






Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  Mark Twain. His words are so true.

“Doesn’t it seem to you,” asked Madame Bovary, “that the mind moves more freely in the presence of that boundless expanse, that the sight of it elevates the soul and gives rise to thoughts of the infinite and the ideal?” -Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary







When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused. -Rainer Maria Rilke

  Is there anybody who does not love the sea?
 When we are at the beach we have the sun, the sand, the blue sky and the blue ocean , and the  sea breeze: everything is so healing and calming, we feel totally cleansed in our mind, body and  soul.



I simply adore the sea, I love to smell of salty water wafting through the breeze, and the breeze gently messing up my hair, the rhythmic music of the crashing waves: everything kind of brings in a sense of calm and peace within me....



  “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.   Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land,    there is no other life but this.”
~Henry David Thoreau


   “Sit in reverie, and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   Life is like sea. We are moving without an end. Nothing stays with us. What remain is just the memories of some people who touched as waves~ Unknown.




  I'am all at sea where no one can bother me.
When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing -just standing and looking at the sea ? 

'N' for Nature As Our Teacher

                                                                  Nature

River:
Life is like a river. There is no pre-charted way; there are no maps to be given to you which are to be followed. Just be alive and alert, and then wheresoever life leads you go with full confidence in it. ......Allow it to lead you, don't force it. Surrender to it and allow it to lead you towards the sea. Just be alert, that is all. While life leads you towards the sea just be alert so that you don't miss anything.
-Osho

                                                                     Portugal

Volcanoes:
If what is true is repressed, it will bubble up from deep effecting everything in it's path. Volcanoes stand as an omen for change being forced if you will not flow, to a difference in perspective or shift in awareness that results when what we live isn't supporting the essence of what is really true.

Nature teaches us in so many ways if only we were more watchful and learn from Nature.

                                           The beautiful snow capped mountains of Sikkim

Ocean:
“There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater,you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.”

― Dave Barry

                                                          The pacific
Mountains and Clouds:
The mountain doesn't move, trees do. The sky doesn't move, clouds do. Stability in the midst of all movement.

                                        The views captured during our 17 mile scenic drive in the US

Huge cloud formations change gradually, almost imperceptibly into another formation. This is how gradual the process of human transformation is. The changes are so small that the overall formation looks the same. But gradually the shift will happen, until suddenly, the cloud is entirely different- -- the person is entirely different.

Midnight: is the center. It touches both night and a new day at once. It touches both dark and light. It exists between past and future. The point that transcends time. Neither of the the two opposites, but a center between them: the center beyond duality.

                                         This picture was taken by our daughter in Spain

                                      This picture was taken by our daughter in Portugal

                                            This picture was taken in Conoor 

Trees:
A gigantic tree doesn't become that by knowing it's a tree while still a seed. It only knows growth.  Constantly changing, while still remaining the same. Not dwelling on  end results, it is content just to grow and not know where it is going.  The seedling, shoot and mature tree aren't the goal, but the process-- the journey.

                              This was taken in Pondicherry before we set out for Chunabar Beach

Snow:

The future lies before you like a field of fallen snow ; be careful how you tread it for every step will show.

We are so busy with our lives always watching out for what is ahead of us, that we forget to enjoy where we are. Nature seems to tell us ever so gently, to be in the present.

                                                    This was taken in Sikkim.

This the Zero point, where the road ends, as this point is the end of India and beyond is Indo- China border.... it was really awesome

Carrots:

Carrots are safe within, underground, even if its plant above is ripped and torn. At times, what is seen on the surface gives no indication of what is living within.

                                                            Carrots of Kodaikanal

Banana:

Skin hides the fruit.  For a long time we only know our superficial masks.  Do we have the strength to peel this skin back?  The time is now to know the fruit of ourselves.

Nature beautifully hints to us to take off our masks.

Nature as metaphor: it is always there to make us see  ourselves clearly, nature shows us all, if only we care to observe.

 How has Nature inspired you?