Sleeping....

....Meditations

In half sleep
I was contemplating
That in sleep,
The waking consciousness
Is covered by the darkness of matter
And every cell of the body overpowers the collective thoughts
As they go to their individual memories
The 'I' looks through the Windows of the Eyes & other senses
And the windows have colourful screens
That hide the vision
But screens are required for a home.
They can nevertheless be drawn open
When fresh air and sunlight are needed
The rest of the time
The mind screen is an essential piece of clothing
For this body called home.

(It is 1.45 a.m. when I finish writing this. Not because I am waking so late and posting on my blog. But it was rather a sudden wake up call while sleeping and these thoughts came when I got up to have a sip of water. It's probably because I fell asleep reading Gary Zukav's 'The Seat of The Soul,' which speaks of human evolution in terms of development of the five senses and evolution of multi-sensory perception. Now I feel ever so fresh as I type this, the groggy eyes have gone!)

Walks...

.....in silence

Walking for over three weeks now, on roads paved on either sides with snow, cold wind beating my face - walking in meditation, breathing in deep and breathing out, has been my greatest recreation here. I might leave with reluctance, because leaving home means dressing adequately in thermals, shoes, socks, woolen cap, winter jacket and gloves...and that's quite a lot for me at least!

But just the moment I leave home and set out on the road, the laziness vanishes into the dense cold air. When I breathe in, it is the breath of Existence and when I breathe out, it is my little self that vanishes into the same ocean.

My view of Chicago, spanning the earth and sky and all that's in between.

My view

No words...

....Just Pictures

Thus spake Baha'ullah: "The unity of humankind was now to be established as the foundation of the great peace that would mark the highest stage in humanity's spiritual and social evolution. Revolutionary and world-shaking changes are therefore inevitable. It is the belief of the Baha's that the American nation will evolve through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace.
Their prayer: May this American Democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace."



1. In the silence of the sky: Construction of this Baha'i Temple in Chicago, began in 1903 with design by French-Canadian Architect Louis Bourgeois. The Temple literature says that he started working on his design in 1909 and laboured for eight years to create a plan that satisfied him. In 1917, he began with "inspiration," to draw a bell-shaped temple. For three years, he lived in poverty, supporting his work by selling flowers grown in his own backyard. With a seating capacity of 1,191, the temple spans a height of 138 feet from floor of auditorium, with 36 feet down the base gallery, the temple has inscriptions of insignia from world religions.

2. A strategic picture at the base gallery, taken by Aravind, too good not to be published!

3. A view outside the Chicago Baha'i temple on a cold winter evening.

4. Intricate patterns mark the entrance of the stately Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. Dedicated in 1953, the nine-sided, domed structure took 40 years to complete is one of the 'Dawning Places of the praise of God.'

Some pictures....

....from Chicago

1. Rishab and myself before Rishab, Nandi, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. Nandi symbolises the dynamic mind that is turned to the divinity within, powerful, yet seated in silence and meditation.

2. With God Son, Rishab who drew me across oceans and mountains for the first time to United States, to spend time with him.

3. A house like any other in Western Springs, made of Tyvek wooden boards.

4. Fair Elms Avenue, now a snow-lined road of bare elms. In case of a snow fall, the snow trucks are promptly at work the next day to remove the snow on all the roads and spraying salt to prevent formation of ice.

5. Closing in on the snow which covers the ground for around four months a year.

Observations...

....as days go by

I've nearly completed half the number of days of my scheduled stay in the United States and as each day goes by, I have nothing else to offer except observations. After a long walk for an hour and a half, walking through snow in the Western Springs park, watching the orb of the orange sun set behind the elms at 4.30 p.m. the chillness of the air was trapped within my thermal clothes, settling directly on my skin. But I have befriended this cold weather and I know it will not harm me.
It was my day out on my own, three days ago when I took the Metra train from Hindsdale to the Union Station and walked my way up beside the Chicago River to a cab. I was off to the Field Museum of Chicago, where I walked and walked and walked for five hours non-stop, visiting country after country, the ancient world of dinosaurs, the remains of Pompeii, walking underground when the human shrinks and the worms and insects of the earth are larger, contemplating on the one landmass of pangea that contained the earth, meditating before the powerful statue of the Amida Buddha in the Japanese section and looking deep into the Mandala Yantra in the Tibetan wing. I filled myself with a California Grill vegetarian sandwich and tomato basil soup after I conveyed with quite a little bit of effort that I wanted totally vegetarian food at the Corner Bakery.
The next day passed by with a visit to the Lemonte Temple for Shri Ram and the day after to the Balaji Temple at Aurora. The more I travelled around the city and downtown, the more I felt at home with myself.
The identity crisis of my country and the other country, how great this or that is, how small this is or how clean that is....the screen of confusion about superiority or inferiority of developed and developing nationalities...has now lifted. The sky is clear. Each human is a speck of consciousness, no more no less. And whatever experience that tiny speck needs to gather or share in the course of evolution, it will drift like a cloud to that country, finish its job, and move on back or forth. This experience gathering happens not just in this lifetime, but has been happening and will continue to happen till this ice block of the body melts into water, evaporates into vapour and dissolves into the nothingness of the cosmos.

Smelling...

...the air of Chicago

Time and tide permitted me to travel downtown Chicago today and what a memorable journey it was! Forgive me if I can't remember names, one afternoon is too less a time to remember names of inter-states, bridges and roads. I just have the essence with me to share. When we entered a big bridge, I was told that part was North Chicago, the century-old part of the city and you wouldn't believe, I felt I was travelling through parts of Old Chennai and Mumbai in India. For the first time, I thanked the British for their two-century presence in India, giving the country an international character with its buildings, transport systems and the English language.
The roads in Chicago are indeed good, neat and clean. However, there is no kind of a paranoia or an obsessive compulsive disorder in straining every nerve to keep it smooth, polished and shining as is done in some developed countries. A little lack of attention with a pothole here and there is relaxing and gives a feeling of being at home, in tune with the jagged edges of Nature's surface.
During my evening walks in Western Springs village, all I would see is hardly one person on the road or most often not even that. But today I breathed people and people and people as I walked down Michigan, La Salle and other Avenues around the Sears Tower. I was impressed to see women on the job at heavy duty traffic policing on the intersections, nonchalantly organising chaotic traffic and issuing tickets for violations. A significant change in attitudes accosted me. The line defining the city and the village of Chicago is a complete dropping of all the "Hi's and bye's" while greeting strangers. People are focussed on their work and the fast paced lifestyle with a sandwich in one hand and a cup of coffee on the other is writ large.
Just as Buddha watched three incidents that drew him into a life of contemplation- a sick man, an old man and a funeral procession, I watched three incidents that made a significant impact in my understanding of the city life - an autistic man nervously crossing a main intersection back and forth, two beggars holding coffee cups for cents, dimes and quarters and a couple of minor accidents that led to a traffic hold-up.
The ambience of the tall buildings, wide pavements and trash bins on the road gave me a feeling of walking on Chennai's Second Line Beach Road or near the Taj at the Gateway of India Mumbai - both areas that were developed during the British period in India - the functional cleanliness was impressive. The signboards which said, " Caution Falling Ice,'" reminded me of the caution signs in the Himalayan trekking route about falling boulders.
My trip up the 103 floors of the world's tallest building was impressive, being well aware that visibility was zero. Introduced to the sights and scenes of Chicago through a film show at the entrance, I boarded the lift with a bunch of excited children sheperded by their parents, zipping to the top in just a minute. It was actually a top of the world feeling, only I couldn't see the world below - a possibility only when the sun shines bright. But a sharp observation through the glass walls showed the snow flurries moving about the clouds - almost like seeing snow at its origin.
Spending American currency for the first time, I bought stuff right at the top and below the Sears that will take the memory of my visit to all back home. And for myself, I carry a memorable experience...

Amazing sights...

...that I see

15 days gone by since I made my way from Chennai, India, to Chicago, USA. Across lands, across seas and oceans, across time zones, but not across space, not across God. I've come from a place which has a National motto of 'Satyameva Jayate,' (Truth Alone Triumphs) to a place where 'In God We Trust,' is a Constitutional statement printed in all official emblems.
In Chicago, and I'm sure the general principals must be the same in the rest of America, I see a beautiful order in civic life. Rich with space and resources, I love the self-reliance I see everywhere. And the public life here has worked it way around such self reliance. It amazes me to see senior citizens making their way around shopping malls with a triangular flag sticking out of their wheel chairs. The parking lots earmarked for the physically challenged, with a high penalty for violations - I love the care such signs show.
I love the traffic. I love the way cars, that travel at superfast speeds, are not in a hurry to start when the signal turns green. I love the silence on the roads where nobody honks. Only once recently, I heard a senior citizen honk to alert his wife to get into the car. The sound alerted more persons than just the lady it was intended for and I knew it was not so good to sound horn here from the number of abuses that happened around as a reaction.
I love the picture perfect residential quarters, with neat roads leading to each other in a grid. I love the way cars stop totally to let the pedestrian cross first.
The houses here, though apparently identical, have an individual character. Now covered with snow, icicles hanging from the ewes, present an idyllic picture of beauty, peace and silence. I like the houses merging with the road and with each other, without a separating compound wall.
I am amazed at the convenience of the credit card and the home computer has brought to lives here. Anything one wants can be done from home, through the phone, PC and credit card. In India, the forehead of cars have their religions written in bold letters - My Presence Shall Go Before Thee, Masha Allah or Om Namashivaya. Here it's all plain glass except for a small strip of card called here as the I-Pass, EZ-Pass, which registers the number as the car moves across a toll plaza and automatically deducts the amount from a credit card.
I love the neatness with which houses drop off their wastes in neatly tied covers on a particular day of the week, though houses here are yet to get an idea about segregating the bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes at source. I love the resilience with which the postal staff work, dropping packets and covers door to door unmindful of the snow.
I love the instant immediacy with which the police, traffic and fire departments respond in case of an accident or an emergency.
Most off all I like the way total strangers greet each other with a smile or a "Hi!" In just a few words, here I see Yoga (oneness of the individual and the cosmos) in the life of matter and organisation of resources.
******

Freezing...

...In the land of Sahasrara

I love Snow. I remember the thrill and excitement I had when I saw it glowing gold on the tip of the Himalayas, the abode of not just snow, but also Lord Shiva. The same snow that adorns the matted locks of the Lord of Yoga, the Lord of Tapas, (Burning fire of Meditation), is here abound and all around in Chicago.
I believed it when I was told not to venture out for a walk in this cold weather, -10 Degrees C and 25 Degrees F. I stayed indoors for nine days. My outings were inside warm cars and into warm stores and malls.
I know what it feels like to be cut off from nature - nature deficit disorder, they seem to call it here. When my mind was trapped in the belief that I can't make it, there was this cute child in the neighbourhood, who darted out of her house in colourful winter clothing. She ran straight to a heap of snow at the end of the road, made a tiny snowman and got back home.
"Now if a little child can make it, why can't I?" She provided enough reason for my adamency and that afternoon, inspired by her, I broke out of the confines of a warm home, to walk down into the freedom of the avenue road. Six inches of snow collected on either sides, dried elms standing bare, dark green spruce with blobs of snow smothering it, icy winds that wafted the powdery snow across the road, just like sand being pushed around in a dust storm and my dear old sun, shedding its warm grace. I was in meditation. In Yoga. One with nature, united in tune with my surroundings.
The wind was cold indeed, biting at my cheeks, the only exposed part of myself. The moisture in the pores of my face was freezing and I had to pat it to get warm. It didn't matter if I was the only one enjoying a walk down the road. I was told that people walk only in summer and not winter. They rather stay indoors and work out. But I couldn't just care. The cold wind, the downy snow beneath the feet, the smoking white flurries all around, the bright sunshine, the silent trees, a lone giant bushy-tailed squirrel minding its own business with a nut on a tree top - were all one whole of which I was part of.
When I got back home after my tiny expedition beneath the big blue sky, it told on my face, on the bouncing energy that I transformed into, on the radiance I saw in the mirror for myself...
Me and nature are one and I can't let walls of wood or concrete come in the way. I will not let my shelter become a prison. I will break loose. I will break free, no matter who or whatever it is that stops me. Nobody shall take my nature away from me, because what is free is just me, my soul, my being and essence.

Dancing...

...my way to freedom

(This article happened following a request from Be Now).


My experience of learning Bharatanatyam, was short. I was just sitting at home one day and chanted aloud the most famous verses of the Bhagavad Gita. Surrounded by nothing else but space and silence, my fingers automatically moved in mudras when I chanted the two verses:
Paritranaya Sadhunam Vinashaya Cha Dushkritam
Dharma Samsthapa Narthaya Sambhavami Yuge Yuge

Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharatha
Abhyuthanam Adharmasya Tadathmanam Srujamyaham.

The two verses were said by Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield. "To protect the good and destroy evil and to establish Dharma or the balance of creation, I manifest time after time."

"Wherever there is a threat to Dharma and Adharma is on the rise, my soul takes birth."

If felt the dance in me waiting to be expressed and immediately joined for dance classes with Kalaimamani Thanjavur Rajalakshmi, a teacher in her mid 70's. She asked me for what purpose I want to learn dance. And I told her that I know that dance is one way of offering yourself to God and so I just want to dance, no more reasons.

Just the day before joining the class, I had the opportunity to visit the famous temple of Lord Nataraja - a form of Shiva as the Lord of Dance and sit in meditation before that powerful presence for a while. Nataraja is a famous idol that is a great attraction for tourists as it represents the culture and philosophy of India - that the whole Universe is a dance of the Pancha Bhoothas - the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and space. The lifted feet of the Lord represents the spirit and the feet on the ground stands over a small creature called Muyalagan which represents the human ego which ought to be trampled and killed. One hand points upward to the sky and is called the Abhaya Hastha or the hand of protection. The other points toward the ground symbolising the need for surrender.

Bharatanatyam in a nutshell, is the traditional dance form of India, particularly Tamil Nadu, got its name because it was derived from Bharata Muni's (Sage) Natya Shastra. It expresses with Mudras, locking the fingers in innumerable gestures, Abhinaya or facial and bodily expressions and tapping of the feet to various rhythms.

Usually the lessons begin with fundamental movements and beats called Alarippu and Jathiswarams. But in my case, the teacher offered to take me straight to Abhinaya which happens only in the advanced levels. I began with doing Abhinaya (expressive gestures) to one shloka called 'Nada Brahma Vishwaswarupa, Nadahi Sakala Jiva Rupa, Nadahi Karma Nadahi Dharma, Nadahi Bandhana Nadahi Mukti, Nadahi Sankara Nadahi Shakti.' The essence of the verse is that Sound or Nada pervades everything in the Universe, sound is the form o everything manifest, sound is the form of life, sound is action, sound is sustenance, sound is bondage and sound is liberation, sound is Shiva - the Lord that gives peace and sound is his feminine energy - Shakti.

The other set of verses I learnt to express through dance was Nirvana Shatkam - six verses on the path to liberation by Adi Sankara. They contained the essence of all that I needed to know. I was dancing all the time, in my mind. When I just thought of a mudra of Sankara in the pose of Nataraja, my body and mind would just get filled up with energy shooting from within. When I returned to work from dance class, my colleagues could find out, seeing the radiance on my face and the joy with which my interactions of the day would be.

Bharatanatyam is an ocean. It is a path to liberating the mind from thoughts that bind one into loops and tangles. But I just picked up a pearl from its depths and I treasure it safely within....

Wholly...

....Indoors

A very cold day outta here (if someone is wondering about my sudden change in accent, well I'm jus' being Roman when in Rome - or rather being American when in America!). So a whole day was spent indoors with family and friends. Life is so comfortable in America and what would take out so much energy, cooking and cleaning, is just fun here. So I'm just being here, doing that. I am amazed about the connectivity this blog seems to be giving me. I have had quite long telephonic chats with bloggers who have visited my site and it's really fun to keep in touch this way.
Listening to music, meditation, helping out with work at home and being with my God Son was today so much a process of discovering myself as snow fills the roads, tree and roof tops outside.
The major thought for the day I wish to share. I was just wondering why the United Nations should not form a policy to give International Citizenship to people who wish to have them. The world is getting so close knit and global that it is really difficult to identify oneself to a small piece of land and say, I'm Indian, I'm Japanese, I'm a Filipino or an American. For those who wish to call themselves Citizens of the World - there should be a way out.
It is imminent and just around the corner. Countries have to just wake up to the reality, get together and work out a charter, frame rules for World Citizenship and issue it to those who comply with the rules and regulations after proper screening and scrutiny. After this will follow, world language, world culture and world money...and man we are well into the 21st Century and it jus has to happen! If the World is One, it has to be on paper all the same right? Way to make Truth work.

Chicago...

...on a snowy morning


Wonder of wonders, I have uploaded this painting I did this morning, on my blog. I love views out of the window and they have always given me the greatest scope for contemplation. This is Chicago that I saw and enjoyed when I first landed home. Trees bare and shrubs green, sharing the same snow covered ground with idyllic houses spaced out, just a big garden squirrel darting across and a host of black birds pecking for something in the grass, mostly covered with snow. My first view of Chicago continues to be the same blissful picture of silence.
*****

The Divine

....in Chicago

It was another beautiful birthday with so many wishes from loved ones from India over phone, e-mail, chat and on my blog, a special milk payasam (pudding) prepared for me here, quiet meditation and just the bliss of being.
There was a big birthday gift that Chicago could offer and that was a visit to the Aurora Venkatachalapathi Temple through beautiful inter-states, where the bright sun had no power to melt the snow on the grass and trees on either sides, a view of the beautiful houses and silent roads despite the traffic congestion at some points.
Standing before the mighty idol of Lord Balaji, all alone, is indeed a very rare experience for someone from India. It just felt like being in front of the idol in Tirupati or before a similar idol at the now famous Santhana Sreenivasa Perumal Temple in Chennai's Mogappair - the deity who got this name because he is believed to bless couples with the wealth of children - Santhanam.
I have now words to describe the silence and meditation that happened at the temple in front of Lord Venkateswara, Padmavathi Devi, Andal, Ganesha, Muruga, Dakshinamurthy, Shiva and Parvathy and Hanuman. It was a feeling of meeting all your loved ones beneath the same roof. The temple is a happy marriage of Indian spirituality and American organisation and cleanliness. The feeling inside was just indescribable.
Nothing more to say beyond this....
*****

The taste...

...of Chicago

It was probably the jet lag, for I woke up at 4 a.m. and it was still dark outside. The bare elms, stripped of all their belongings, except the branches, were standing alone against a purple dark sky and the conical spruce were almost getting spruced up to welcome Christmas just around the corner.
The spaced out houses along the avenue have begun to celebrate the cheer and joy of the festive season. In the warmth of the house, I saw a drizzle of snow, falling on leaves and grass as if they were flowers from heaven. Soon there was a carpet of white all over as the night sky turned into the brightness of dawn. It was the same Sun, brightening up another side of the Earth, where it is a vision of solitude, quietness, meditation and silence.
Finishing my Pranayama and Surya Namaskar, I drew the curtains within the warmth of an Indian home, which nestles within it the sounds, sights, flavours and aroma of India and looked out into a city of picture perfect beauty. A lone truck whizzed past, clearing the snow and spreading salt along the road.
Travelling to a hospital, the shopping mall, grocery and vegetable store, on the road, around houses, in a petrol bunk, at an ATM, there was something I saw - Everywhere.
My Indian spirituality taught me Space is Shiva. Silence is Shiva. And that element is very much here, out in this city of the United States - the same silence, the same space. A priceless commodity that has become rare in India. Utmost care has gone in to make life the best one can ask for in the outside. The scope for development is endless. Technology can be applied and everything becomes subtle and refined. The investment of awareness in improving quality of day-to-day life is splendid. It is exactly a divine world of matter where all the comforts one can dream of are available. But just a tap of the heart and one says, "I have been there done that. I've had enough. The illusion has worn out. With a good job, I'd love to get back to where I came."
Seeing the staff-less and automated stores and malls, I was reminded of the hustle and bustle of people crowding Chennai's Ranganathan and many other streets. A scene at the Mumbai Airport and the message it drove home gave me an insight into the importance of spiritual awareness, what it is and how it works. A woman with a child holding her arm tripped and fell from the escalator. Some rushed to the spot to help her get up. Everybody else gathered around and just watched what's happening. I've heard people saying that in India people crowd around and watch accidents. But that day my sensors of perception thought differently. All the eyes that watched the incident were energies directed on the victim. It was that focus which is just an act of nature that helped her to get up and come out of the fall.
The awareness in the civic body here is the same - more organised and applied well - watching out for abuse of children by parents or relatives, watching out for abuse of the wife by the husband, all rescue mechanisms available at an instant in the event of a fire or an accident. Just the same everywhere, but the source of it all is plain Awareness - the magic word that Buddha spoke of, that Ramana Maharishi said through his silence, that Swami Vivekananda thundered and that anyone who is aware is aware of.

Birthday...

...at home

Ever since I got a new apartment and named it after my Guru as Akshara Griha (Akshara's Home), I've been on the move. I used to love the vibrations of peace, calm and tranquility that surrounded the bright house which gave lots of room for a piece of the Universe inside it. My only job there was to do some cleaning and sitting quietly on a sofa in meditation. Everything else happened.
Now, going around the city of Chennai on my car, I discovered that it was Akshara Griha that was moving around. The atmosphere around me at office, relatives' homes where I have stayed, friends places or wherever I went had the same character to it - cleanliness, order, peace, tranquility, joy, fun, alertness and energy.
It continued in Mumbai where I stayed with a volunteer of the Akshara Foundation, Devika, in her 10th floor paradise at Kopar Khairane in new Mumbai. That felt like my home and not like someone else's.
I visited the homes of other volunteers to be pampered with hospitality and everywhere I was at home in the smiles and hugs. Sitting on a steamer going around the Arabian Sea near Gateway of India, I was at home in the placid waters and the chill winds beating against my face.
I continued to feel at home aboard Air India, listening to Hindustani Music and stories of Ganesha and Krishna being told by Karadi the Bear. Felt at home to see the smiling air hostesses, waiting to serve with a smile.
At the Frankfurt Airport, the woman staff who said, "All passengers to Chee-ca-goo come to the left," felt like a familiar voice. Practising exercises at the lounge to break the monotony of constricting seats on the flight felt no different.
Talking to a special child on board who told me to get some food for her as she was hungry and her guardians were sleeping, was a familiar scene of loving children whom I teach at the Aksharabhyas chanting classes in Chennai.
At the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, when a staff helped me with the luggage and accompanied me to the lobby to help me find out who has come to pick me up, was very much like what happened in Chennai and Mumbai when people helped me get my luggage on the trolley.
Meeting my brother-in-law and driving home to Western Springs, to meet new-born Rishabh, his mother and grandmother was just like getting back home away from home.
At the end of this all, keeping in tune with loved ones through Yahoo Messenger, e-mail and on my blog - I find that Akshara Griha is everywhere. I am now reminded of James A. Michener's autobiographical non-fiction the title and last line of the book are the same: The World Is My Home.
*****