Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Potter and the Pot






One day the potter decides to makes a pot. He finds some clay and goes to his hut and starts to knead the clay. He then places the clay on the potter's wheel. After molding the clay into the shape of the pot , he places the soft clay pot in the furnace to harden it. The pot starts to cry in pain.

The pot cries out - "Why ? Why me ? It hurts and burns. Why is this suffering brought upon me ?".

The potter watches in silence and carries on molding the pot.


"Why this silence..." the pot starts wondering. Then it starts to cry out again. "Don't you realize what I am going through ? Hey ! What are you trying to do ? Don't you understand that I am going through such pain" the pot asks.

The potter watches in silence and carries on molding the pot.

The pot starts to wail more and asks " Do you exist ? What is this ? I do not comprehend what is happening to me. Oh is this my Karma - my fate ? What have I done to deserve this treatment ?".

The potter watches in silence and carries on molding the pot.

A spark of joy touches the pot. The pot sees the hands of the potter removing the pot from the fire. The pot feels a surge of relief. "Oh something nice is happening to me, I am free and I can take a rest " . The pot starts to wonder whether it is being prepared for something.


The potter watches in silence and carries on molding the pot.

The potter seeing that the pot is not ready yet sends the pot to the furnace again. The pot starts weeping piteously. "Oh the pain and torture I am going through. Why me..... what have I done to deserve this fate ? Thoughts run crazily and the pot is absolutely devastated by it's predicament.

Then the potter removes the pot for a while and the pot starts to feel the cool air. It's spirit is raised and it starts to feel a little clarity dawn upon itself. It says to itself " I understand that I am being prepared for something - but I wonder what..... ? "

The potter watches in silence and carries on molding the pot.

The potter removes the pot from the fire finally. The pot is overwhelmed with joy. The potter cleans the clay pot and leaves it aside. Then the potter takes the pot and fills it with pure cool water from the spring. He places the pot in the middle of a beautiful garden.

People from far and near come to see this beautiful pot and rush to drink the cool and sweet water from the little clay pot.

The water of Love,
The water of understanding,
The water of patience,
The water of Joy,
The water of sharing .
The water of giving.

The potter watches in silence.......

The pot with eyes filled with tears looks at the potter,

Thank you dear potter - the pot speaks in silence.
Now I am filled - filled with the joy of understanding !

The potter watches in silence , with a smile on his lips.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Vijay Prakash - The Rising Star










Vijay Prakash - The singer with a tremendous voice. When my daughter showed me the video on youtube I was spellbound. My eyes were filled with tears of joy, watching this amazing boy singing with so much of bhaavam. He will reach many peaks of success with such a wonderful soothing voice. What a talent !

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Thirukkural -" Words of Wisdom"





I am a great advocate of the Thirukkural. My first book of thirukkural was given to me by my mother who is a passionate reader herself. She reads widely and encouraged us, her children to read. Since I was not fluent in Tamil, she bought me books translated into the English language. I was lucky to have followed her advice as a child, then as an adult reading has become one of my passions. I particularly like works like the Thirukkural, Upanishads, works by Shankaracharyar, The Baghavad Gita to name a few. I am definitely drawn to philosophical works. Some of my other favorites are Confucius and Lao Tze. This pilgrim is on her journey and continues in her learning. Learning is a joy. I have learned so much from the Thirukkural and hope to learn more.

Thirukkural is a precious gem among the classics, unique in the deliverance of code of conduct to mankind to follow for all time to come. It enshrines in it 1330 couplets under 133 chapters, each chapter comprising 10 verses. The chapters again fall under three major divisions. Virtue, Wealth and Love. This treatise encompasses the whole gamut of human life and by Thiruvalluvar, its illustrious author illuminates every bit of it! This classical work written in Tamil, has been translated in over 60 languages of the world.

Thirukkural is the masterpiece of Tamil literature with the highest and purest expressions of human thought. Its ethics and values are applicable to all religions, countries and time. Thirukkural's immortality and universality are unquestionable.
I feel that every person should read this beautiful work of wisdom regardless of what nationality, race or culture they belong to.

Many believe in memorizing the words of this ancient work (Thirukkural) and taking part in competitions. I for one do not believe in this. I feel that anything learned should be understood by the mind, assimilated and put into practice in our lives.

So today I start this humble journey of mine to follow the versus of Thiruvalluvar and learn again these beautiful timeless words which will help me to walk further in this life of mine.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Time



Time is my friend,
Time keeps me company.
Time is my teacher,
Time teaches me patience.

Time is forgiving,
Time heals my wounds.
Time forgets all pains,
Time forgives all hurt.

Time is like a balm,
Time treats me gently-at times.
Time is like a mother,
Time waits for me - the child.

Time is not my enemy,
Time is Love -Eternal Love,
Time is my friend,
Time is timeless.
.

Wisdom

"Ignorance is seeing
The impermanent as permanent,
The impure as pure,
The painful as pleasure
and the non-self as self."

Patanjali(Yoga Sutras 11.5 )

This is one of the most self-explanatory verses we can find. Patanjali has put in essence what this world needs. The world, meaning people like us need. We need to see the impermanent as impermanent, the impure as impure, the painful as painful and the non-self as the non-self. How close can we get to reality. All the confusion happening around the world is due to the ignorance of the human mind.

The priorities that we place on wrong things, make it harder for us to come to terms with reality. The whole world is rushing in madness,trying to catch the impossible. What dramas we humans enact -all the developed by this human mind ! The hatred which is created by us when there are differences.

From childhood, kids are told about us versus them. This attitude is carried forward from family to community to race to religion to language to nation to ...... ? If we don't call this ignorance, then what else can be called ignorance. Our children need to unlearn many things. They need to have their priorities put in order. As my Teacher says we are taught the differences and not the similarities.

The differences are highlighted even as a child. They are taught the differences in the the colors of the skin. When in school children are already aware that the other child is of a different color, race, religion and so on. No one attempts to teach the similarities because no one has been trained or taught to look at the similarities.

How will we be able to unite as a world ? Hatred is instilled in a young mind when he sees the differences in the others. Parents, teachers, friends and the society as a whole teach the child that whatever is different is not to be trusted. Society teaches the child that we are different from the others. Do we even get along with the so called "we". I don't think so. We have our differences even in our own homes and families.

Who is responsible in bringing about wisdom when there is so much of ignorance.
Who is responsible for this education. I strongly believe that the parents play the primary role. The ex-president of India Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam says that the 2 most important people in a child's life are it's parents and primary school teachers. They are the first pair of hands that shape the child. They play THE most important role in the child's life.

I remember as a child of 5 yrs , my mother telling us stories from the ancient scriptures. Every day we, my siblings and I were told moral stories which were so interesting that we used to keep asking her for more. She kept stressing on the moral values in each story and instilled in us a strong sense of values.

My parents were strict disciplinarians which was very difficult to digest at that age. But now looking back, I feel that our strength comes from all the discipline and moral values instilled at that tender age. Today we find so much of importance given to very superficial things in life. Values are not taught and practiced. Many parents feel that if they teach their children to be "successful" then their children will be happy. What is success if even with all the education, money and status you are still a miserable and unhappy person.

I have seen many kids who are jealous and show hatred towards their classmates if the others perform better then them. The child learns by emulating their parents and by learning from them. A mango seed produces only a mango tree not a coconut tree. So whatever we as parents behave or teach is what the child is going to learn.

They are at a vulnerable stage of live where anything and everything will get impressed on their minds. Here parents and teachers play a pivotal role in teaching and instilling good moral values in the child.

Ignorance is when we see the impermanent as permanent. The child needs to be taught that, all his classmates and peers are also travelers in the same journey of life. They are our co-passengers and we need not fear their success. If we can make them understand that they will never take away what is supposed to be theirs, then the child will develop a sense of self-confidence. They will understand that they have nothing to fear from the others.

Similarly, we can gently make our children understand that ignorance is also seeing the painful as pleasure. Our kids get into many habits which may look pleasurable but end up in pain. If only we as parents and teachers can teach our children what these ancients scriptures have taught us and to apply these values in our lives, I am sure we can bring about positive change in the world around us.

These characteristics develop and as the child grows into an adult they carry forward all these habits. Then we see the same drama unfold in the work place, in the family and in the society as well. Negative values and behavior bring about negative results and likewise when positive habits are developed, then we find positive, uplifting, wholesome people who are able to bring about peace and love around them.

So much of terror is created by man to destroy the other man in the name of justice. What an irony !
Anger which leads to hatred which in turn leads to revenge can be reversed if only we can apply good moral values, not only in our children but in our lives too. This world will become a more peaceful place. Once a wise man said "Life is measured not by the number of days you have lived, but by the number of lives you have touched."

"So wisdom is recognizing
The permanent as permanent,
The pure as pure,
The pleasure as pleasure - and
The Self as the Self."