Tagore: Uplift my soul ..

Tagore, poet and sage 

Today I’m lost in the meditative hymn by Tagore ..Antaro mamo bikoshito karo. A sublime prayer in which the poet seeks to be uplifted ..to become pure, beautiful and joyful.

Lyrics
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he
Nirmalo karo ujwalo karo sundaro karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Jagrato karo, udyhata karo, nirbhayo karo he
Mangalo karo, nirolaso, nishamshaya karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Yukta karo shobara shonge, mukta karo bondha
Sanchara karo sakhalo karme, shanto tomaaro chhondo
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Charan padme mamo chitta,nispondito karo he
Nondita karo, nondita karo, nondita karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Nirmalo karo ujwalo karo sundaro karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Meaning 
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One
Make me pure, radiant and beautiful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Awaken me, raise me, make me fearless
Bless me, energize me, make me doubtless
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Unite me with everything, liberate me from all shackles
Let your peace permeate all my actions
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Keep my mind steady at your lotus feet
Make me joyful, joyful, joyful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Make me pure, radiant and beautiful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Violin and Lessons on Life

As an adult learning to play the violin, there are many insights that I can draw from my learning which apply directly to life and living.

To play the violin an adult must unlearn a lot of bad habits that have accumulated over the years. From inattention, one must go towards becoming more attentive, sensitive and aware. From stiffness, tension and rigidity, one must become firm yet relaxed, soft and supple. From excesses towards moderation, the optimal placement and application of energy.

The journey to playing the violin well is a slow process of eliminating all that is gross in us to become more refined. In essence the violin holds up a challenge for us to become better human beings, sensitive, aware and alive!

When a person is alive, he is soft and supple
When a person dies, he becomes hard and rigid
When a plant is alive, it is pliant and tender
When a plant is dead, it becomes dry and brittle
Hence, the hard and rigid are companions of the dead
The soft and supple are companions of the living  - Lao Tzu

Odissi, where my heart saunters and lingers..

Odissi dancer

Time and again I am drawn to the world of Odissi. Though I am a student of Bharatanatyam, it is Odissi that tugs at my heart with its beauty and grace. This subtle, refined, sensitive and sensuous dance form agrees so totally with my sensibilities.

The mesmerizing beauty of Odissi is crystallized in the dancer Vrinda Chaddha. She transcends technique to exude the grace and beauty of Odissi in every step, in every eye movement. Her inner stillness and composure, perfectly timed execution without any superfluous movements, her complete fulfillment of every step is an exquisite feast to the viewer. Watching her perform takes me to into those rare heavenly states of aesthetic bliss where beauty, harmony, rhythm, movement and expressions all come together into one fulfilling whole.

Rasa (aesthetic bliss) is an experience of the bliss that is the eternal. Raso Vai-Sah!

Death, a close companion ..

I just put down the book "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Tolstoy. The story explores the torment of a dying man who frittered away his life. In his final hours, he had no meaningful deeds to recall, nothing to console him of a life well lived. "Ivan Illych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible". (Tolstoy)

On two occasions in my life, I saw death straight in the face. One was a decade ago when my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly at the age of sixty, brimming with life and with great hopes of enjoying his retirement. The other was when my daughter had a major surgery when she was barely a year old. There was a chance she would not survive.

Since then something in me changed forever. Death was no longer something morbid. Death has become a close companion walking hand in hand with life enhancing every aspect of it;
   reminding me of the transience of life;
   teaching me gratitude for the precious gift of my own life and that of our loved ones;
   keeping me firmly grounded;
   urging me to live a meaningful life with small acts of kindness, love and service;
   enabling me to die fully to every day to start life afresh again with every dawn.

"Death's stamp gives value to the coin of life; making it possible to buy with life what is truly precious" - Tagore

"It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death. He who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka who is everything; then he knows that world which is real" - Black Elk 

A hobby is a lifeline ..

I feel that every one must cultivate at least one hobby, one pure pursuit to devote oneself to in our spare time. Be it art, music, science or sport, a hobby can serve as a lifeline to grasp onto in times of crisis.

A hobby is a safe haven to retreat into when life or the world around is in turmoil. A hobby brings the mind to the present. It gives rest to a restless mind by eliminating pointless thoughts. Hobbies not only bring joy but also prevents us from spending our time in empty, material pursuits. 

Creativity and worship ..

No other culture in the world lays as much emphasis on creativity as Hinduism. Creativity and worship are so entwined that there is no way to distinguish one from the other. Temples are the centers of culture, where art, music, dance, poetry, plays and dramas are nurtured and offered to the gods. Ranjoli is the offering of art, Geetanjali is the offering of music, Nrityanjali is the offering of dance.

Creativity lies at the very core of Hinduism urging us to fulfill our creative potential every single day. Creativity is the highest offering to the divine. To be immersed in a creative act is worship!!

Fulfilling our creative potential is worship

The Joy of Writing

Think, feel and write

The daily demands on us leaves very little time for creative solitude. I long for quiet interludes to spend some time writing. For me, writing quenches a deep thirst leaving a refreshing feeling of fulfilment.

I just put down the book 'On the Move' by Dr Oliver Sacks. He was a voracious writer, writing journals and books all through his long life. In this book Dr Sacks captures what writing means to him which resonates entirely with my own feelings.

"For the most part, I rarely look at the journals I have kept for the greater part of a lifetime. The act of writing is itself enough; it serves to clarify my thoughts and feelings. The act of writing is an integral part of my mental life; ideas emerge, are shaped, in the act of writing.  

My journals are not written for others, nor do I usually look at them myself, but they are a special, indispensable form of talking to myself.

..The act of writing.. gives me a pleasure,  a joy, unlike any other. It takes me to another place ...where I am totally absorbed and oblivious to distracting thoughts, worries, preoccupations, or indeed the passage of time. In those rare, heavenly states of mind, I may write nonstop until I can no longer see the paper. Only then do I realize that evening has come and that I have been writing all day.