The barreness of a busy life ..

Slow down, says the little turtle..

I haven't written anything in the last two months. The realization struck me hard. Usually the full comprehension of all my observations culminate in writing. I see, I feel, I think and then I write. In the last two months I have been too busy to complete this cycle. Like one feels parched from the lack of water, my soul feels parched from the lack of fulfillment.

I must walk the long pathways in solitude
I must soak in the delicate scent of blossoms
I must listen to the sweet songs of the songbirds
The little turtle urges me to slow down..
Lest spring quietly slips by me...

And life begins again ..

It was just a week ago that the snow began to thaw. The geese have been flying back and forth bidding their time to make a final landing in anticipation for the days to come. There is much work ahead ..to mate, to nest, to incubate the eggs and to rear the young ones before its time to migrate again.

The geese have come home .. 

I noticed that the geese have now paired off to start the mating season. On a quiet afternoon walk yesterday along the wetlands, I chanced on this pair ..deeply engaged in the sacred mating ritual. Shiva and Shakti (the male and female energy) unite again for the continuation of life. There will be joy, trials and tribulations in the days ahead. For that is life!  

A gladness fills my heart in anticipation of the new life that will be here very soon.   

True Freedom: Only the Baul know what it means ..

A Baul is as free as the bird, free as the wind ...

The poet-philosopher Tagore was inspired by the Bauls, a little known nomadic people of rural Bengal. The Bauls are homeless wanderers who do not conform to any accepted social norms. The Baul shun materialism entirely and expound a simple, natural life. They shun everything of the past .. religions, scriptures, rituals, customs and draw inspiration only from the timeless, ever flowing wisdom of the present.

If you would know that Man
Simple must be your endeavor
To the region of the simple must you fare
Pursuers of the path of man's own handiwork
Who follow the crowd, gleaning their false leavings,
What new can they get of the Real?  - Baul song

They sing and preach of love, as the greatest wealth in life! In all their songs they seek a union with the universal spirit. Songs that stir our soul and makes us feel our connectedness with all things in the universe. Songs that teach us about love, life and what freedom really is!

As we look on every creature, we find each to be His avatar.
What can you teach us of His ways? In ever-new play He wondrously revels. - Baul song

I am in awe of the independent minds of these poor illiterate outcasts!! The Bauls are true free spirits relying only on the capacity of an individual to think, reason, feel and love. The Baul sing and dance out of pure joy, the joy of simply being alive!

That is why, brother, I became a madcap Baul.
No master I obey, nor injunctions, canons or customs
Now no men-made distinctions have any hold on me,
And I revel only in the gladness of my own welling love.
In love there's no separation, but commingling always
So I rejoice in song and dance with each and all..- Baul song

Creation is the vision of 'The Great Spirit'

The Ojibwe people believed that creation was the vision and dream of 'The Great Spirit'. When their young ponder over life and nature and asked questions, the old people gave their answers by weaving stories, songs and prayers.

Ojibwe people on a birch bark canoe

Who gave to me
The breath of Life
My frame of flesh?
Who gave to me
The beat of heart
My vision to behold
Who?

When to Rose the gift
Of shade, of beauty
And grace of form?
When to Pine the gift
Of mystery of growth
The power to heal
When?

How to Bear the gift
Of sense of time
A place of wintering?
How to Eagle came the gift
Of glance of love
The flash of rage?
How?

Who gave to Sun
His light to burn
His path to tread?
Who gave to Earth
Her greening bounty
Cycles of her being?
Who?

Who gave to us
The gifts we do not own
But borrow and pass on?
Who made us one?
Who set the Path of Source?
Who carved the Land of Peace?
Who? 

- Ojibwe poem (from a book by Canadian Aboriginal author Basil Johnston)

Beauty, life and love are eternal - 'Snowflake' Bentley

Bentley's words contain some profound messages for all of us. He studied the science behind snowflakes and that lead him to a deeper understanding of life and a fascination for nature. Similarly in all our learnings, we must go beyond the mere facts and figures, to develop a feeling of wonder for this miracle that life is!

Bentley's labor of love ..

“The snow crystals . . . come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in Nature, but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade way. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.”

"One has the pleasant certainty that in her deep reservoirs Nature keeps an endless source of beauty and that, over centuries, storms will continue to flood the surface of the earth with new and beautiful jewels that will entertain and delight everyone that loves beauty."

"this exquisite beauty so lavishly scattered over the earth and yet there should be no despair for this miracle like unto the miracle of  the springs awakening will come and come again for all time..either here or somewhere in the universe. For beauty, life and love are eternal. The things that make the universe worthwhile and justify its existence."

"The deeper one enters into the study of Nature, the further one ventures into and along the by-paths that, like a mystic maze, thread Nature's realm in every direction, the broader and grander becomes the vista opened up to the view."

"There is a need of a greater love for, and appreciation of such things, of the beautiful and wonderful in nature...There are oceans of enjoyment, soul satisfying pleasure to be had in Nature's art and beauty, as shown freely to us in the common things all about us."

"I am a poor man, except in satisfaction I get out of my work. In that respect, I am one of the richest men in the world. I wouldn't change places with Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller for all their millions! And I wouldn't change places with a king; not for all his power and glory. I have my snowflakes!

It isn't what we have, it's what we do and enjoy that makes life worth living.  - Wilson A Bentley

Infinite beauty of a snowflake

Nature's transient designs

There is not much to be excited about in the winter. I discovered by chance that that is not true at all!! The ordinary snow that falls on us by the tons carries in it the most infinitely beautiful miracle of nature hidden in every single snowflake!

I was cutting out paper snowflakes for the children when my husband casually mentioned that each snowflake is unique in its design. That to me was a mind boggling wonder!! It set off a train of events.. I read more about snowflakes, learnt about Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley, got some books and DVD's from the library. I threw out my first snowflake cuttings as they were not hexagonal in shape as snowflakes should be and cut new ones for the children.

After learning about snowflakes and looking at Bentley's pictures of them, I learn humbly over and over again, that great joy lies in appreciating the transient beauty of nature. Money can never buy this joy for nature gives it for free to all who care to stop, look and feel.

"There is a need of a greater love for, and appreciation of such things, of the beautiful and wonderful in nature...There are oceans of enjoyment, soul satisfying pleasure to be had in Nature's art and beauty, as shown freely to us in the common things all about us." - Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley

Tagore: O enchanting mother of earth ..

Tagore loved the earth as a beloved son loves his mother. He worshiped her with tender affection all through his life.. 

Oyi Bhubano Monomohini  
Oyi bhubano monomohini ma

Oyi nirmalsurjakarojjal dharoni janakjanonijanoni

Nilsindhujaldhautocharontal, anilbikampito-shyamal anchal

Amarchumbito bhalo Himachal subratusharo kiritini

Pratham prabhate udoy tabo gagone pratham samrob tabo tapobone

Pratham pracharito tabo banobhabone gyandharmo kato kabbokahini

Chirokalyanmoyi tumi dhanno desh bidheshe bitoricho anno 

Janhobijamuna bigolito karuna punnopijusstannobahini ..

Meaning:

O my enchanting mother of earth, mother o mother ..

O mother earth, bathed in the bright, pure glow of the sun, o mother of all ..

Blue waters of the ocean washes your feet, billowing in the wind is your green protective veil

Kissing the blue sky, the snowy white peaks of the Himalayas adorns your crown  

The very first dawn arose in your skies, the very first prayer echoed in your forest

You the harbinger of knowledge, you brought enlightenment and wisdom

Forever prosperous you are my blessed mother, nourishing the world with food

Overflowing compassion of your rivers quenched thirst for eons as streams of nectar flows from your breasts

O my enchanting mother of earth ..