Connect with life

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In this age of instant coffee, if one was asked the recipe of making coffee, would you be surprised with this answer: Begin with tilling some land and milking cows! If not, then you have a seeker’s mind that discovers depth in the visible but taken for granted facets of life all around us.

Like the cup of coffee, the inspirational journey too begins with tilling the soil of your internal being, making it more receptive towards milking your present awareness. This brings deeper connection with each unfolding moment, revealing intimate secrets of life. Each passing moment, object and event makes one pause to receive its unique message, mull, introspect and internalise life’s lessons.
Let us demystify the path of inspiration. It is not akin to growing horns on head, as we may sometimes wonder about spiritual ideals, like the manifestation of the third eye. There is a short story about a Brahmin who questioned the Buddha, the Blessed One, thus.
A Brahmin once asked: “Are you a God?”
“No, Brahmin”, said the Blessed One.
“Are you a saint?”
“No, Brahmin”, said the Blessed One.
“Are you a magician?”
“No, Brahmin”, said the Blessed One.
“What are you then?”
“I am awake.”
Consider walking through dense greenery of your favourite garden every morning. It fills one with deep silence and peace. The seeker’s heart experiences this as a merging with the natural surroundings and loses all sense of individual existence. This sense of dissolution and oneness with nature beckons new-found insight. It is a profound experience of the non-ego state.

I have to attend a wedding, and need to decide what clothes to wear. I stand by my open cupboard and feel overwhelmed by my wardrobe full of fashionable clothes. My choice of clothes is driven as much by comfort as public approval, or attention-seeking display. I feel inspired to explore the subtle human tendencies of hide and seek behind such traits.
The well-heeled human personality, all perfumed and dolled up, appears picture perfect externally. But this façade is often a way to hide inner turmoil of physical, emotional, inter-personal or professional domains. We cover up the rotten truth with a fancy false veneer. Nature, on the other hand, constantly regenerates the rotten to create new, beautiful and bountiful life forms. Nature doesn’t conform to pretentious social sanction.
A penny for my thoughts! But such a pity about the fat sum spent by my acquaintance on their huge wedding. Such an occasion of celebration meant to be full of joy evokes obvious remarks of jealousy, competition, insecurity, even compulsive behaviour, on the part of invitees. Even when there is awareness of the truth, compliance with social norms makes us participate and propagate values without any heart-connection. Hence, awareness is the first step, but is incomplete without the empowerment of introspection and eventually action.

— Poonam Srivastava has published a book of Zen poetry titled, A Moment for the Mind, which expounds on the practice of Mindfulness Meditation. She is also involved in popularising new ideas of change in the social sector. She can be contacted at m4moment@gmail.com [2]