Sharanagatam

                                      It is confusing. Hard to understand. Sometimes it feels like a tragedy waiting to unfold. Adi Shankaracharya, in Bhaja Govindam, calls this world "iha saṁsāre bahu dustāre"  , this samsara is exceedingly difficult to cross. Perhaps not because the path is hidden, but because the wrong path often looks indistinguishable from the right one. Adharma rarely arrives announcing itself. Sometimes it comes dressed as duty. Sometimes as loyalty. Sometimes as gratitude. And sometimes, it comes dressed as dharma itself. Duryodhana's dilemma was one thing. Karna's was another. Duryodhana gave Karna what the world had denied him. Honor, friendship, recognition, and a kingdom. Out of gratitude and loyalty, Karna stood by him until the very end. Was Karna standing on the side of dharma? The Mahabharata refuses to offer an easy answer. Vibhishana faced a similar dile...

  It is in our innate nature to avoid suffering and to optimize for pleasure, especially prolonged pleasure. Today, it almost feels strange and worrisome when someone laughs wholeheartedly in the face of adversity. In a world that equates pain with damage, joy in adversity looks almost abnormal, and they may even be (mis)diagnosed with some mental illness. The more you eat neem leaves, though initially bitter, at some point even the neem leaves will taste sweet. But have you ever seen someone reach a stage where they can truly claim it is sweet? Only a few can. Only a few know the secret. Did Adi Shankaracharya show any bitterness about illness? Did Ramakrishna Paramahamsa ever lose his playfulness despite the body suffering from throat cancer? Did Bhadrachala Ramadasu give up his devotion to Lord Rama when he was tortured for years? Did people forget Vishnu under the tyranny of Hiranyakashipu? No! They sailed that ship of samsara, the ship of suffering. Today, people just take ...

Beneath a sky where day and night entwine, The stars emerge as dusk begins to shine... Those are the starting lines of a beautiful poem, But anyway, today I`m not in the mood to write one. So for a change, let's not take the poetic route. And hop straight onto the bandwagon of my thought train of my memories. That beautiful evening, I was  at  Bugle Rock Park ,  a place I love and look forward to visiting  whenever I'm in Bengaluru. I was sitting on a rock, Opposite to me was my dear friend, Sincerely trying to meditate. I had one lollipop in my upper shirt pocket. I removed the wrapper of the candy and placed it in the mud. After a moment, I saw an ant, approaching the candy, It inspected it for some time, with its antlers. After another moment or two, I saw that the whole candy was swarmed by ants.  I started observing the trail of ants leading to the candy. Individually their movements were completely random. But the group of ants together displa...

As the flute’s tune ascends, with infinite grace, I feel the love sinking into a deeper place. Tending to the wounds we thought our own, We healed each other, though it was unknown. In the frost of life, so harsh and bare, Your presence brought a warmth to share. The art of giving without a need to receive, Was shown to me through what we believe. With you, I dance on the edge of it all, From silly quips to life’s great call. You are not a fleeting thought to be replaced, But a constant idea, forever embraced.

  Witness, All that I can be sometimes Neither away nor near Caught in the imagination Of the possibilities that can never be. Hesitating, To move forward Lost in endless thoughts Fearing that if I forget Was it ever true ?. Wondering, If I can ever feel at peace With the memories I bear Mending shattered pieces, Or breaking further, beyond repair. Waiting, For the last embers To light the shadows within Or burn down everything. Their fumes scream with hope. Searching, For a road Which can whisper the secret The map to forgotten melodies The place I’ve longed to be all along.

'I' In every wake and fall of 'I'  In every doubt and conclusion about 'I' In every effort and elude by 'I' In every inhale and exhale through 'I' In every birth and death of 'I' 'This' is experienced as 'I'. For which there is neither 'I' nor 'This'.

She manifests herself when it is called for, and she becomes the subtle element encompassed within. She is the passive observer within and the active illusion around. She is the time-invariant cosmic singularity offering herself onto the void and emerging as everything that there is. She is the mother of all mothers. She is the play in which the eater and what is being eaten are one and the same. She is the embodiment of all that there is. I bow down to every devotee worshipping her.

Often, you involuntarily participate in the game of imitating various personalities. And in this process, you may lose yourself. It's a circus out there. A circus in which your most dear ones are the audience. You are expected to contest in an endless race. Where your freedom is only free in your wildest dreams. Where your peace of mind is in the hands of some random control freak. You are always compelled to take sides. Don`t even think about it, you will definitely be pursued, forced to accept their perspective as right. Where empathy is selective and just another marketing strategy. Ignorant folks, people in denial of their own defects, compulsive people are making enough ruckus out there. In this unsteady, uncertain world it would not hurt to be empathetic. But you should also be careful, there is no need to empathize with toxic personalities. Everyone is fighting their own battle, it's okay if you cannot offer help!. But it is immoral if you try to take advantage of their ...

I just wished to be that which I was not. And just by that mere intention,  I was put on the other side of the door and it got locked!. In confusion, I started crying... I was able to sense something new.  And going forward I was told that I was born. And  gradually I forgot what I was before this. In this illusion I fell,  I wandered , I laughed, I cried ... And  every time I felt the extremities of the illusion I  understood that something was missing. I was not sure what it was,  maybe in my life, maybe in myself. But there was something that was calling for me all along.  This went on for a long time... I indulged myself in various things, none of them being anything out of the ordinary. But suddenly one day miraculously I find a key  and I started to remember the door.  Even b efore I could open the door with the key,  she opened the door!... She asked me "Are you done playing, my child ?".  Then there was a realization "...