The Croakings of an Old Toad -- 7

When things sound messy around, the messier is the brain. We have to start the cleaning operation from inside; otherwise, it becomes an exercise in futility.

When a storm puts dust in your eyes, ruffles the papers on your table, shakes a few things around you, don’t get afraid or apprehensive. Don’t over-read the situation, fella. It just tries to remind us that we need to clean up the things around. As simple as that.

Minor scratches on the skin should not be allowed to bleed your soul. They are tiny cuts; they just vanish like water bubbles. Just a matter of time, at the most.

When you dump a football on the ground, it doesn’t sit on its ass and cry. It enjoys its freedom to go bouncing. Getting dumped, either by life situations or in relationships, is always exciting man. Release.....free flight.....freedom .....eeeh......one ought to celebrate.

A day too long becomes boring. A night too long turns a torture. A relationship that cannot light your face with smile when the lines of worries try to disturb the real, natural beauty of your face has definitely met its expiry date.

Walk out of the clutch-hold of over-cooked, burnt emotions. Life is good. Go for a new lease. Start new without some old burden.

Laugh when you get dumped. It’s auspicious. It augurs well for a great new start. If you just rub your ass with pain and cry, you are simply digging a hole in your own journey.

It’s good to be dumped. It sounds exciting, chatpata like golgappa. To top it, it gives you a chance to ride the back of another exciting start.

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Buddhist Sutra (Vimalakirti Nirdesa):

 

In the time of wars and sufferings,

Nurture in yourself the Mind of Compassion

Help and support the living beings

Abandon the will and craze to fight

Wherever there is a fuming battle

Use all your might and power

To maintain both sides’ strength equal

And then step into the conflict to reconcile and bring peace

 

Well, that clarifies why it’s important to supply arms to Ukraine. Because there has to be a line of defense against the Evil, otherwise it will continue creating new fronts. Peace and negotiation are safe behind the strong lines of defense. It’s basically about the strong and the weak on the practical platform in real existence. The concepts of the good and the bad are mind derivatives. So if you find something conceptually good, you have to strengthen it in practice in order to help it survive.

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We are the master tricksters. To keep the hypothesis of abundance and material wealth, we basically groom ‘shortages’ of various kinds. If no ever-existing shortages, how will the river of corporations flow? Does a river flow after reaching the sea? So it’s primarily about keeping the needs, desires and aspirations above the things available. Always. It’s never about fulfilling the needs. The trick is in keeping the needs going high and high, so that the pursuit stays there by default.

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The Croakings of an Old Toad -- 6

 

All through my life, my weakness, born of my fears, insecurities, apprehensions, unwarranted assumptions and vulnerabilities, was taken to be my ‘goodness’. Weakness is a false gem that passes as a costly jewel of goodness most of the time. Similarly, one’s basic strength of character might get condemned as villainy and badness. It’s a slippery eel. The sense of righteousness has a tendency to accept our weakness and incapability as validation of the kind, mushy, nice, egalitarian spirit in us. So when I put myself on this side or the other on some issue, I try to see whether my decision is based on my incapability to do anything in that regard or I’m able to do something but still stop myself from doing that thing because my conscience is stronger and checks me. If it’s fear that stops me then even a theoretically good thing should not be taken as a validation for being good. Real strength is conscience driven. The fake strength, passing off as our goodness, is fuelled by our fears and infirmities of the mind. So shift gears towards mental toughness. If you feel a bit lacking in willpower then watch Manjhi: The Mountain Man. As Dasrath Manjhi, the toiling fakir says: ‘E sala, pathar todne se bhi muskil hai kya? (Is your problem more difficult than breaking the mountain single-handedly) ... Apna rasta khud banao (make your own path across the stony mountain of life) … Bhagwan ke bharose mat baitho, kya pata Bhagwan tumhare bharose baitha ho (Don’t wait for the God to intervene on your behalf, who knows He might be waiting for you to intervene on His behalf).’

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Every tree on the earth is now left with a very short-term lease. Some axe has a bigger right to cut down the lease document. Well, the strong have their strength. The weak have their weakness. These are but both qualities to allow the relevance of their respective opposites. So let them keep cutting the trees. Of course, there will be a time when the last tree on earth will fall with a sigh. But one shouldn’t have any doubts about our willpower. We will have another occupation to mass produce oxygen to meet the demands. Another job. We can’t stay idle. We have to have more of factories, occupations, needs, desires. We are basically a snake chucking out its own tail. And finally both the tail and the mouth in a puzzlement who has eaten whom.

Really expedient beings never meet the dead end. Why? Because they have the wings. They just fly to enjoy a more exciting, challenging course of events. The ever-going expansion of the collective free-will.

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The Croakings of an Old Toad -- 5

 Let us mix the following:

A donkey’s uncomplaining, mute load-carrying capacity; A dog’s loyal instinct of barking from the master’s side; An elephant’s majestic magnanimity and sense of ease about its power; A lion’s royal prowess; A peacock’s feathery splendour; A nightingale’s musical outpours on a gloomy night.

What do we get?

Just a message: Nature is nothing and everything at the same time.

But there is something that can hold all these panoramic spans of nature. It’s just a good human heart.

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So many things that will attract you and put you on the wrong path; so few, on the other hand, to properly guide you for something substantial. I closed one of my eyes to at least half-filter the misguiding abundance; with just one open eye, I tried to spot the guiding flag-posts. But then this sole visual tool over-zealously took long pan-shots at the misguiding signposts. The things that really mattered got mixed up. Guys, it was worse than getting blind or say a total fool. As semi-sighted and semi-fooled species now, I open both my eyes and try for a full status: either a totally blind fool or a full-sighted wise man.

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As the war rages in Ukraine, the multiple hues of Petunia try to cheer me up. They beautifully carry the short-lived North Indian spring on their soft petals. March, a beautiful brief interval in the season’s march to hot summers! Beauty is beyond the parameters of ‘brief’ and ‘prolonged’. The same is with life. Blossom fully during whatever moments you get in your innings.

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With a handful of mist, I try to pacify the thirst of this burning sand; with an ounce of sulking sweetness in my heart, I try to comfort millions of teary hearts; with a sad fragrance in my spirit, I try to dispel the stenching fumes circling over some nice persons. God, how difficult is the path of being good. The resources for justifying the good in you so few and the requirements so high.

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Feel the whole body presence by being conscious of the entire body. Most of the time, we exist in the head only. Spread this awareness through the entire body. This bringing of mind and body together makes you exist in ‘now and here’. It means you are beyond the psychological noose of time and space. In being perfect consonance with the present moment, you liberate yourself from your karmic imprint, which is nothing but a baggage piled up when you aren’t aware of the present moment. We are free from our karmic load only in the present moment. We are maximum vibrant in our being in the present moment. We are utmost alive when we are in the ‘now and here’ mode by being aware of our entire self, not just feeling ourselves in the head. So the present moment is nothing but a harmonious coexistence of mind and body, or the mind awareness spread throughout the body. This is the moment of liberation. The moment you are in the present moment awareness of the entire self, you feel the living force in you. It removes the multiple layers of psychological resistance within. This surrender, this non-resistance, this acceptance gives you unqualified consciousness. This unqualified consciousness is beyond all mental constructs. It’s infinitely bigger than our mind and thoughts. And then dear readers, you are open to the infinite intelligence that filters through the clean window of the present moment. Try it! Everyone is qualified for this present moment enlightenment. It doesn’t need tapasya of decades in the Himalayas. It is available ‘here and now’.

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The Croakings of an Old Toad -- 4

 Another war and the same age-old suffering of the innocent people. The spring is bleeding in Europe. Some people can still laugh in the face of such tragedies because their shamelessly open jaw is safe from the missiles that are falling on innocent people. Imagine just a favourable geography turns people so insensitive to the sufferings of others. Beyond ideologies and geographical distances, our heart should bleed for the suffering of the innocent people.

The bad boys of authoritarianism have started punching now. Now Xi Jinping will definitely feel emboldened to do the same in Taiwan, taking inspiration from Putin. Sad days ahead! All I can do is to pray for the innocent people in Ukraine.

Sharing an ‘abstain from vote’ status with China at the UN, on a resolution involving the grossest violation against democratic principles, where the territorial integrity of a sovereign country has been violated, by the largest democracy in the world is being too cautious and surely brings down our democratic status in the eyes of the world.

India should try its best in not sharing any status, even to the extent of becoming a pal in abstaining from vote at the UN, with the biggest authoritarian state that keeps nibbling at our territory. Who will help us when China will barge into Arunachal Pradesh? If somebody thinks Putin will help us keep our nationalistic hyperbole then it’s a gross miscalculation. Further, no geostrategic need should be allowed to dilute the fundamentals of Indian democracy. Abstention from the UN resolution against the Russian invasion of Ukraine is critically unbecoming of a responsible champion of democracy.

Bloodshed has no justification, neither in the past nor now. Groupism and ideologies are mental constructs of collective fear and greed. Will it ever end? When the civilized and the educated people see things in terms of ‘they did it so I do the same’, there is no hope for humanity. Let’s at least condemn violence against innocent people. Every peace-loving person on earth should say no to war in Ukraine. We are small voices but we can put our views on our social media platforms. Little sinewy tributaries make mighty rivers. Our feeble voices will turn the tide against authoritarianism.

On a positive note, about 600,000 Russian people have signed a petition against the war in Ukraine. That speaks the truth. They are the angels of peace! Despite the routine state propaganda, they don’t see it as a matter of nationalistic pride. They see it as a tragedy. And that’s how it should be taken by the outsiders as well. This is a war for the ambition of the few rather than the Russian people. It’s Putin’s war, not Russian war.

As most of us beat and sharpen our own egos on the anvil of pro or against EU - NATO debate, we forget the smaller tragedies of common lives. Strong opinions are huge ego pacifiers, so much so that even the people in distant lands derive a sense of worth through them.

I am a small-time poet and my truth isn’t shaped by the huge hyperboles of ideologies and geostrategic jargon. I am not bothered about bigger bombs of rhetoric. I feel the pain of ordinary lives like me. I look at the conflict from the tiny, tragic sight of a little kid cycling on the road and then being blown to pieces in an instant. A little life snuffed out amidst wagging tongues, bombardment of ideologies and falling bombs.

My mind also tries to influence me, giving me very strong thoughts about this group and that. But then there is a soft murmur in the heart against wars and bloodshed. Don’t allow this tiny sparkle of humanism to be quelled within your breast. That’s the only hope for the imperilled humanity and your individual salvation. Pray for the common lives and condemn war unequivocally wherever it is.

This isn’t Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s merely Putin’s invasion. An authoritarian ruler can’t represent the will of his people. He grabs power. People haven’t given him power. An overwhelming majority of Russians are against this war. Let’s hope the war doesn’t aggravate further and doesn’t burn even the wild spring flowers after snuffing out the dreams of the millions of Ukrainians.

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The Croakings of an Old Toad -- 3

 About the number of breaths per minute, a very prominent spiritual guru says that if one’s breath becomes seven, the person comes to know everything that is worth knowing in the game of mother existence. The body turns very stable. In this stillness, there is no rustle. One simply perceives everything. The body still perceives because if not for this one cannot exist. One might not be aware of it, but one’s body perceives precisely the manner the earth’s spinning, what is going in the sun, how and why happenings are going around. As long as one is alive, one’s body keeps adjusting to all this wonderful phenomena.

I don't know how to put it. My breathing rate at rest is seven breaths per minute. But far from feeling the divinity of it, as the great guru says, I feel as restless and ignorant as ever. I mean I remember my journey from 12 breaths/minute to the present rate. But as far as feeling is concerned, it’s the same. The bliss is missing. I still lack that crucial experiential dimension of knowledge. All the knowledge I possess seems theoretical and worthless. The entire set of stuff crammed in the mind is worthless unless one enters the experiential dimension. Till then all are same, be it a doctorate in philosophy or an illiterate beggar.

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Try to be a bird that enjoys perching upon the scarecrow itself. In easy lingo, s(h)it on your fears and bury them with the unwanted extras in you.

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Do you know who has got the most benign and captivating smile in the world? It’s an old man...blind. His smile is pure...pious. Why? Because he can’t wear a mask. Or rather, he need not. He doesn’t even know what is wearing a mask all about. He shows his real self. He can’t even see others wearing masks. So that helps a lot because most of our deeds are mere compulsive imitation of others. No wonder, he has a genuine smile on a genuine face!

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