The kind of information

that I get these days is simply mind-boggling. I am coming across so many people who are, what do I say,...mmm...different. Way different than what you would expect a normal person to be. On one side I see compassionate people, people with so much compassion that they would leave all they are doing to answer your one genuine question; people who have left a career in s/w(in the US) to settle down with a farm in India; many many more.
All these people are so motivating. What's better than being the way to show it?
And all of this, I did not know about for so long. I am coming around to believe that if you start looking for something earnestly, that something you will get(maybe something even more).
Sometimes, I feel myself wondering. Aren't we all(Indians, Americans, Pakistanis, Talibans) living in the same world? The different continents that was one huge continent millions of years ago? Whom are we fighting at? Whomever we fight with, whatever we fight with, aren't we all the victims? Isn't the big picture obvious?

The modern conveniences of man has also brought division. But logically speaking, if we have a more than what we need, aren't we taking it from someone else? Even if we do not stop taking, isn't it responsible to at least give something back to the community? And IF religion is stopping us from thinking everyone as one among us, do we need to feed it?
I really don't know if I am making sense anymore. But somewhere, something makes me think...think some other way. There is more to this life than we seem to know. And shouldn't knowing the unknown be more sensible to look for?

Recently, I watched this TED video where Sunitha Krishnan talks about how she rescued 4 and 5 year old girls who had been sexually abused, I found myself in tears, in pain. And her plead to us is not for money or charity. All she asks for is acceptance...what did they do? They were just a victim. And all these people, the abusers are very much around us. And we don't know them. We don't want to know them. We are just turning a blind eye. A very convenient but dangerous attitude.
Are we probably waiting for this to happen to someone we know before we would do something? Isn't that dangerous?
I could not help but be grateful to my parents...their over-protective security was probably with the best intentions.

My trip to grace...Mahima

Just two months after my association with Isha, I found myself sitting on a plane to TN to take an advance course. It was like I had no other option. I just had to do it.

I still had to do my Shambavi at noon when I reached IIIS before lunch. So, I took the oppurtunity to meditate in Mahima. I had just seen it from the outside when I just checked myself in. So, after shower, I found myself entering the doors of Mahima.
SILENCE!!!
There, looking at me was the most powerful picture of Sadhguru. It brought me a chill.
When I could finally take my eyes off that picture, I looked up to the ceiling of the dome. I knew immediately. This place is something!

I did my Shambavi. When I had to mouth words as part of my meditation, I found the whole of Mahima say it with me in reverberation. Thinking of it gives me goosebumps even now. If Mahima does not move you in any other way, at least the size will! It is HUGE!!!

I found some time to hike around the paved grounds. As if I needed more solitude, I found myself walking to the main gate. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Seriously! The nearest road(the highway) is a good 30 min walk away. I cannot even dream of a better place to spend with myself. The place is mesmerized with silence. If I was reading a book or just contemplating with myself, no one would disturb me(and that is even after I made a lot of friends).

The program started off at 9pm. The course is Shoonya Meditation. Shakti Chalana Kriya & Surya Namaskar was also a part of this 3 day intensive program.

The next three days were a mixture of interesting, tiring, welcoming breaks, awesome raw food & lots of Sadhana. The whole process started growing into me. Waking up at 4.30am to attend the Guru pooja at 5.30am was something I started doing with utmost ease. Life made so much sense just being there.

Leaving IIIS was a mixed feeling. It so much felt like home by then. While I still wanted to stay there for a while, the mother in me wanted to see the daughter on the West coast. I had to go.
At the ATL airport, I could notice something very different. It was like the whole world was in one pace & I was just watching it all. I couldn't gel with things around me. I washed my eyes to look if my eyes were doing the trick. It took me a while to realize that I had slowed down so much.
My whole experience was very close to Neo's feeling in Matrix in different levels.

I have a long way to go before I perfect what I have learnt so far, so may be no more programs. But this is the beginning of a long term lease I seemed to have signed with Isha.
My recent practices with Shoonya are so different from my experiences after IE. It is difficult to explain but maybe I can try after my 40 days.
Yesterday I was in the middle of a slight fever & a major sore throat/running nose. While every aching muscle would support my decision to not do my practices, I did it anyway. In aches & pains for sure. But after my practices, I only felt better. In so many ways. So, Yoga seems to really work.

Having visited IIIS, visiting the Yoga center in Coimbatore seems a distant, but definite possibility.