Nature vs. Man-made

I have been on an European exploration for the past few months and will continue for another few months. I've seen few of the old towns, main cities, mountains, lakes and etc. I live by a beautiful area close to Lake Constance. With the Swiss Alps back drop and the pure water, you can't imagine a more perfect stroll by the lake. 

Every time, I come across a beautiful scenery. I'm just awe struck. It feels so magnanimous. I feel one with the nature and I feel the moment as it is. The very first time I went up the Swiss Alps and had the breath taking view of the alps amidst the clouds, my breath became slower, my smile became wider, my presence felt subtle, and I could the feel the submersion with the environment. 

Although, I really appreciate the architecture, the culture, and the history each of the cities and towns that I visit in Europe, I don't get the same feel as being with the nature. When I visit an Old Town in any of the towns or cities, my mind goes into, "what must be the meaning behind this architecture?"  or "I wonder who built this and how they were able to build this magnanimous piece of art with barely any technology available at their hands?". I do appreciate those moments when I feel connected with the culture and the people around me through people, the architecture and of course food. :) It still doesn't give me the feeling of being in the present moment or completely letting go. 

I notice my intellectual mind gets activated in the cities and towns but I experience something beyond the mind and something beyond this body when I'm with nature.

It makes me wonder. A man tries so hard for entertainment and provide tourists with unique experiences, but the nature has already done that. The nature has presented us with natural beauty all through the world. There's not one place in the world, where you can experience the magnanimity of the Mother Nature and feel the connection (of course unless, we have destroyed it).

I've been to many man made gardens which are beautiful to look at and you can really appreciate the gardeners for keeping it so beautiful and arranging it in such a rhythmic way but you don't get the same relaxation and calm feeling that I feel when I just look out my office window and see the field of dandelions making theirs way out of the winter - that's nature's arrangement. Even using nature, the man cannot create the pure feeling in a way nature naturally can.

In any case, European cities have really been giving me a mix of both nature and culture and I'm truly able to appreciate where I am because of nature and people! 

I've always knew that you cannot truly connect to a place without connecting to people but in this journey, I've learnt that you cannot truly connect to a place without being connected with the nature as well.

Judging Lifestyle

After almost 3.5 years of not posting a blog or posting a private blog, I decided to post one today.

I was browsing through my Facebook and was "liking" whatever I found interesting, touching, funny, or something that someone I like has posted and realized that I'm practicing a habit of judging. We often hear not judge people, situations, or ourselves but the way the society is moving, we are trained to judge on a daily basis.

Social media is a huge thing now!! Everyone is connected through social media, you get your news updates, friend updates, and etc. from social media as well. On a daily or hourly basis, we go on Facebook or twitter or Instagram or whatever other social media networks are out there and "like", "follow", "share" what we like or if its posted by someone we like. We comment whether we agree or we don't. As we are scrolling through Facebook, we are looking for things to "like".

So even for something simple as looking at someone's photo, we are training our brain to judge by physically clicking on that thumbs up button. Its our human nature to judge and there is nothing wrong with it, but through our everyday lifestyle, we are training ourselves to judge.

Sometimes we forget that its okay to not judge and just experience. There are also some people who freak out if they or someone else is judging. Just maintaining that fine balance and being okay with the situation is more pleasant than judging ourselves or others on whether they are judging or not!

Little things that make a Big Difference

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
-Anonymous


This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and this is something that is applicable to nearly everyone we know. 

Until the whole world quiets down, we sometimes can't feel the presence of the subtlest things in life. Until we are in an empty room away from all technology and all distractions, we don't notice that we are breathing, yet we breathe every second of our life. How weird is that? 


As soon as we get a notification on Facebook, or as soon as we get a text, or an email, we know it, but we don't know we are breathing! When we notice that we are breathing, we suddenly feel alive; what were we doing this whole time? Thank god we can breath involuntarily, otherwise, well I think you know what happens. 

We are so occupied with the jibber jabber of our mind that we hardly notice things that are beautifully presenting themselves in front of us. It could be as simple as noticing the sensitivity of our skin until there is a cut on the skin. We have been living in this very skin since our birth and yet to really know the sensitivity, we need a cut or a scratch. Or to know what our legs are capable of until they start to hurt. It feel kind of ridiculous that we need to get hurt or lose something for us to be grateful. 


I like what Gurudev (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) says in the basic course, we don't know the value of the peace of mind until we go through a disturbance. When the present moment seems intolerable, we suddenly want that peace of mind that we experienced moments ago, but at that moment, we didn't feel grateful or even recognize that peace. 


Another example could be, when you go on a walk in the early morning as the sun is rising when most of the people are sleeping, you will notice soooo many more things in nature: the trees, birds, and little kids. haha But when you are rushing to work while talking on the phone, yeah right, we are lucky if you notice the car in front of you. Only if we could live every moment of our life like the morning walks. 

Although, its very difficult for us get away from the distractions of technology, but that's when I notice the most beautiful and subtle things in life and that's when I naturally feel grateful. Maybe for starters, a 10 min morning walk just for yourself would help. After all, its the little things that matter the most, and its the little things that create big waves. 

It's one way or another

          Most often, we don't like to consent with others. We want to be different from others; we like to feel unique and it bothers us when we find someone else who has the same interests as we do. When you say that you are weird, or different from others, you state it like you are complimenting the other person, but the truth behind the scene is that you don't want to seem same as the other person. If someone else says that they like the same kinds of food that you do, then you get defensive about the food you like. "Oh! My mom makes it a little different, she adds this and that, and that's why I like it and that's the ONLY way I like it." There is nothing wrong in liking the same kinds of foods, music, art, subjects, sports, and etc. There are so many people who like the Eiffel Tower. I like the Eiffel Tower [I have never been to Paris, but would love to one day go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower in person]. If someone says that they like the Eiffel Tower too, it's kinda hard to get defensive about that. What would I say? "Oh! I only like the Eiffel Tower from this angle."

          Why does one have so much vanity over their hobbies, preferences, and choices? There is no reason to be so narcissistic. You find that someone else has the same interest as you do, and then you lose the feeling of "uniqueness." You don't enjoy that feeling, so you try to find ways to make it seem unique, then the competition begins, and then that ends with a disagreement, which will end with an argument, just because you like the same thing that the other person likes. Instead of competing for the "most uniqueness," if they accepted it that they have similar interests and appreciated it, then they could have build upon on that. It would have further improved their abilities and expand their ideas. I guess the choice is yours - do you want to keep your feeling of uniqueness, or do you want to develop on your preferences?

Peaceful Warrior

          I watched this inspiring movie quite awhile ago, like may be six or seven months ago. This movie was recommended to me by couple people, but I didn't watch it until my dad said I have to watch it. Without reading any reviews, summaries, or watching trailers, I got a packet of popcorn, and while it's popping in the microwave, I went on Netflix, found the movie, and paused it until my popcorn was ready. Then the two-hour journey into wisdom, inspiration, and total awe broke the ground. 
          When the movie first started, I thought it would be like any other 'inspiring' movie, first the guy succeeds, and then he fails, and then by some miracle he succeeds again. Yeah! It was sorta like that, but the difference was, he did not succeed again because of some unknown miracle, but rather a known miracle - realization. The main character of the movie, Dan, was a gymnast, who is soon going to be qualified to represent United States of America in Olympics. His dad has so much money that money is never a worry for him. He is a straight A student at University of California - Berkeley. He has amazing friends, and he never sleeps alone, unless he has to. Dan thought he was happy, but he could not sleep at nights. Why? 

          To make him realize why he could not sleep at night, he had his own private guru, as Dan referred to him as Socrates. Socrates agreed to help Dan to become a better gymnast, but Dan never thought he would become a better person. Socrates made Dan do some "exercises" that were no way related to becoming a better gymnast and at times, Dan wanted to stop coming back to Socrates, but Socrates reasoning behind his activities made Dan more and more curious about his goal, life, and himself. It was a journey for Dan to discover himself beyond his selfishness and arrogance.

          When someone asks you, "What makes you happy?" What is your response? May be good academics, money, brand new house, family, marriage, health, and etc. Whatever it may be...you are only happy when you get what you want. Dan had the same kind of attitude that he is happy as long as he gets what he wants. He never realized that after he got whatever he wanted, he wanted something else, and after he got that, he wanted something else, he was never happy. As the private guru said in Peaceful Warrior, "You don't get what you want, you'll suffer, and even when you get what you want, you'll suffer." 
          We all heard some wisdom points here and there, and most of us when we hear them, we think, "Is that it? I knew that before you told me." But the private guru that Dan has makes him experience how it feels to actually live those wisdom points rather than just knowing them. So from what I said so far, you probably think this is a movie, which basically goes through wisdom points, huh? Well, that's what I thought until Dan gets into an accident and is now handicapped, but still participates in Olympics.

          It's all a miracle! It's amazing how all of this happened, and it's not by practicing to be a better gymnast, but rather by practicing to be a better person. He met with challenges, but he learned how to handle them even at the hardest of times. This is truly an inspiring movie, and the fact that it's based on a true story makes it even more inspiring.

My Thoughts

These are some of the points that I found very interesting from the movie.

 You work hard, you get results.

 Don't let emotions control you.

 All you have is RIGHT now.

 There are no ordinary moments.

 Death isn't sad, the sad thing is, most people don't live at all.

 Life is a choice - you choose to be a victim.

 The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.

 You make every move, about the move.