Ego has many faces, none more harsh than hatred; many voices, none sweeter than love

Ego has many faces but none more visible than hatred. Ego has many voices but none sweeter than love. Ego has many burdens but none nobler than service. Ego has many victories but none even close to a victory over its ugly limbs. Ego has many joys but none more uplifting than a laughter at its own expense. Both love and hatred are the war cries of ego from the sides of the opposing armies. Hatred is the cry of desperate need to win, love is the cry of an equally desperate need to surrender.

Indo Pak hatred: Indentical stupid twins

If hatred is the only thing that the Governments of India and Pakistan must share,let them share it so well that there is nothing left of it for their citizens. And of the citizens in the two countries who love to hate each other,let it be said that they do a jolly good job of proving how they can't erase the similarities between them. Even in their hatred, they are equally silly, looking so like each other, these rascals. Will some one go tell them "Invent sentiments that do not resemble the other's . Right now the more you want to appear different from each other, the more like identical idiotic twins you look. Ask the Chinese. They at least know how to hate differently."

There is only one thing more humbling than love unrequited: it is hatred unrequited.

"Once we have taken care of the needs of survival, most of our wounds are the inverted image of a secret self-pity."

It is not that i do not believe in God. It is just that I find it hard to pretend that I know enough about God and His presence to believe in him. Right now, I play it safe, believing in all that God is meant to stand for, and avoiding all  that Godmen find fit to fall for. If I were to meet God - He Himself -  on some lonely street tomorrow morning, I would wink at Him to let Him know that his trick of forcing me to believe in Him without being allowed to know Him did not pay off. The only problem I have with religious people is that I can not insult God as they do, making him answer all their prayers, fit all their descriptions and forced always to fight on their side. My God would allow me to live without Him and still be worthy of Him and His love. My God is not like silly jealous woman or a sillier jealous man. God and I have always behaved like a sensible modern couple, allowing each other space and respecting each other's privacy.

Between not being loved by the one you love and not being hated by the one you hate, which one would leave you more embarrassed? Which one would you rather not have? An answer to this can open many a lock over our happiness.

I

Jitt Duaare oobhre, titte leh oobhaar: On being and not being a Sikh

It is perhaps difficult to say who is a true Sikh. But it is easy to say who is not.

At the very start,one can reject any definition of Sikhism on the basis of  birth. The Gurus quite clearly disapproved of dynastic spirituality, or dynastic religiosity.
What one gains by birth is not religion or spiritual enlightenment, but a strong cultural identity and communal   consciousness. ( Communal= relating to community)

Cultural identity based on one's birth  is a very strong and, if put to creative use, an extremely powerful medium for personal and social/human growth.( I am against this birth-related  identity only in its negative and destructive avatar. Culturally, there is nothing wrong with having a certain creative consciousness of one's identity based on birth - in a  religious or linguistic community,a nation,  a state, a district or even a village) Creative consciousness, but not group or communal arrogance and vanity which inevitably breed hatred and petty jingoism.)

 At the other end of the identity band is something akin to the "bliss experience" of spiritual awakening. This is something profoundly personal, as opposed to the group of communal identity at its other end.

Talking about  who is not a Sikh,my mother gave me several easy to understand paths. One of these had this simple mantra: "The moment you find yourself counting reasons for the superiority of your own religion to the religion of others , you can be certain that you are moving away from the Guru. When Gurus said that all religions are equally worthy of our respect, they really meant it.. But do you really, REALLY believe that they actually meant it?  Don't be misled into believing that they were being merely courteous or polite."

And when mother would say this, I would often find myself thinking. "How can she always read my mind. How does she know that  I really  don't believe that they meant it?  I often  behave as if the Gurus' were  being merely  polite,and not seriously truthful, when they declared all paths to be  as  good as their own? How does mother always know my private thoughts all the time?"

But she knew always,especially my pettiness in matters like these. She knew about the intellectual arrogance of her son more than was good for him.

"Here was another difficulty:

The Gurus in fact declared that it is impossible to decide  which path is the most suited to any follower, moving even beyond the world of good and evil.  ( Ev bhi aakh na jaapeyi je kisse aane raas)  and that only one for whose inner universe Nature herself chose to illumine can be called " Devoted to Truth"  (Gur-mukh) " Nanak Gurmukh jaaniye ja ko aap kare pargaas")

Religious practices or what may even be called "religious living" is  at best  mere preparation for  that momentary "visionary gleam"  which happens of its own,  suddenly,defying all human beliefs,  beyond conscious  human effort or wisdom or learning. In a slightly different context, Colin Wilson refers to it as the  moment of  "the absurd  good news"( Poetry and Mysticism)

 A Sikh who does not consider the symbols of other religions just as much worthy of love and respect as the symbols of Sikhism  - well, I don't know whether such a one qualifies to be called a follower of the great Gurus who famously declared, "Jitt duaare oobhre, titte le ho ubhaar."

And as a proof of my religious stupidity, I often find myself declaring Sikhism to be better religion than other religions simply because  Sikhism  does not claim to be a better a religion  than other religions !

In a way, followers of all religions are guilty of this paradoxical idiocy: We are superior to you because we are the only ones who declare that we are not superior to you.
Proud of our humility, aren't we?

(And when I say "Sikh", I do not mean only a person born into a community associated with the Gurus. I mean anyone honestly committed to any path he considers virtuous and truthful.)
Paradoxical ?? Ajmer Singh Gurjeet Bains Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal Kawaldeep Singh

It is perhaps difficult to say who is a true Sikh. But it is easy to say who is not.

Talking about  who is not a Sikh,my mother gave me this simple mantra: "The moment you find yourself counting reasons for the superiority of your own religion to the religion of others , you can be certain that you are moving away from the Guru. When Gurus said that all religions are equally worthy of our respect, they really meant it.. But do you really, REALLY believe that they actually meant it?  Don't be misled into believing that they were being merely courteous or polite."

And when mother would say this, I would often find myself thinking. "How can she always read my mind. How does she know that  I really  don't believe that they meant it?  I often  behave as if the Gurus' were  being merely  polite,and not seriously truthful, when they declared all paths to be  as  good as their own? Ho does mother always know my private thoughts all the time?"

But she knew always,especially my pettiness in matters like these. She knew about the intellectual arrogance of her son more than was good for him.

"Here was another difficulty:

The Gurus in fact declared that it is impossible to decide  which path is the most suited to any follower, moving even beyond the world of good and evil.  ( Ev bhi aakh na jaapeyi je kisse aane raas)  and that only one for whose inner universe Nature herself chose to illumine can be called " Devoted to Truth"  (Gur-mukh) " Nanak Gurmukh jaaniye ja ko aap kare pargaas")

Religious practices or what may even be called "religious living" is  at best  mere preparation for  that momentary "visionary gleam"  which happens of its own,  suddenly,defying all human beliefs,  beyond conscious  human effort or wisdom or learning. In a slightly different context, Colin Wilson refers to it as the  moment of  "the absurd  good news"( Poetry and Mysticism)

 A Sikh who does not consider the symbols of other religions just as much worthy of love and respect as the symbols of Sikhism  - well, I don't know whether such a one qualifies to be called a follower of the great Gurus,who famously  declared "Jit duare oobhre,titte leh oobhaar - O lead us out of these flames (hatred and violence) that engulf human minds /  Lift us out through whichever path that leads out of here .)

And as a proof of my religious stupidity, I often find myself declaring Sikhism to be better religion than other religions simply on the ground that  Sikhism  does not claim to be a better religion  than other religions !

In a way, followers of all religions are guilty of this paradoxical idiocy: We are superior to you because we are the only ones who declare that we are not superior to you.

Proud of our humility, aren't we?

(And when I say "Sikh", I do not mean only a person born into a community associated with the ten Gurus and Sri Guru Granth Sahib. I mean anyone honestly committed to any path he considers virtuous and truthful.)

 Ajmer Singh Gurjeet Bains Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal Kawaldeep Singh

Note on a brave man without feet

A SCRIPTURE IN CELLULOID

I could roll all learning of my life into a little ball of waste paper, and toss it towards the ocean - in return for what the link below reveals. 

The aperture that opens on eternity of life's limitless vista still lasts barely a fraction of a second. In that fraction is revealed the astounding vision of a billion trillion laughing universes, mocking the shallow drama of our selfish pain.Why does the Buddha laugh? Why do the eyes of bleeding saints and seers and prophets reflect profound calm and peace and even bliss, even as their biographies are written in wood and nails. Spare a little heart-beat...a thought is worth nothing.

Spare a heartbeat ..don't spare a thought; in fact, keep the thought to yourself. And just keep in mind: it is not about human courage alone. Here is a scripture on celluloid .And this is not the only one out there. 

Wake up to the whispering breeze in the trees on the hills ..he wrote for her as he left the hotel room

When she woke up, the scent of a new dawn already filled the air outside her room. She looked around and in the semi darkness, felt the bed. He had left. And on the table beside her bed was a little note She looked at it and then turned the mild bed light on, and held the note in front of her. It read:
"I want you to wake up to the most beautiful morning of your life - trees
whispering in morning breeze, lilacs in bloom, spring in the air, distant snow clad mountain peaks blowing cool, soothing kisses towards your cheeks,
clouds pregnant with love ready to rain, .

The worries and anxieties and a thousand other concerns of the world left far, far behind..

Fresh in mind, born anew in limb, a fresh light in your eyes, a new
glow on your face, and thoughts only of happiness and love for
everyone. And no ill will towards anyone. Anyone whom God regarded worthy of receiving life from Him is worthy of our love.

That's where I have always wanted us to live.

But to live there, Nature demands us to rise in mind and soul to a stature which matches Nature's own. I was never able to rise to that, pulled down now by this weakness in my being, now with the other. But the peaks kept calling, have been calling, are calling. When I look at my
legs, they already seem reluctant, claiming more weariness than they feel. I do not want to quarrel with these legs. At my age, one doesn't quarrel.
I live where dreams have been replaced with prayers.

There is a stature nature sets for us to rise to. .

This morning, I pray that you rise to that stature, a height I missed but yet a height which I wish and dream and pray for you. I pray that you rise to recognize the infinite truth - which is infinite love, which is infinite beauty - peeping at you from behind the smallest particle of dust.

I pray you rise free of your nightmares. I pray your embrace the nightness of the night and then leave it behind . The womb of the night was glowing all night, and I saw it sitting beside you as you slept peacefully, all night. I pray that you hold that glow close to your bososm and carry it to the huts of the poorest of poor, the neediest of the needy, the most unfortunate among the suffering. "
I pray you answer the call of the peaks."

Apparently, he had left only a little while ago, because the bed felt still warm.

She read the note, and then looked out of the window towards the hills and mountains that spread outside her room. Hills are truly God's abode, she thought, and kept looking into vacantly into the distance.

From somewhere afar, a note floated on the breeze, the rise and fall of sound seeming to measure the peaks and vales in the vast landscape that spread outside her little Hill hotel room.The song streamed gently in:

When your path is ridiculed for not being selfish enough...

" To be thought impractical or inane because you lack the stamina for bitterness and feel too weary to carry on without love - that is just one more hill you will need to climb to reach yourself."

"When your way is ridiculed as foolish for not being selfish enough,when your failure to hate is regarded as just that - a failure ; when you are looked at as odd, weird because you want an end to the cycle of reciprocal acrimony, that is the moment you need to persist with yourself the most."


"When your strength and your faith in your path seems to give in, that is the time when you will need these two assets the most: faith in your path and the strength to keep walking on it. "

The trick, my child, is to keep faith. When your way is ridiculed as foolish for not being selfish enough,when your failure to hate is regarded as just that - a failure ; when you are looked at as odd, weird because you want an end to the cycle of reciprocal acrimony, the terrifying intensity of cycle of hate, when you are thought impractical or inane because you lack the stamina for bitterness and feel too weary to carry on without forgiveness and love - when you feel stupid yourself for not living life as wisely as everyone around you manages so easily,when your strength and your faith in your own path seems to give in, that, my son,is the time when you will need these two assets the most: faith in your path and the strength to keep walking on that path. There is more to happiness than just this, but if you are able to do this, consider that 'not bad' for a start .Your failure to act as the logic and laws of reciprocal evil demand, your failure to see that unsolicited goodness or unwarranted piety will appear either too naive or too clever to eyes accustomed seeing tooth for a tooth and an eye for eye. You may be told at least to be "careful" with your ways. When all this is being said to and about you, that, my son, is just the time to keep faith, to continue to refuse to be calculating........."" ( Interrupted )

More pickings: The only way to free oneself of one's truth is to admit it. That is the beginning of all freedom. "

,"The only way to free oneself of one's truth is to admit it. That is the beginning of all freedom. "

"The child we lose daily in the world outside waits for us at home every evening - provided we are alone and have the time to meet his smile with smile."

 

Stray Fb Pickings: Only the uniquely fortunate are allowed to kiss the tears they caused.

Back to simplicity, back to happiness. Back to truth, back to freedom. The first is relatively easy; the second is the way of saints - easy for them, and perhaps for them only. Fb May 3

As simple as truth, and as beautiful and strong..The man who defined my childhood --.Lal Bahadur Shahstri.  

Between a lifetime of fretting on a throne gained through intrigue and maintained through greater intrigue on the one hand and an hour spent in the simplicity of secure and honest livelihood earned through the sweat of one's brow, basking in the glow of the gaze of loved ones, secure in peace which only success gained through honest hard work brings - on the other - who among us would be foolish enough to opt for the first?
I am no romantic advocate of poverty and in fact glorify all the luxuries and comforts that money can buy, but between honest poverty and dishonest riches, I would still opt for the first, though I would prefer honest success to honest failure.

And my experience is that there is no reason to be a pessimist about the presence and prevalence of honesty even in an atmosphere reeking with dishonesty.

Just as love thrives in an age of hatred too, so does honesty thrive amid the stink of corruption.

Think of it, honesty has always thrived in the stink of fraud, lies, dishonesty, injustice and demons like that. All the epics from ancient times to this day tell us the story of the eternal battle between forces of evil and of good.

There never was such a thing as Satyug even in the times of Nanak - "Kood amavas sach chandrama, disai nahi keh chadhya" but then came Nanak - "Jio kar suraj niklia, taare chhipe, andher paloa."

To those who think that Nanak was an exception, let Nanak speak:

"Sabh mae jot jot hai soi" --- May 2

"Voting officially over in Punjab, duties done and performed. You have done what you thought was the best thing to do for you and for your country and the people. Now, its perhaps time to shake the monkey off your back, sink into an easy chair, lock your fingers and palms around your nape, stretch your legs, look at the sky above, take a deep breath, and think of your friends and murmur (as the saying goes):

"I do my thing, and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful."

Sip a glass of clear water, close your eyes and fall in love with people and life once again." .. April 30

"
This day, this morning , just around the start of polling, I am reminded of a similar hour about 46 years ago.

The only election I ever contested in life was for presidency of the Students' Central Association , as 'Students Union' was called in our college. I was a nominated member of the Association, by virtue of being the editor of the College Magazine.
This was during my BA II in college in our village. I vaguely recall that I needed perhaps 14 votes to win and was sure of getting 24 - out of 27 ! I remember being assured of "100 phee sadi vote te support" not only by fellow student members but even by members of their families. I believed that they all of them loved me very warmly and were really keen to see me in the job. ( of the President of CA)

I remember I campaigned for two days on bicycle, visiting houses of members in and outside our village, Mahilpur. Around this time the day of polling, I remember feeling quietly confident of a landslide win - a no contest . I could not think of a single member except my rival who would want to vote against me. ( Well , i even believed that the rival , his name was Parminder, too would secretly vote for me ! he had come across to me several times to tell me that he was contesting only because our teacher in Political Science had forced him to . Parminder, i believed, was an extremely decent soul, and his family too had confirmed his version to me and had told me not to worry about the out come at all. I did not see any reason to disbelieve any of them, and I also believed what I was told about the Political Science Teacher pressurising my rival to contest against his will, because I thought that the concerned teacher did not really like me for some reason.) Parminder was a nice boy and I had offered to withdraw in his favour if he was serious about contesting.

On the day of polling, all 27 members voted. ( I could be wrong on the exact number.)

Instead of the 14 needed and 24 I expected to secure, I got 7 -including my own.

That was when I knew in life that politics was never going to be my cup of tea.

I was so hurt and so thoroughly ashamed that I did not feel like ever going to college again, and did not do so for about a week.
I can now recall that I sobbed inconsolably once I was alone in a rented room of a classmate and close friend. The friend, an extremely simple soul and one who is still one of my closest friends, knew just how sharp was the pain I felt at what I then thought was a needless betrayal by friends and their families. More than the loss of an election, it was the betrayal that hurt deep. For some time, I felt so shattered that I almost lost faith in human goodness and felt that the ace was the most needlessly cunning of all species.

Luckily, I recovered soon enough, laughed at my own stupidity in making an ass of myself, swore never to contest an election again. And never did.

That was my first lesson in electoral politics. I did not need another.

Elections are different from writing poems or reciting Gurbani or being in love with people. I have never ever been in a race for a political ticket, post or appointment. And if I ever feel that even for the post I hold now I will have to compete with someone else politically, I know what I would do: bow out, wishing my rival well. I have been downright lucky that no one else seems ever to have wanted to be in my shoes . I have been here practically all my life by default.

And what a coincidence that I have spent my life in the company of someone who has almost never lost an election in his long political career, and happen to be with a party that set new record with back to back victories in the state assembly poll.

I admire the courage of those who fight elections.".... April 30.

 

"
Just came back after winding up campaign operations. Now, its over to the people. To me here, as on every occasion when I stepped on the ground during my days as a tennis player, it does not matter who wins or loses. What mattered was how well was I able to play. To my mind, during this campaign, I played as well as I could and, what is even more important, played by the rule-book. That satisfaction has always been the most important of my possessions at the end of all the matches or battles I have ever featured in. This, and the fact that I was able to come out of the play field with no malice towards my opponent. If I won, I would offer a word of encouragement to my rival and tell him , often honestly, that my victory was only a fluke. And if I lost, which was more often than not, I would congratulate the guy. In all cases, the respect I had for my opponents never went away.

I hope it will be the same tomorrow and on 16th of May, regardless of who wins or loses.".... April 30

"Only the uniquely fortunate are allowed to kiss the tears they caused."  April 30

 

 

"The child we lose daily in the world outside waits for us at home every evening  - provided we are alone and have the time to meet his smile with smile."   April 29

"When things collapse around you and you find misery and stink everywhere, there is one thing you must learn to give without demur or condition: love. And there is one thing you must learn to take without demur or explanation: blame. On the face of it, it might look too idealistic. But in life, you will find that there is a strong case for both. Generally, the stink is the stink of your failure to be the dream you thought you were. When that dream crashes in another's eye, have the honesty and the courage to own the tears that roll down the cheek below that eye.

Only the uniquely fortunate are allowed to kiss the tears they caused.

As for your own pain and share of misfortune, if these were indeed sacred and pious, life will weave an epic out of these. But if it doesn't, count that too a punishment you must receive to restore balance in nature."  April 29

"You really don't win anything in war if you do not win the respect of your opponent and,more importantly, if you do not learn to give that respect to the man who considered you good enough to engaged with. Never start or join a war if you do not respect your rival at least enough to shake hands with him as friends at some point or the other: why would you fight with someone whom you do not even deem your equal? How can someone who is not good enough to be your friend be good enough to be your foe: after all, friend or foe, they all reflect on who we are." April 29

"Arrogance is not only bad;it is downright stupid. Arrogance proclaims sovereignty and how can anything that has to end in death one day ever be sovereign? There is enough in life to convince us of the stupidity of arrogance, but even if one fails to see that, there is always death waiting at the end of all our stories of personal aggrandizement to make a nonsense of all our proud achievements.

Humility is nice for another reason: it allows you to discover that everything in your life is worthy of your love, and that usually means abundance of love in your life." ...April 29

 

,"The only way to free oneself of one's truth is to admit it. That is the beginning of all freedom. "

"The child we lose daily in the world outside waits for us at home every evening - provided we are alone and have the time to meet his smile with smile."

 

 

 

The man I could have been

The world is no excuse for who and what and the way I am. The man I was born to be, the man I wanted to be, the man I could have been, the man I ended up being, the man I am, the man I still want to be, the man I would perhaps end up being, and the man I should be but won't be: in all this , there is no place for the man I was forced to become. (In the end, I could be forced to become only what I didn't have the courage or strength to resist:the world is no excuse for who and what I am.) I lack the courage to measure the damage surroundings inflicted on me with the damage I inflicted on surroundings and the damage I might have inflicted on myself. I know I will lose the argument there. Like Oscar Wilde, I know I was and often am punished for the sins I never committed, but then, I also know that there far more serious sins I committed and have never been punished for. I accept the package, fro refusing it would mean certain loss.

For whatever and whoever I am , I take responsibility. That is the first step on the journey to be what I still want to be.