Lets Meditate!!

I'd like to share my views on meditation with you. I think the concept of meditation is ever more relevant in 21st century .In the present world full of hectic schedules and deadlines and lots of other stresses and strains, one should try to calm his mind otherwise he is sure to get hypertensive or diabetic. Also incidence of heart attacks in young people is on the rise. So all of us should try to get hold of our emotions and behavior otherwise we might be in a high risk situation later in life.

I have to tell you why I turned towards meditation. My day to day life was full of stresses and I used to feel very bad about myself at the end of the day . Also that I felt alone most of the time and that used to depress me a lot. From this year beginning I started getting migraine headache also! So I had to do something about it . To tell you the truth I didn't like to start meditating , I thought it was old fashioned .

But one day as I was talking with my classmates I found out that many of them were practicing meditation. I was surprised and then even I wanted to do it ! Peer pressure you see, I never thought my friends would be doing it, but once I found out that they also did it then I didn't have any inhibitions.

I referred many books before starting and once I started meditating I realised what all I had missed! It was such a wonderful experience! I have been practicing it from last two months and I have noticed myself thinking more clearly, being more calm and I have better control over my emotions now. My headaches have subsided . Although its too early to declare success , I am very confident that my personality will improve .

I have realised that I had a very wrong perception of what meditation is when I started doing it. Meditation is not about controlling your mind like a remote, you don't need to concentrate to meditate , you don't have to sit in difficult postures and you don't need to do it for hours. Rather my understanding of meditation is that it is a science of observing your mind . Its not about control but about release of pent up emotions and thoughts .Its a scientific method, has nothing to do with religion. If you want to meditate you'll have to learn to allow disturbing thoughts but not being affected by it. Restriction never helps. .

You can practice it sitting in a chair or cot. I meditate only 10-15 minutes per day but even this little does help . One of the easiest methods is to sit in calm surroundings and observing your breath . So concluding my article, I'd like all people to try meditation as it is easy to learn and doesn't take much of your time and has many benefits.

A rendezvous with the forest king

This event happened four years back. It was holidays for us after the end of yearly exams in pre university college. As usual we had planned an adventure .

The idea was to visit the Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary. We went till there in a quails and when we reached the place to our utter dismay we came to know that their safari vehicle had already left. Also the costs were high so we decided to cross over to Kerala and see the forest from that side.

It proved to be very good decision since we were able to see much of the forest for a longer time at half the price.

Coming to the main point, as we went inside that forest we saw many animals there, all kinds. I still remember some of them , for eg: Malabar squirrel, bisons, deers and many others. As we were moving in the jeep, we were confronted by a single male elephant.
That was one hell of an experience for me. The elephant was towering over us, waiting for us to make the move. There it stood in that majestic manner in which only they can show. It was the king of that forest and was not pleased at us invading its territory. The tension was palpable in the atmosphere. Then our jeep driver slowly started to move the jeep in reverse gear. The elephant trumpeted lifting its trunk, dismissing us.

We moved back for next 10 minutes expecting it to attack but it didn’t come. We used an alternate route to see other places inside the forest.

After that incident I have seen so many elephants in the captivity but none of them had that imposing personality and the fearsome attitude like this one.Deep down I have this doubt that I never will see such an animal again. .

To be carried or not...

Here's an good zen story which I read long back and still remember.

Long time back there was a famous zen guru. He was constantly travelling from one place to other , helping people and preaching religion. He had few disciples who followed him . One day while travelling, they had to cross a river. The flow was high . Also by the riverside, was a beautiful young woman, alone and worried . She also had to cross the river but she couldn't swim.

The disciples ignored her, since they had sworn celibacy . The guru saw her, suddenly went near her, took her in his arms, carried her across the river and left her on the other side.

The disciples were astonished and angry. How can our guru do this ? Being sworn celibacy how could he lead us in wrong path? They were angry but didn't have the courage to ask him directly. So they continued their journey .

The next day, senior most disciple gathered his courage and asked guru ' master , after being sworn celibacy , why did you touch that woman ? ‘

The guru simply said ' oh I left her on the other side of the river, I can see that you have been carrying her all the time till here!'

The disciple immediately understood that he had mentally thought of her all the time, where as his guru had seen her as a just another human being sworn in need of help. He bowed to the guru, feeling ashamed.

Three Years @ KMC

This day , three years back, I entered KMC. I can't believe time has elapsed in such a fast pace . It seems like just yesterday ! I was a novice then and now also I don't feel any different!

As I think about it, I realise that so many things have happened from that first day . Many memories rush in . . Some good some bad . . But each day has had some thing remarkable event happening. I have seen, heard, examined and I have learnt. I have seen births and deaths and all the raw human feelings . I have observed myself changing my personality slowly to adopt to newer situations which I never faced before. I have seen so many of others changing their lifestyles. One thing I dare to say is that change is the one constant thing in life . If you fail to adopt, you can't survive here. To sum up the last three years, I have learned to adapt to situations and survive.