A Reminder from a Sparrow

My wife called me excitedly and I went quickly, to find her pointing her finger out of the kitchen glass door. There was a sparrow pecking away at some boiled rice. She then told me that the sparrow had perched itself outside our kitchen chirping. As she looked out, she felt it was calling out to her. Thinking just maybe it is hungry, she placed some boiled rice at the edge of the railing. The sparrow pecked away in haste and that was the scene I watched. While the scene had it's touch of sadness, it was also beautiful. It was delightful to watch as the sparrow ate the rice.

I thought it was worth taking a picture or a video of the scene and grabbed my phone. As I lifted my hand, though close to 5 feet away, the sparrow looked up and seemed nervous. I abandoned the attempt and lowered my hands. We just continued to watch. After a few minutes, the sparrow hopped a few steps and flew off. 

This is probably an every day event with nothing extraordinary. And yet, when we immersed ourselves in it, it seemed to fill our souls. Mindful moments have that effect. 

We, humans, have distanced ourselves greatly from nature and other life forms. When I was in school, we kids used to play a game called “Name – Place – Animal – Thing”. A starting letter used to be chosen and we had to find words in all these categories. While only a game, it is I think, a reflection of how we think. There is us – names, and there are places – quite useful to us, then there are animals (birds, reptiles are included) and finally things. Evolution has made us a powerful life form, and we deal with nature & other life forms from the aspect of power and control. If only we recognised the oneness of the universe and used harmony and understanding as the interaction principle, rather than power, the universe would be better off and consequently we too. I suppose we have such attitude issues with other humans many times as well.

It is unclear what the precise impact of global warming will be, but hopefully it can prompt us to introspect and re-align out attitude and approach to nature and other life forms.

We demand a lot from a universe which has very simply offered itself to us in it's entirety. We must learn. And today, it was a sparrow which was the messenger.

(Image from pixabay.com. As I wrote I did not click a picture of the sparrow we watched).

Coming Alive with the Supermoon

(Image from pixabay.com)


Just a few days back (14 Nov 2016), we had a wonderful sight of a supermoon. The moon appeared bigger than usual and was beautiful to look at. I saw a number of excellent photos clicked by friends on social media. Sights like this spark something within us, making us more alive. Nature does that to us, and the supermoon certainly did that to us that day.

There are several possible reasons we love the moon:

• It is the biggest body close to our planet – in sight and keeping us company most days.
• It is also the brightest body in the night sky, reflecting light on our planet which we can see.
• It is the only other celestial body man has set foot on.
• The moon has a personality – different shades and lighted shapes. In that sense it comes alive in the sky every night.
• It has served paranormal and thriller authors well – seemingly impacting our personalities!

We, of course, thankfully, do not reason why we like the moon making a list of positives as above. If we were to take this further we would have to make a list of negatives as well, such as -

• The moon has no atmosphere and cannot support life.
• It is a slave body trapped by the Earth's gravity with very little to contribute to us.
• The moon sports no colour – being primarily shades of white, black and grey, with one side of the moon being always dark to us.
• The tides it causes on Earth is more a nuisance and also puts us more at risk at times.

This is not how we relate to the moon – we appreciate its presence and are happy that it is around in the sky, and appreciate it for what it is.

We, however, find it difficult to have a relation like this with the company we have on Earth - people, animals and greenery where we are more analytical – trying to reason what value they offer us.

Can we re-orient our relationships on Earth taking a cue from how we relate to the moon?

Reach for the stars but…..

The wise tell us that much of our problems are due to wishing things to be different from the way they are, including many times our own selves. Acceptance is a powerful concept – if we avoid resisting the natural order and the inevitable, we save ourselves much pain.

I have, however, found it enlightening to delve deeper into the concept, especially so as to be able to apply it in practical terms in every day life situations. This is worthwhile since acceptance brings up questions around – whether it means a state of inaction without attempting to improve or change frustrating situations. The confusion arises considering that some have associated phrases such as “everything is perfect as is” with acceptance.

Acceptance, to me, is simply aligning to the natural order of the universe. This means accepting cycles of pain & pleasure, accepting diversity but experiencing oneness at the same time, recognizing the overwhelming power of love & compassion, indulging in the joy of sharing, and looking at everything with a childlike curiosity and freshness.

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.

- Joseph Campbell

Not everything is perfect – many situations clearly are not. Acceptance does not mean we resist the urge for action to improve life situations or aspire to reach somewhere better. It is important that we link actions to a higher purpose rather than to gain personal rewards. Activity which extends to a sphere beyond our realm and benefits others is very fulfilling.

The curiosity to know about ourselves and the universe has led to dramatic progress in space science. This is a good analogy for acceptance – it is not that we are unhappy standing on the ground, but we find purpose and fulfillment in reaching for the stars. Interestingly, possibly in a decade, we humans may step into another planet - Mars. Those who do that I am sure, will still value Earth.

Reach for the stars, but be grateful for the ground beneath your feet…..

(Images from pixabay.com)

The Net of Things – Millions of Years Old

(Image from pixabay.com)

I admit this is a bit of a play with words – this blog has nothing to do with the exciting developments in the Internet of Things. This is instead about a net of things we have had since millions, or rather billions of years. 

It is generally accepted knowledge today that the universe emerged from a big bang. This created matter, forces and energy. The universe was a hot small tight fireball initially till it cooled over time. The expansion of the universe created more space – but the universe is still held together as one till today. So the universe has always been a “Net of Things” - held together by forces, energy being transformed and directed.

Well, this was not be a discussion of the physical universe! As it turns out, we many times consider ourselves to be evolved beings, while perceiving the universe as a purely physical entity – somewhat like a building or any other man-made structure. This view however is neither logical nor useful – we are not separate from the universe, but rather are a representation of an essential oneness which has always existed. We cannot break away from the universe nor can it from us – both references are ultimately the same.

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”
― Alan W. Watts

Science has been able to make remarkable progress in sequencing DNA, and also recreating the sequence of the events since the start of the universe. While much remains to be known, what we do know is profound as it is – everything in the universe has the same past. The evidence suggests we have ignored and assumed too much – water possibly has consciousness, and plants can feel. The universe has a delicate balance and anything which happens to any entity affects all others in some way or the other. The universe is truly an incredible “Net of Things” (admittedly we don't like being classified as things!).

“All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.”
― Swami Vivekananda

A view such as this makes a difference to how we view other life forms and the rest of the universe. If we recognize and experience the essential oneness of the universe, we do not need to debate the need for tolerance, kindness and sustainable living separately. While those who practice mindfulness experience this oneness, it is apparent even otherwise. We can be truly happy only if others around us are, and emotions travel very fast. Everything is connected - all part of the "Net of Things"!

While we emphasize the need to celebrate our differences, should we rather recognize our oneness first and celebrate that?

Mysterious Maya

(Image from pixabay.com)

I smiled as I thought about my new connection - Maya. The name was appropriate, as she had a deep sense of mystery about her. I looked closely at her timelines – it went back well into the past. Interestingly, the timeline covered most major events in her life. When I looked at her, I always admired her for the deep sense of calm on her face. But her timeline indicated there had been turbulent and violent times as well. As I read through her timeline, I wondered why would she put so much information to the outside world right since the early part of her life.

I was curious to know everything about her - she was the most fascinating person I had ever known. I reflected on my interaction with her – conversation was difficult as she spoke a different language, but I grew to recognize some of her signs. Though I was connected, I wasn't even sure if I could consider her a true friend yet.

I reflected on this:
Outwardly, Maya was neither friendly, nor unfriendly
She portrayed a sense of calm and balance
She was not verbal, and yet was very expressive
She encouraged me to understand her better
She had interlinked her life very closely with mine
She wanted me to learn the language she spoke
She wanted me to learn lessons from her life
She wanted me to write her story


All this was encouraging, and I supposed I could count her as a friend. However, her message seemed to be “Just be” - don't simplify a relationship with labels such as “friend” and “foe”.

Can you recognize “Maya”? You know her too!

I have used “Maya” in place of the “Universe”. Why don't you re-read the text above with “Universe” in place of “Maya”…..

It is sometimes easy to lose sight of how profound the universe is. She has allowed us to see her and that too well into her past. And she has extraordinary lessons for all of us on how we need to be balanced.

“I will tell you why we have these extraordinary minds and souls, Miss Whittaker," he continued, as though he had not heard her. "We have them because there is a supreme intelligence in the universe, which wishes for communion with us. This supreme intelligence longs to be known. It calls out to us. It draws us close to its mystery, and grants us these remarkable minds, in order that we try to reach for it. It wants us to find it. It wants union with us, more than anything.”

― Elizabeth Gilbert, The Signature of All Things

“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.”

― Alan W. Watts

My last post dealt on about how we need to think of the universe as being alive. Isn't it remarkable that the universe has encouraged us to be curious, build capability across several generations and reach out to the very limits of our intellect to be able to understand her not only how she is today, but well into the past and how she was born? Stephen Hawking had remarked that science would be able to say how the universe was born but not why.

The question on why the universe bothers to exist is the same as asking why we bother to exist. To answer that question you must both look out and look in – listen to the whisper from outside and the voice from inside. And wise men tell us it can be done – if you learn the language of silence which is more expressive and clearer than words…..

In looking at the universe, are we not looking at ourselves? Isn't that why knowing more about the universe is possible and exciting, since it is a process of self-discovery ultimately? Have you felt your oneness with the universe?

Tracing back to the Oldest Life Form

(Image from pixabay.com)

What is the oldest life form which comes to your mind? Here, even a google search might send you off-track…..

There is no harm is starting with the obvious though – a google search. This leads us to the page titled  Timeline of the evolutionary history of life. The article tells us that the earliest evidence of simple life was around 440 million years after the Earth was formed (around 4.54 billion years back). We, modern humans have been around for a very small fraction of Earth's existence. It is an interesting account on we have managed to trace our origins from the earliest forms of life.

The universe fascinates us, everything about it - it's origins, history, evolution, purpose…..However, many a times we lose perspective of our relation with the universe. As we look around us, the universe is all around us, and we are within – an outer protective covering, much like our houses, only so much bigger. The universe appears to be a physical entity enclosing the only significantly intelligent life form we know of – us. Let us imagine for a moment that someone tells us that a building has given birth to a child. What would our reaction be? - we would regard this as absolutely ridiculous isn't it? It is life which spawns life!

Isn't the oldest life form the universe itself? Why have we come to regard the universe as a totally physical entity? Is it because we hold ourselves as the ideal reference point? We picture the universe as something like a balloon, expanding as balloons do with we having found a place for ourselves inside. The universe is very alive though; sustaining itself, spawning life, creating matter & energy, and changing all the time.

“In the older view the goddess Universe was alive, herself organically the Earth, the horizon, and the heavens. Now she is dead, and the universe is not an organism, but a building, with gods at rest in it in luxury: not as personifications of the energies in their manners of operation, but as luxury tenants, requiring service. And Man, accordingly, is not as a child born to flower in the knowledge of his own eternal portion but as a robot fashioned to serve.”
― Joseph Campbell

Considering the universe as alive is a far richer and profound view. It changes our perspective on our relation with the universe. We and the universe are one – we started as one, and we remain one in purpose, very much like a wave is part of the ocean.

“You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.”
― Alan W. Watts

As a wave is indistinguishable and shares identity and purpose with the ocean, we share the same relation with the universe. We carry the responsibility of aligning to the universe as waves with the sea.

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
― Joseph Campbell

“There is force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

In your minds do you think of the universe as being alive?