Skies and Silhouettes

"Space is the spirit of matter"

"Upon that vision of myself I see,
A self that's seeing me."

Recess-ion:

Almost everyday in newspapers and news channels we come across news covering the present times of global economic recession; it's dire effects on corporate and private sectors and much much more of adverse ones on the common man who went to work one fine day as usual only to witness being victims of the same on the very next.

Thinking of it, is it not something we are already familiar with?
"Survival of the fittest/only the fittest will prevail" - Darwinism.

Just like present, those times must have been equally tough or even tougher. You would say; that was then, this is now and it has never been so precarious. True but while so, lets look around in the market today; do we not see only the real good brands surviving the present recession storm? These and many others such still-standing institutions or personalities are presenting us with a live recession-survival-tips-kit, to re-learn from. Our outside influences, in other words. Whilst our inside carry the 'will and wit' to keep us going.

So I say back, to these news headlines, "what's the big deal?"
Let not the anxiety and fear hinder our will while we are struggle and evolve be fit once again.
While I leave you with these thoughts, here are some powerful lines by the thinkers and writers ( and doer-s!) of our times.

"Creation is a better means of self expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed." - Voda D. Scudder, The life of the Spirit in the Modern English Poets.

"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal; a freely chosen task. " - Viktor E Franki, Holocaust survior' author of Man's Search for Meaning.

"Trouble sharpens the vision" - P G Wodehouse

"Changes in perception will dramatically effect emotions and behaviour. The use of 'logic' will not have these effects." - Edward de Bono

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. " - George Berbard Shaw, Maxims for revolutionists.

"The man dwelling on sense-objects develops attachment for them; from attachment sprins up desire, and from desire(unfulfilled) ensues anger. From anger arises infatuation' from infatuation, confusion of memory; from confusion of memory, loss of reason; and with loss of reason one goes to complete nowhere. But a self controlled man, while enjoying the various sense-objects through his senses, which are disciplined and free from like and dislikes, attains placidity of mind. With placidity of mind, intellect of a tranquil mind one attains composure (with the one/could be what we aim for). " - Bhagavadgita, Sri Krishna.

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So it's time to gear up our gadgets!
Good luck to all of us....

much love!

Self-religion

"Mirror mirror on the wall, which is the righteous religion of all?!?"

Righteous religion? Does it mean what a person/a group thinks is right? But again its all relative. A truth/right for a person might not be the truth/right for another but as far as we have a self religion, collectively we shall continue making this world a humane place.

Self religion could be put as 'the goodness within each one of us'. Something we often experience when put in a situation to choose right from wrong, from moral to immoral.
It allows us to keep ourselves motivated and directed by verification and knowledge. Not by beliefs.
Self religion is infact the oldest and most eternal religion we have; a religion of individual freedom. It is a willingness and an ability to observe oneself and to correct one's own faults.

So how about a date with oneself once in a while!
:)

Mindfulness

If this elephant of mind is bound on all sides by the cord of mindfulness,
All fear disappears and complete happiness comes.

All enemies: all the tigers, lions, elephants, bears, serpents [of our emotions];
And all the keepers of hell; the demons and the horrors,
All of these are bound by the mastery of your mind,
And by the taming of that one mind, all are subdued,
Because from the mind are derived all fears and immeasurable sorrows.

-8th century Buddhist master Shantideva .

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Animating Kingsize!

.... So I came across some awesome works while on Vimeo.com and feel more than delighted to be sharing BLU with my readers here as a token of gratitude for being around and doing such awesome work! You have to see it to believe it. In my words as an animation film maker this is what I call "Animating Kingsize!"

See the video to believe! >


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

In their words...
"The new short film by Blu
an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.
Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche)
music by Andrea Martignoni
produced by Mercurio Film
assistant: Sibe"

More BLU >> www.blublu.org

Relish!

:)

Sacred Cow

I saw a cow yesterday. Tied to a pillar under our building. He was pretty young (months older than a calf I guess) with big dark mascara eyes, dusk-rust skin and a bit underweight for some reason.
Looking at him roused an instant affection in my mind. :) The kind we used to feel while feeding cows or looking at them lazing in the middle of roads back home in India. They have religious significance just like every-living-born from nature or nature herself in the society where I come from. Showing gratitude-towards or praying cows as a part of tradition. They are considered to be sacred.

May be my affection for him was more so being in country where you don't see animals except in a zoo or a sanctuary. We do get to see some street cats, the survivors of the extreme climate (and extreme traffic) in the Dubai and Sharjah. Anyways, getting back to my topic... So while I stood next to my cow, I almost had an instant non-verbal dialogue with him out of delight of seeing one after almost a year, as if saying "oh! how are you!" But the very next second my joy vanished with a realization too sad to pronounce here. The cow was not a part of a nostalgic fairy tale to give me greetings from my country but was brought here for a reason.

It's Ramadan month here and the cow was tied outside the tent where the religious groups gather for the occasion. When I came back later that evening, the cow was gone and the group had just finished eating and was heading for their daily prayers.

x x x

" Most religions isolate, formalize and shrink our relationship to the world rather than to expand and immortalize it"

" Our assumption that micro-organisms, plants and animals exist without the capacity for contemplation of the divine is to assert that our concept of divinity is the only one there is. We do some harm to plants and animals when we kill and eat them; yet, our assumption that they are not intelligent enough to contemplate, is a greater injury."

- The mechanics of God


" No sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds and ghee (clarified butter). The very character of sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice. Cows have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They represent sacrifice itself. Without them, there can be no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced therefrom, they uphold all creatures by diverse acts. Cows are guileless in their behavior. From them flow sacrifices and Havya ( fire) and Kavya ( Hymn ), and milk and curds and ghee. hence cows are sacred."
- Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics from ancient India,

x x x

Image, courtesy wikipedia

More on sacred cow in Hinduism> cattle in religion
Some facts on cow meat here >

x x x

much love, respect & peace
R

Yogi & Bhogi

Dawn reveals and another day shines,
And she rises to reach, evoke and energize every life and every thing she can,
She loves to create, she is the Sun-the yogi.

Charmed by her, he echoes,
He takes it all and listens to her dreams with a smile and promises her the stars,
He loves to reflect on her intuitive strokes,
He is the Moon - the bhogi.

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