From My Garden

I loved watching the dahlias grow this year. There were so many of them!

Quote of the Week: Pir Vilayat Khan

Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Khan asks us to view pain in this way:

Overcome any bitterness that may have come because you were not up to the magnitude of pain that was entrusted to you. Like the mother of the world who carries the pain of the world in her heart, each one of us is part of her heart, and therefore endowed with a certain measure of cosmic pain. You are sharing in the totality of that pain. You are called upon to meet it in joy instead of self-pity.

What is your reaction to his suggestion?

From: Pir Vilayat, Khan, Introducing Spirituality in Counseling and Therapy (New York: Omega Press, 1982).

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitude Sunday: Chaitanya

I am oh so grateful for my daughter Chaitanya. She was born on September 14, 1977 so today is her 37th birthday! I feel so blessed to have her in my life.

Chaitanya has always lived life fully, whether it be playing with her friends, participating in drill team, running track or doing the many other activities she enjoyed during her childhood and teenage years.

Sreejit, Chaitanya, and dad

She and her brother Sreejit have a very special relationship. The pictures below give just a tiny glimpse into their life together!

Best of friends

Chaitanya went to India for the first time in 1993. She felt so at home in that country, especially at Amma’s ashram. Over the next few years, she visited the ashram several times. On her 21st birthday she decided to move to India on a permanent basis, choosing to dedicate her life to supporting Amma’s humanitarian work. For many years, she has overseen the work at the cafe and canteen that serves Western food to ashram residents and visitors.

Chaitanya and her husband Akshay met at the ashram and have been together since she turned 28. They have so much in common and are blessed to have each other.

Her dad and I, of course, also have many memories of special times with her.

Playing around

When she was a young adolescent, Chaitanya loved watching old Broadway musicals, especially if Gene Kelly was involved. Over the years, she created numerous short plays of her own. Since 2009, however, she has written and directed hour-long musicals every year. The plays are performed on Christmas eve in Amritapuri. I recently wrote a post about one of them.

Below you will find the mp3 and lyrics for two of my favorite play songs; the first is from God is Able and the second is from A Guiding Light.

One segment of God is Able is about Rachel, the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. Rachel had been sick from childhood. The first words on the recording are from the mother, responding to Rachel’s concern that she (Rachel) is such a burden. Rachel then responds to her mother’s comments by singing this beautiful tune. I still cry when I hear it, especially if I’m also watching the play DVD.

Mama you’ve given your whole existence
To serving this child plagued with illness
You look exhausted, your face full of strain
It’s I who should be easing all of your pain.

If I had strength in this body of mine
I’d cook and I’d clean till the walls began to shine
I’d put your feet up, tea in your hand
Let you enjoy the life God has given

This may be a fantasy, an impractical dream
I just long to return the love you’ve shown to me
I’ve known there’s no cure a doctor can give
Only a higher power can change what’s been destined.

I pray to you dear God, if it’s your will from above
Give me the strength to overcome.
There’s nothing I want more than to ease her weary soul
To serve her is all I’m asking for.

*****

One part of A Guiding Light is about the three wise men who traveled to Judea to honor Jesus at the time of his birth. This song takes place at the beginning of that journey. (I recorded this song from the play DVD, using the voice recorder on my phone, so the sound certainly isn’t ideal, but it works!)

Wise men together:
High in the sky a star shines bright
Through unfamiliar paths it will be my guiding light
A journey I will make to a far off land
That I may greet God in the form of man

Wise man 1:
I shall bring to him this gift of gold
Treasure that never fades nor grows old
Gold represents his earthly kingship
In Righteousness he’ll rule, with love and virtue

Wise man 2:
I shall bring to him sweet Frankincense
These simple sticks hold great significance
They symbolize his priestly role in life
A burning offering of love and sacrifice

Wise man 3:
I will take this bottle of embalming oil
Though his body’s born, his soul is immortal
He is beyond both Birth and Death
Yet if he resides on earth life is surely blessed

Wise men together:
Yet if he resides on earth life is surely blessed

I am so proud of you Chaitanya. You have grown into a remarkable, adult woman whose strength, talent and wisdom I admire greatly. Happy Birthday!

Love, Mom

With My Last Breath

As usual, this week’s Dungeon Prompt is one that makes us explore our inner realms. Here are the questions we were asked to address:

Imagine that you were in an accident and you can feel your life fading away. With your last breaths, what does your mind fly to? Are you scared? Accepting? Worried for friends or family, work unfinished or some other business? Does your focus change to the hereafter? With your final breaths, to what do you cling?

I had an experience about 17 years ago that gave me some sense of what might happen when that time of my life comes. In December of 1997, I took my yearly trip to Amritapuri, Amma’s ashram in Kerala, India. Half-way between Singapore and India, our plane started shaking. Simultaneously all of the oxygen masks fell from their compartments. As we struggled to put on our masks, the plane started falling, first 15,000 feet, then another 10,000. The entire fall took about a minute. As the plane began to descend, my daughter and I glanced at each other and then we each focused inward. My mantra immediately started flowing freely within me. With the mantra came a great sense of peace. I had awareness that if I died that day, I could leave the earth without regret. I had no sense of unfinished business. (You can learn more about that experience at A Reason to Believe.) Continue reading “With My Last Breath” →

Gratitude Sunday in Advance

I have been reading gratitude posts on SeasonedSistha2 for some time. She regularly participates in Gratitude Sunday and today I read her Thankful Thursday post. That got me thinking. Why have I not started participating in one of those weekly gratitude prompts?

To me, the ability to feel and express gratitude is an incredibly important component of healthy living. I once was taught that depression and gratitude cannot co-exist. I don’t know if that is actually a researched fact, but I believe it to be true. I know that when people begin to focus on gratitude, the negativity within them diminishes and their spirits lift. They also learn to see the positive in events that might normally be considered negative. Continue reading “Gratitude Sunday in Advance” →

Wordless Wednesday

God is Able

Every year, I spend the Christmas season in Amritapuri, Amma’s ashram in Kerala, India. One of the highlights of the season is that on Christmas eve the Western residents present a Christmas play. For the last five years, they have been Broadway style musicals. That event is even more special to me because my daughter Chaitanya writes and directs the plays and my son composes most of the musical scores. In addition, he works with the singers and plays the harmonium, an instrument that has a keyboard and bellows. Continue reading “God is Able” →

Protecting Mother Nature- Plastic

I once read that every piece of plastic ever created still exists. For example, it is estimated that it will take 450 -1000 years for a plastic liter bottle to decompose. Even biodegradable trash doesn’t disintegrate in a landfill because of the lack of oxygen. Continue reading “Protecting Mother Nature- Plastic” →