Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Conversations with God - Book

I picked this book - 'Conversations with God' by Neale Donald Walsch from the library. This is the second time I picked it up. The first time round I could not read beyond couple of pages. A friend had suggested this book to me, and at that time it seemed artificial and something I could not comprehend.
This time I was looking for answers. More than answers to specific questions, I was looking to explore and understand this explanation of Life and  God.

The language used in the book is very casual - not something we imagine God can talk to us.

Below are some lines from the book, which I had noted down. 


The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. (Thoughts, word, action - that's how).

There is only one purpose for all of life, and that is for you and all that lives to experience fullest glory. The soul knows all there is to know all the time. Yet knowing is not enough. The soul seeks to experience.

Judge not, then, the karmic path walked by another. Envy not success, nor pity failure, for you know not what is success and failure in the soul's reckoning.
And know that what you do in the tune of your greatest trial can be your greatest triumph. For the experience you create is a statement of who you are and who you want to be.
You life is always a result of your thoughts about it - including your obviously creative thought that you seldom get what you choose. Your life proceeds out of your intentions for it.


In the largest sense, all the "bad" things that happen are of your choosing. The mistake is not in choosing them, but in calling them bad. For in calling them bad, you call your self bad, since you created them. This label you cannot accept, so rather than label self bad, you disown your own creations.You cannot change the outer event (for that has been created by the lot of you, and you are not grown enough in your consciousness to alter individually that which has been created collectively), so you must change the inner experience. Nothing is painful in and of itself. Pain is a result of wrong thought. It is an error in thinking.
Pain results from a judgement you have made about a thing. Remove the judgement and the pain disappears.


Affirmations do not work if they are merely statements of what you want to be true. Affirmations work only when they are statements of something you already know to be true.
If, now, there is something you choose to experience in your life, do not "want" it- choose it.

The actions of the body were meant to be reflections of a state of being, not attempts to attain a state of being.
In true order of things one does not do things in order to be happy - one is happy and hence does things. One does not do things in order to be compassionate, one is compassionate and, hence, acts in a certain way. The soul's decision precedes the body's action in a highly conscious person. Only an unconscious person attempts to produce a state of the soul through something the body is doing.

Your life work is a statement of who you are. If it is not, then why are you doing it?
Do you imagine that you have to? You don't have to do anything.

If "Man who supports his family at all cost, even his own happiness" is who you are then love your work, because it is facilitating your creation of a living statement of Self.
If " woman who works at a job she hates in order to meet responsibilities as she sees them" is who you are then love love love your job for it totally supports your self image, your self concept.
Everyone can love everything the moment they understand what they are doing, and why.
No one does anything he doesn't want to do.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Illusion v/s Real World

Meditation, Kriya, breathing techniques, reading or watching related content are becoming more regular for me. I may skip a day or few, but I wait to get back to the routine as soon as I can. While I sit there with eyes closed and breathing slowly, I feel great. A feeling of being one with Life Force.
Some of the things that I got to experience is a feeling of love, abundance and appreciation. I feel energized, want to go exercise, meet people, find and make time to do things I love. The focus is on positive things. 
I wish this 'magic state' continued. But it never stays forever. 
There are times when I feel devastated.  My mind chatters so much I cannot sleep. I get angry or go into depression. There are even times when I get into fights or arguments just after being back from a meditation session. I wonder what goes wrong. I imagine one should go into deep calmness and be able to be centered in undesirable situations. Isn't that what spirituality should do to you? So, in the real world, where you get challenged and where it is your chance to show or test your serenity, why do you fail?

Am I wasting my time? But my inner voice says otherwise. I even decide to quit all the practice and the craze. And I do. I have done it many times. But something keeps pulling me back. I think it is the familiar and the secure place that feels like home. The prayer that gives strength and positive energy.

One important learning that I have come to know is that life will always have ups and downs. With your free will you can influence life events to some extent. But you cannot control them. But with certain techniques, realizations and knowledge you can learn to live through them.

I am reading a book called 'Positive Energy' by Judith Orloff. In this book she describes practices and tools to increase energy and find inner peace. She says do everything to find your intuition and follow your inner voice. From that center point, find the rhythm of your life. Once you synchronize with it, positive energy will grow.
I would definitely recommend this book. It affirms my interest and trust on meditation, love and spiritual practices.

I also came across this video which I like and think is pretty direct and clear in explaining the two aspects of life.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Why go through this process?

It has been such a long time I wrote something about myself here. What has been going on in my life after the secrets being revealed and meditation becoming the most important task in my daily routine?

One thing I have come to realize is that, it is not easy. It is not easy to stay on a daily routine. It takes a lot of effort to stay positive and 'on path' to spiritual awakening. Not surprising, that not everyone takes to the path of meditation or yoga.

I believe, I have shifted my energy in a more positive direction in the last 2 months or so. But I still at times feel anxious, despaired of life and struggle to find answers to my troubled mind. I even question the presence of God. Most of the time, it happens when I want to give up. Mind and body cannot keep pace with the changes in conscious. 


God! One day I said to myself, is only my imagination. Well, I say this in my times of despair. I meditate, I pray and I keep Him alive in my thoughts. My actions become a service to the most powerful. But it takes lot of courage and strength to do that. Of what good is it to me as I sit here meditating and being one with the space around me? Quietening my mind which is the toughest of all and seeking strength from the source?
I look around and see all the people around me, happy and celebrating. Even if they don't bend their knees in prayers, they seem to be doing pretty good. Enjoying and full filled.
Then why do I need to go through the grind?

Every time the answer to this question for me has been - because there is something bigger than you waiting to be known. There is an energy to be part of which you've not experienced. There are hearts to touch and love to give. You are living this life for a purpose and need to find that out. There will be ups and downs in life. To live is not to chase those fulfilling moments and dodge the lows. Those will happen no matter how hard you try or don't.
I've lived for 30+ years and nearing half the average life expectancy of human life. If I live 30 more, what do I want to do in those years? Just knowing that there is a bigger purpose in life, takes me back to the grind. Actually, I think its the other way round. Going back to the grind makes me realize that there is more to life than what I know.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Cross Stitch - Casio Key Board Cover

I have been away from blogging for a while. Besides other things, I have been working on making a cover for our Casio key board. I had a cross stitch matty cloth with me and other stuff like cross stitch floss and needle. After my school home science project to cross stitch a small table cloth, this is my next cross stitch project. And boy, am I not proud of the result!

In school, my motivation was points and grades. But this time it was something else. I have a liking to cross stitch, I won't deny that but unfortunately it has only been restricted to school assignments. It has been 20 years since the time I took up something on stitching!
I always thought that I should take up some stitching project. But never made time. It took me 20 years to finally pick up something I liked and work on it!

Our Casio was getting dusty and I was always complaining about it. But this time, the moment I complained, I knew I could do only two things. Continue complaining or dust it and get back to what I thought I wanted to do from a long time. I am glad, I decided the later.


Here's a picture of the final version. Took me 2 weeks, a trip to the library for a cross stitch design book, digging old suitcases for the all the material, and of course a 'decision' to work on this Casio cover to get to this.
I picked the pattern from - 
treasury of cross stitch samplers by Sharon Perna

Thursday, August 16, 2012

30 Day Drawing Challenge - Day 26 - Something you don't like

Hola! Time to go back to something I started out doing :-) Day 26 of the drawing challenge. Had almost lost the link to the pinterest link. Hope I don't need to keep looking it for long. I want to get to my congrats finish banner of day 30 soon.

Today's topic is 'Something you don't like'. Well, I sat down to draw a day before and I could not decide. What do I not like. At that time, only thing on my mind was how my close friends and family were making strong desires in the name of better future and losing out on the today we could make beautiful. I was feeling bad I could not make any difference. I could not explain to them how to let go and in turn was getting disappointed. I thought it was too complicated thought and since now putting attention to simplicity was my new mantra, I instead went to bed.

But the following day, I had a meeting with my manager. It was too noisy at my desk, so we went into a conference room so that there was no disturbance. It was a serious discussion for me, as it was of more value to me than the other person. And regardless of the purpose of discussion, I do demand undivided attention. But he was getting late and needed to co-ordinate with his car pool folks. Just imagine this moment. I am talking, and he texts and starts making calls. I say, 'we can talk tomorrow, if you need to leave'. And he says, 'no, I am listening, you keep talking'. Really?

This is very annoying. I have seen this happen at lot of places. Even I do that, many times in fact. And I also know that, I tend to do this when I give more importance to the phone call than the conversation with the person with me.

This drawing is a lesson to all of us, that we need to make proper judgement on when we make/take calls, send texts, check FB on phone etc. Also, that we need to respect the company that we are in. The use of cell phone has brought a lot of convenience in our life but has also made us insensitive to the 'human' interaction. Something to ponder. 



Monday, August 13, 2012

Live your life Now

After we were back from the trip to Salt Lake City, I got to know the terrible news of a fatal accident on a busy street near our house that took the lives of two young cousins. Both were driving back from a baptism ceremony when a car hit theirs at a signal. I was surprised to know that this street where cars don't go more than 25 or 30 mph could kill someone in an accident. We pass that road very often and cannot stop thinking of the lives lost and their families.
On talking about this accident to another friend, she told me of her Aunt who was killed in  an accident crossing a road. She was walking back from a grocery store and the truck driver turned on a free right not seeing her. Her son still goes to the grocery store hoping to find her there.
We all heard the shooting at the Colorado theater. People had got together to just have some good time but for those few it was their last.
And then we heard of the shooting at the Gurudwara in Wisconsin.
I met a colleague of mine whose Mom was diagnosed with Cancer couple of weeks back. I could not imagine the stress and emotions going through the young girl's mind.

For a moment think of these people. What goes through your mind? You feel sad I am sure. What do you feel about your life?
Do you still want to worry about the chores left incomplete? Or keep the grudge for a friend since college days? The extra pounds on your hips? The exam you could not clear. Your life long wish to have kids, in this year and these many. Your dream of spending your life with Mr right going wrong. The job I could have got if only I applied at the right time.
I cannot stress enough on the importance of 'now', the moment we have. The tragedies listed above is a reminder to live the present moment. That's all we have. This very breath you took in, feel the warmth, remember your relation to the Being, feel grateful. As you breath out relax your mind and be assured all is well, everything is going to be OK. 
Don't wait for the perfect conditions to learn something new. Start now. If you are thinking of a friend you want to talk to, call them now.
You are feeling this is the end of world, nothing is going right for you? Remember, it is just a moment that will pass too. You are part of this universe that has gone through infinite changes and continuously does. You have that power of change in you. You have the power to be happy.

If you want to be happy, be.  ~Leo Tolstoy

We own every situation we are in and should take full responsibility for it.
You cannot control all life events, but you can control how you feel. Believe that every problem has a solution. If you continue to get lost in your egoistic endeavors, you will remain in the constant cycle of loss and pain. Break this cycle of unrealistic hopes. If you feel emotionally down, don't look for answers now. Wait till your mind is clear of all the noise. For now, just be aware of the thoughts that come to your mind. Don't fight them. And don't glue yourself to them to continue crying for what happened.
Welcome every moment as the last you will have or the first you ever had.

There are many times I feel lost and doubt God's power. The meditation, the knowledge I get from reading books or meeting people, of what 'use' is it to me? But every time I have come to only one conclusion - and that is, as soon as you keep yourself separated from worldly 'norms' and 'pleasures' and 'the rat race', the fear of 'something bad' and your mind is in the 'Now', there is place for only peace and happiness. And that is the aim in life isn't it?
You ease into the worldly 'norms'. You experience the 'pleasure' of being alive. You win your 'rat race' because these are your own mind made. The 'something bad' you think will happen is ALL in your mind. So just relax your mind. Your present moment was your future in your past. Got it? So you have the choice how you want to live it or rather I should say, how you want your future to be. 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Don't give up

With practice, you come to realize that our life experiences relate directly to our psychological wellness, habitual consciousness and our understanding of the purpose of life. Practicing meditation takes you closer to your inner self and makes way to live life with the higher understanding and maturity.    

However, many times we tend to go back to the old patterns of crying and wining and worrying i.e. shifting attention from 'now' to that unreal moments of 'what ifs' or 'whys'. 
Our lives and minds are trained to go back to the relentless circle of worry, regrets, chaos, sadness, fear. Being on the path of spiritual awakening can be a continuous struggle. But don't give up. 

When the world says, ‘Give up,’ Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’ ~ Unknown. 


There are so many energy flows around us that can cause us to sway away to the 'easy mind trick' to go back to the comfortable and those familiar feelings of anxiety and helplessness. One of the things I have noticed to influence me is the health of the body. Hunger, thirst and lack of sleep seem to be obvious reasons but are easily ignored. Attend to the health of the body. 
Negative influences and or people who always complain or never find time to talk about good things. If possible we could try and talk to them to help them know their true potential. But until you get to yours and if they are affecting your progress, better to avoid them.
Believe it or not but full moons and new moons can cause enough energy to make you loose 'your center'. Ever felt restless for no reason? Check the lunar calendar :)
And of course hormones! Do I say more? 


Know that you can get back to your inner core as quickly as your next breath. Breath-in to connect to the Life Source and breath-out and relax all the thoughts that cross your mind. By nature, we are at peace. We are full of love. We have got a small shot at life (earthly life, don't know what is after). Live every now and breath every moment. Separate out the situations you are in, from your true nature. Whatever are those situations, be present.
If you know the situation that you are in will continue for some more time, will you wait to be happy after it changes? Then it may be your whole lifetime because you are trusting your mind to decide if you are happy; and mind keeps changing the definition of happiness with situations.

"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away."
~Joy J. Golliver

This post is mainly to say that Life's gift is right next to overcoming small barriers. Don't give up. 

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Flying Utah to SFO

The best part of the whole trip was the flight back from Utah to SFO. Our flight was around 8:30 pm giving us perfect view of the canyons, valleys and the great salt lake. Here are pictures I took from my iPhone.

The view outside the window seemed all a dream, something I've never seen, not known and completely unreal. Magnificent, huge, marvelous!

"It is good to know our universe. What is new is only new to us." ~Pearl S. Buck
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Short trip to Salt Lake City

"Learning the gentle art of going nowhere in particular and bumping into things can help spark your creativity-wherever it is you find yourself." Picked this line from Unleash your creativity (52 Brilliant Ideas).
Our short trip to Salt Lake City last weekend turned out to be this definition spelled out loud.

We had to use some of our air miles before they expired on July 31. We did not know what place to pick or what to plan. Somehow, with the fixed air miles in hand we randomly picked Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mind you, this place is many many miles away from the Zion National Park or the great Yellow Stone. We had two choices, either to drive out of Salt Lake City to visit the National Parks which meant we will be on the road for 2 out of 3 days or stay local and see what we can find. And we are glad we chose the later.

The small town of Salt Lake City is a beautiful, well planned city with gorgeous mountains surrounding it on one side. The Winter Olympics 2002 was hosted here and you can see that event has managed to make the city well organised with good public transport services. I can imagine what a sight it would be during the winters.

First day we walked out of the hotel to find the temperatures soaring to the high 95. Travelling from San Francisco, this could be killing. We wanted to get back to the room, but saw a big farmer's market/art festival in a park middle of the city. I am so glad, I convinced Navin to drop the idea of going to the same old restaurant joints but instead eat at the park. We enjoyed some yummy Indian chicken stuffed dosas and yummy Caribbean grill.

There were all kinds of things at the art fest. There were jewelry, wall hangings, glass artistry, paintings. I bought a cute apple coral necklace at the fair. When I bought it, the owner tells another lady, now this necklace has reached the right house. Spooky!? I don't know what she meant but I was surprised the way she was referring to the accessory as a pet.

The best part of the day was watching a group of college students performing a form of Martial Arts; called Capoeira; it is a Brazilian Martial art that is based on the rhythm of music and is more like a dance combined with physical moves. Here are 2 videos I managed to take (with the Caribbean food plate in one hand and Navin getting angry that I may spill the food; but I managed to do both; shoot as well as savor the food later).
The music was very captivating and addictive. I was humming the song all day long. It has this special strong energy that can lift and energize you.



The other attraction of the city is the beautiful Temple Square and the beautiful Assembly hall.
One of  the days, we enjoyed some yummy momos and authentic Quanty Masala in a Nepali restaurant called
Himalayan Kitchen. BTW, you'll be surprised if I tell you, going to this restaurant was the only agenda we had in our Itinerary. One of our friends who had been to Salt Lake City had mentioned the restaurant and of course other things to do; but we etched the dinner plan even before we started out from San Francisco.

Overall a short and sweet visit to a new unknown city with loads of memories. 

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Meditation - what to expect

Meditation is the ability to be in a state of awareness which is beyond place, whats going on around you, thoughts in your mind and beyond time. With practice, you have the ability to meditate anytime and any place. This meditative state is inherent to everyone of us. But gets lost somewhere amidst the train of thoughts approaching and leaving our mind.

The whole idea is to focus on one thing such that you stop the flow of thoughts and completely relax and get connected to the inner stillness. It could be looking at an object while concentrating on the breath. Somebody told me how cooking was meditative to her as it relaxed and calmed her mind. In the Art of Living Silent course, there was a meditation session that used physical pain to focus. For some people it is praying and chanting while for others it is cooking or exercising or going out for a walk. Everything is a theory, so if something works for you, go with it.

How do I meditate?
I usually start with Art of living short Kriya or the last breathing rounds. That way I am able to relax and become aware of the thoughts. I imagine 'me' as a being who is beyond the thoughts and just acknowledge any thought that comes to my mind. I can listen to the silence around me. Then I use one of this below techniques.
Become aware that you are in a room, which is part of the house, your parking lot, your city, all trees you saw during your walks in the parks, the mountains. You then slowly move your awareness of your being in the country, the other side of the earth, the relativity to sun, the moon, planets, solar system, galaxies and so on. As I do that, my mind becomes so quite that I feel I am part of the space in the universe.

All this sounds fiction. Isn't it? I am finding it funny as I type this but this is what I do and works for me. I picked this process (or like process) from Love yourself like your life depends on it, by Ravikant. There is a some special power you experience when you imagine yourself being part of the bigger part of this universe.
I keep my mind focused on my breath all the time.
Sometimes I try the other way round, where I imagine my whole body, the organs, blood, the cells, the particles in the cell and so on till I get to the electrons. That energy, the space between those particles. I feel part of that.

Do I get cut out from everything in this state?
Not at all. I don't know about others, but I don't. I can still hear if my phone rings. I can still hear if the water tap next to my room is opened. But I am relaxed to a point where I just want to continue breathing. I just want to continue observing the stillness, the quietness. The breath is so slow, like a baby.

How can I make use of meditation other than the time I actually sit to meditate?
Well, its the honey you have tasted. You have been in touch with the innermost core of yourself; which I have believed to be love.
As I breath in, I tell myself how much I love myself and think of the meditative state I know of. As I breath out, if there were any other thoughts I say 'OK'. I know I don't have to deal with them at that time. But I don't want to stop them either.

What is the Success Rate of this whole process?
There are times I sit for 1/2 hour and I feel I was in there for 5 minutes. Other times I sit for 5 minutes and I feel it is 1/2 hour.
The success depends on how much you work hard. No, no. You don't need to work hard to meditate; in fact it should be just the opposite; effortless. The effort is in getting yourself to spare some time of your day to meditate; those 10 minutes you want to invest on yourself. To leave the bed of laziness and sit on the floor of meditation.

It was challenging for me to make meditation as a everyday process. I still don't get time everyday. I had promised myself that I would make it regular and used to get very disappointed if I missed a schedule. But with practice, I am learning that we don't have to be over critical to ourselves. Just listen to the moment. Make sure you have a comfortable and quite place to meditate and the will to. If not, no point wasting time, you rather do something else.

The power of being in the moment of 'now' is magical. If I struggle and keep getting distracted, I simply observe the frustration and my reaction to that situation. And slowly I am learning that this process can be applied to everything in life. Every situation, emotion, interactions, likes, dislikes, communication and so on.

Key is to keep the light of life alive through love and being in the now. Through meditation or other ways. It could be thanking small things in life, awareness meditation where you focus on everything you do like while eating, taste the food, bite every piece of food. Be aware of every moment like walking, hugging someone, talking and so on. Observing the trees and birds when you go out for a walk. Watch a baby laugh or cry.
Nature gives us all the opportunities; we just need to be present. 

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Men's Cycling Race - Olympics 2012

We are in Salt Lake City and guess what we spend the morning doing? Well, watched the Mens Cycling Road Race (Olympics, London). Well, I would never have spent time watching these races if I was in home in SF. I would have been busy watching DID Iil Masters!
But I was so luckty to catch the glimpse of this 39 year old win the gold.
While Navin is in line to get the car rental, I got time for internet!! And could look up the statistics for VINOKUROV Alexandr Race from Rank 61 to 1!!! It was time well spent experiencing the moment and feeling happy for him.

RankBibAthleteTime+
187Kazakhstan VINOKUROV Alexandr5:45:57-
VINOKUROV Alexandr
DistanceRankTimeTBLSplit
Lap 1 - 74.7 Km611:51:42+5:271:51:42
Lap 1 - 90.3 Km642:14:17+5:1422:35(9)
Lap 2 - 105.9 Km242:37:37+6:0023:20(14)
Lap 3 - 121.5 Km172:59:24+4:2521:47(4)
Lap 4 - 137.1 Km363:21:50+3:4822:26(112)
Lap 5 - 152.7 Km423:42:35+1:5620:45(19)
Lap 6 - 168.3 Km524:04:18+1:2421:43(12)
Lap 7 - 183.9 Km374:25:50+0:5321:32(15)
Lap 8 - 199.5 Km264:47:27+1:0421:37(6)
Finish - 249.5 Km15:45:570:00-
Source - london2012.com

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Secret

In the last few days there has been a major shift in the way I look at life. Importance and impact of living in the present moment has not been more revealing and rewarding. So what changed or what caused this change? Frankly, I don't recall exactly what and why, but want to share my learning here in the hope that someone will benefit just the way I did.


Quite frankly I don't know where I should begin this post. So let me tell you of a book I came across Tim Ferris FB feed. He shared a book by an Indian author Kamal Ravikant; book name was 'Love yourself like your life depends on it'.
Indian Author, 5 star rating to this book and 99 cents download on Amazon, I thought to myself, sure!
What is in the book? Well, just what the title says - love yourself like your life depends on it. I would highly recommend this book to everybody.
The Author has described things he did to get out of rut; to bring changes in his own life; for miracles to work. And believe it or not, those things have definitely helped me get aligned with 'my being' and get 'on track' on my journey to happiness. I don't want to give out more details from this book; it is just some 50 odd pages I think and takes less than an hour to finish. Only advice I can give is keep your mind open and try out some of the things. I am sure you will see a change; anyway there is nothing to loose.

Our minds are busy all the time building false dreams, fear of uncertainties or remembering times of despair, sadness or simply going back memory lanes explaining self, how beautiful life was (which means it is not now or less now) or worse telling what bad things can happen to us.
This chatter has such an impact on our subconscious mind that it creates life patterns and situations that follow the feelings and emotions our thoughts produce. So then, one way is to break those patterns. Correct? And the answer to that is my secret. Actually the secret opens roads wide open to endless possibilities. Bringing 'magic' back to your life, the freedom and innocence and happiness your childhood mind had.

So as you may have guessed secret lies in being in the present moment; being in the now. There are many ways to achieve this not-so-easy task. Such an obvious fix to Life's problems, we may think. But took me this long to figure out. Some people don't even get that chance or opportunity.

And why would you do this? Why would you want to bring about this change? Because of Love! We our this source and it is our very nature. Goes back to the book 'love yourself like your life depends on it'.

The more I talk about this, I feel I am being repetitive. But that is what it is. Every explanation of Life's meaning, findings and truth leads to this simple state of Now.

What is Life? What is our part in this life? I have often been struck by this question.We are born, cared for, get education, make friends, go into relationships, earn big bucks, fulfill dreams of big house, big car, big business, get married, raise kids, get them married, get retired, travel places.
But before we get to each of this, there is so much anxiety, fear of failure, sadness of loss, bad memories.

What if I get to all this sooner than I planned? What if I don't get to this at all?

What I have began to realize is that all this doesn't matter. Because if you want something this Life is going to get you to it anyways. You just need to have the intention. As simple as that. Then what's the fear about? What's the hurry?
Problem is like I said before. The mind has so much fear, worry, sorrow and negativity going on already, the universe thinks, that is what you want and gives it back to you.

Living in the present moment has taught me many things I want to share. 

  • Life's achievement is how you can make your life simple. Sacredness lies in simplicity. 
  • Happiness is in 'mindful' living. Mindful - as in present - being in the now.
  • Have faith in God - the Life Force - the super being, whatever you want to call it. It knows what is best for you. Surrender to the present moment. 
  • Meditate to connect to the innermost magical Life force. Feel the connection to the Universe. 
  • It is not easy to change the habits; you will be bogged down and will go through tons of emotions. It's OK, just part of the process. 
  • Find abundance in all small things you would otherwise ignore. 
I would love to continue writing but got to go. But I will continue to share my experiences and how I learn to make these changes. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Look what I bumped into this evening

The path down that parking lot seemed dull and mundane. Until my eye caught yours.
I will look for you again little birdie. Suddenly that parking lot feels warm like someone's home.


Monday, June 25, 2012

The Beautiful CA 1 Route

Last weekend we decided to drive down to the Hearst Castle in the beautiful city of San Simeon. We drove Saturday morning and had a scheduled guided tour at 3:30 pm to catch. Luckily one of our friends in SFO had been there before and advised us to take 101 if we had to reach on time. And we are so glad we bumped into that friend. We reached the Hearst Castle less than 4 hours.

On our way back we took CA1. Stopped for lunch at in the Carmel city by the sea. The tiny shops, the narrows roads, artists along the streets and the beautiful coast line makes the city so welcoming and at home. The CA1 route was very scenic with its clear blue sky and the deep blue waters. Here are some pictures along the route.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

30 Day Drawing Challenge - Day 25 - Scenery

Day 25 - Scenery

This is one scenery I would draw over and over as a kid. And I still draw like that.In fact most of the kids in my class would draw something similar. Mountains flying in the air, some clouds. I think I forgot to draw some birds flying.

Few more to go and I reach Day 30! Boy, am I the only one who took 6 months to complete a challenge

Street Drawing - Santa Barbara




This one was my favorite! The picture is not very clear, but it had a 3-D effect that I liked the most. 
This was another one of my favorites. The picture was made of tiny cross marks. 


Memorial weekend we came across Street Drawing at the Mission. You cannot but be amazed by how the artists brought the colors to life.