Blog Future

Here is what i envision for the blog:

First a really cool header, all you people who know photoshop can help me out with that one... it should have Sounds Interesting... and a brief description and some nice colours (i abhor black) and graphics

The way i am thinking graphically is to change the header and backgrounds during the day and night so day is brighter and more colourful, night is little darker and sleeker... Also to have some sort of change for seasons and some festivals (holi, Navratri, Ganesh festival, New Year... to name a few)... so anyone who can do these designs please do send them in, i would love to be able to incorporate some or all into the blog... will definitely give credit to whoever's design was finally chosen...

I would like links on the top of the page for Home, Knowledge, Stories, Recipes, Reviews, Jokes etc... we could have more or less categories there

Also there will be intense debate installed on the blog so we could comment easily to posts... later, would be nice to have a few controversial topics being openly discussed :)

Many people have started their own blogs and i would like to create a link list as well of people who regularly blog and whose blogs are interesting to read... please leave the links to your blogs as comments to this post... We could even start a top 10 or 100 of the blogs created by all of us :)

Also will install a rating system, so everyone could vote on how much they liked a particular post... and will see if that's possible for commenting as well...

Please comment on this post and tell me your ideas of what we could have here... do remember, that this is an intimate niche on the www for people who love us and whom we love, to share stuff with each other and keep in touch with each other...

As usual if you want to write to me personally, khurshed@gmail.com
and if you want to bug dinesh: dinesh.ghodke@gmail.com

Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa  

Indie is Back!!!

Indie is back!

Only now he is called Dr. Henry Jones the second... Harrison Ford has aged but he is the better for it, like a finely aged wine he sparkles on the screen, setting it alight with his presence! The Hat and the Whip are still very much there... The hat gets rescued many times from very sticky situations :)


It’s 1957 and there are no Germans, this time around, there are however, the Russians along with the mass hysteria against communism that was at it’s peak in the US at that time. The Russians of course are far more evil that the Germans coz they want to play with the minds... exploring the paranormal for their benefit... but they are equally, if not more ruthless and die in much more interesting ways than the Germans ever did :)

It’s so much fun to watch an action movie with the quiet assurance that nothing is going to happen to the main characters as they swashbuckle through absolutely stunning motorcycle chases, jeep chases, truck chases... fight with poison dart wielding primitive tribes in the amazon, escape from killer ants(!), survive a nuclear explosion(!!) all in absolutely spectacular locales and fall over 3 (!!!) waterfalls among other things :) :)


Dealing with ancient Mayan lore deep in the amazon and dabbling with alien invasions, this movie is an absolutely delightful romp and a complete must see in a theater... Indie, his old girl friend, and a young man who loves bikes and is NOT afraid of snakes make up the winsome trio fighting an entire army of reds and winning and walking away into to a very satisfying sunset (figuratively)...


The sound track is orchestral, loud and rousing - John Williams at his very best and an audiophiles delight... and perfectly complements all the locales and sequences in the movie...

This is one movie i am going to definitely watch at least 2 more times... and maybe, just maybe there will be a few sequels as well... Steven Spielberg and George Lucas should really stick to this kind of movie making... They do a superb public service!!

Do yourself a favour and go watch it with some people you love!

Oh yes, i forgot to mention, there is this crystal skull in it as well :)  

Spicy Dry Soya Chunks

Please read the entire recipe before starting...

1 Packet of Soya Chunks, boiled and squeezed dry

A handful (or more depending on how much you like them)of frozen peas, just soaked in water for a few minutes

In a large saucepan, heat up 3-4 tablespoons of ghee (be generous, the chunks will absorb everything). Once the ghee is hot, add mustard seeds (rai) and fresh curry leaves (8-10) and see them crackle and pop. Then add a tablespoon of garam masala, dhania jeera powder, a pinch of hing, a dash of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Cook the masalas throughly taking care that they don't burn. You could also add some butter here.

Now add the soya chunks and stir them in properly, so that the masala completely coats them, cook for a few minutes. Reduce heat and cook for some more time, the masalas have to completely seep into the chunks.

Finally add the green peas and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. the peas should remain bright green.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander (and coarsely chopped tomatoes), squeeze some lemon juice on it and serve hot with rotis.

You can do many variations on this: Add some ginger and/or garlic (first) to the masalas for a completely different taste, saute some carrot slivers and add along with (or instead of) the peas for a nice orange look. Adding mushrooms would taste divine here. Just before serving, add some dahi and cook for a bit, add a lot of tomatoes (or tomato puree) for a nice gravy (add the green peas after the gravy is cooked so they remain nice and green)... let your imagination guide you :)  

Advanced...

I successfully installed my first system update for the year 2008 – the art of living advance course.
Cant tell you how much I was looking forward to the silence and the Hollow-and-Empties and Guruji’s talks and the satsangs...
I realized that just as Part one has 475 tag – 4 sources of energy, 7 levels of existence and 5 knowledge points. Part II has its own 475 – 4 pillars of knowledge, 7 chakras and 5Ss of Sadhana, Seva, Silence, Satsang and Smile…
For solidified Silence, I realized that a must-have during advance courses is a cap (a cool hat in case of Bawa) and a worn out pair of slippers (I didn’t have to go all out to find one, ‘cos JD lent me his).
The cap, when you tilt it down a little, blocks people’s faces out and helps keep the silence in. 'Cos I realized that if you see a person’s face, with it comes the judgments, a host of cravings and aversions and out goes the silence for a toss…. Besides thankfully there is not much judgments I can make about people’s footwear… (of course a cap wont be much help for any girl; who can usually tell a person’s history, geography, biology and psychology from what a person wraps around his sole).
Talking of footwear, the more terrible its condition, the less your mind gets attached to it – out there scorching in the sun or waiting to be a victim of someone else’s belongingness. Moreover, the lesser attachments you carry around during the course (handbag, mobile, mats and cushions (in America they call it a nest)), the easier to send the mind (like the email) across in space.
It was a great feeling to notice my mind slipping into silence so easily this time. I became aware that the knowledge also hits one so much deeper in silence. Silently watching the mind was truly entertainment unlimited. The myriad of sensations - heat and cold, pain and relief, heavy and light, all changing with time and place. A few days ago Guruji mentioned how the mind and heart are considered as flowers and the soul as the sutra (thread). In a garland, the thread is invisible and keeps the flowers together. Actually mind and heart in knowledge and awareness is like a flower and the same in ignorance is a thorn. With awareness, the false falls away and the true stands up. It was fun to be aware of experiencing anger turn to compassion (seeing some of the participants talking away to glory as if they were on a picnic), observing fear turn to surrender (of falling down the Vishalakshi step during dancing), watching minor irritation and hatred turn to reinforced commitment for more initiative (seeing the litter of plastic while cleaning around Sumeru) and above all watching the beauty of the trees and the flowers and the birds and the skies, in fact feeling the beauty of the whole of nature seeping into every cell of the body, becoming joy and love and awareness and bliss… all of which propelled me into wonder as so how this little body of 5 feet something pack such infinite bliss!
Going with the ancient tradition, I would not shave during the course, in fact not even look at myself in the mirror. Though this time I did sneak a few peeks at myself and smiled. Silence meant no one exists other than you and the Guru and so I was pretty conscious moment to moment to feel absolutely happy and high so that the Guru would enjoy my company.
Seva-wise, few days I chose my second favorite seva - garbage collection (the first being gardening) because of which we had earned the title earlier, Cool Clean Men. The day I shirked full-on seva, sadhana would play hard-to-get with me, leaving me sleepy and drowsy.
Given the colorful distractions (people-wise) in our Satsangs, I challenged myself one day to only look at Guruji and nowhere else while singing. The effect was phenomenal and blissful. And the same day Guruji talked about ‘Ek tattvabhayasa’, studying only one thing 100% for Yoga (Union) to take place.
Food wise, we were very well taken care of by Gauri and Shilpa. Sleep-wise I have never experienced such huge amount of dreams in my entire life. When I would wake up after a few hours, I would be intrigued and would wonder whether I slept for a few years, to see the quantity of dreams I saw; in some I dreamed about sleeping and in some I even dreamed about dreaming. God only knows which sanskaras (impressions) were being released. The meditations mercifully compensated for the lost rest.
All in all, what does one gain from an advance course… Its not what you get, but its what you lose and let go… which is pretty monumental and fundamental! You only come out looking forward to taking on the world and how soon can you come back for a second helping of the advance course. Truly it’s a supreme delight and a sublime pleasure!

PS This PS from Bawa: Dinesh managed to schedule his post for the 6th of september instead of the 9th of June... happens :)  

Technological Advances

 

The Flower and the String

Accuracy warning: Freely translated from hindi to english, from whatever i can remember :)

The West Bengal Adv course people have come to the Ashram, and the Orissa Adv course people have not yet left :)... A few frayed tempers, lots of walking up and down, no bed, no place to keep luggage, etc later everyone got together for Satsang... Just looking at Guruji yesterday night was enough to soothe away all the issues and everyone sang and danced with Grace and utter devotion. It was quite magical and the energy in VM was peaking, and i could feel waves of bliss rolling over myself and everyone there...

And i thought, Guruji wont speak much tonight... but i was wrong!

What are you? A flower or the string? The string binds the flowers together makes them into a garland, but without the flowers, what good is the string, and without the string, its not possible to have a garland... a flower is there just for some time, a string stays for ever...



While we pondered, what we were... He continued saying you are both! When you see yourself as an individual jiva full of Knowledge, you are the flower, a fully blossomed consiousness... and when you see yourself as the universal consciousness, you are the string! and then He mischievously added, and if there is no Knowledge in the jiva, you become a thorn :)

In an earlier Satsang, He had talked about Hanuman... When Hanuman was asked What is it like to be Hanuman, He had replied, When i am this body, then i am just Ram's servant (das), and when i look with the Knowledge, then i see myself as part of Ram, and when i see myself as the Soul, then i see there is no difference between Me and Ram and everything and everyone else!


So in the body, do Seva, with Knowledge see yourself as part of the Guru, and when you meditate, then know yourself to be no different from the universal consciousness!

Staying at the Ashram, being in Satsang everyday, so many things get resolved, so much Knowledge and love... Like dinesh likes to say, its not about what you learned, it more about what you unlearn and drop...

Guruji concluded the Satsang saying on the Ashram there is only one Rule:
You can come here with all the troubles and worries that you may have, but you are not allowed to take any back!!!  

Programmer and Management

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be a programmer,” said the balloonist.

“I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”



The woman below responded, “You must be in Management.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”