She loves life for all that is spiritual in it

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Who are really happy

Who are really happy? All who are after knowledge, as they must have endured and overcome sorrow and also have enjoyed enough of merriment. That is the philosophical ocean of happiness, and quest for knowledge can only take one there. One deep plunge!!!!!!!!! That's it. Nothing, nothing else can give man eternal happiness.
The idea of finding a more constant source of happiness by redefining who you are is a very useful one. Our "seeking" neurological structures generate dopamine, which is a chemical makes one feel happy. There is science in it. Moreover, contentment may make one ignorant about things. Happiness resulting into contentment is of no use. Contentment and happiness cannot be equated. A quite content person may also be happy, but there is no juicy vitality in that happiness, and hence not true happiness.

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Generosity in spite of

There, up in the sky, the stars keep blinking. The moon, so bright a star, going slowly behind the clouds. It will appear again, we all know. A betel-nut tree keeps swaying gently as if conveying its annoyance at something that has been going wrong for year after year. It is a feeble tree with a thin trunk. All it can do is express its displeasure in its own way.
Wind that is blowing is gentle enough, not to arouse any eyebrows. The world keeps moving ahead in its own delight. Sorrow keeps itself hidden in some corner. The wind keeps playing through the leaves of the betel-nut tree. That soothes the tree I suppose. Some consolation for the betel-nut tree's annoyance and displeasure. But who cares for a betel-nut tree's annoyance? Just the moon showers some gentle light on its leaves. Some lives truly reflect the generosity of the moon.

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The red-soil country road

 The red-soil old country road moves through the village in a winding pattern touching the hearts of all those who reside in the village, and finally moves out into an open land, as if in search of some other village. It resembles the longings of my heart, which, at times, so very depressedly keeps on looking back at those bygone days of joy and laughter.

Things were not like this some thirty-forty years back. Men had time to look up at the sky, spot a hopping sparrow somewhere around, listen to the call of a cuckoo, hidden somewhere among the trees, or even stare with wonderful eyes at an old banyan tree with spiritual delight. Ripe paddy fields, flown over by some gentle breeze, could very much be a sight to bring a heartful of joy. The silent summer afternoons, with the sun shinning brightly overhead,  used to unfold the mysteries of nature, in the form of grazing cows or goats, or the tall coconut and date-palm trees, swaying their leaves with the south wind, or a hen taking rest with eyes closed on some low branch of a tree, or a butterfly fluttering its wings as it keeps on hopping from one flower to another, or  even the fishes, which have come up to the surface of the pond water to have a taste of the warmth of the sun rays.  Some ducks may as well be spotted along the edge of the pond, possibly under the shade of a tree,  cleaning their feathers with utmost care. Life used to unfold joyful mysteries at every step.

As the day proceeds the village gets covered up by the falling rays of the setting sun. Some men and women might be spotted along the village road, returning home after a busy day's work, Cows and buffaloes could be seen returning to their respective homes. Gradually darkness engulfs the village as night overtakes the day, and the village waits for yet another dawn to arrive with delight and merriment.

Those were the days when life was simple, and full of mirth and joy, glee and merriment.

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Duties and Responsibilities

We frequently hear people talking a lot about duties and responsibilities, which, I know, they themselves have not been very careful about. Here I want to say that life is not a jungle of duties and responsibilities. If we just exhaust our lives in fulfilling duties towards others, then how can we manifest our own nature? If we cannot manifest ourselves, our life goes in vein. Having a sense of priority is of paramount importance in this respect. We must develop the ability to look at things from a higher perspective, to ascertain what to do when, what comes first and what comes later.

It is sufficient to make our lives a success if we have faith in ourselves. We must not pretend. We must not ever try to be someone else. Life is not mimicry. We must know and understand our own selves and thus prepare ourselves to face all the externalities.

Sense of duty and responsibility comes from within. It can never, never be imposed from outside by anyone.

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Get Together

I am a fine artist, a man who loves art. I draw and paint what I see. Maybe others do not see things the way I see. On a warm summer afternoon last year I set out for a nearby place where there were vast stretches of barren land and a blue sky above. There are some hillocks too. Bushes and shrubs had grown here and there. I spent the whole afternoon at the foot of a hillock.....and I was alone. I painted a picture of that place later. Yes, I was alone. I enjoyed those few hours of loneliness. I completed 52 in July, 2012. During all these years I have met many a people, within the closed circles of my family, as well as in the wider circles.

During all these years there is one thing that I have realized very clearly. People are all so deeply engrossed with themselves. But people cannot live without others. Loneliness becomes unbearable. So people get together. But that too for his own peace and happiness. This is totally my personal view in general, and there may be and are quite a few exceptions to this. There should not be any room for misunderstanding.

As one moves along with age, he starts becoming lonelier and lonelier. Even within his family, with his spouse, children and others around, he sort of feels left out. Things change. We also have to change ourselves with time. The togetherness that I used to experience within the society about 25 years back, it is no longer there. By togetherness I mean togetherness for the sake of it. Now people have so little time for others. So each one of us is moving forward in an isolated manner. I remember during the late seventies and early eighties we friends used to get together almost every day in the evening and spend some quality time among ourselves. Those days are no more. With age we drift apart. And we drift apart because a lot of differences have developed among our thoughts and views. We mostly disagree.

People do not get friendly easily these days. Somehow we all seem to have become confined within ourselves and our routine lives. Our needs have been multiplied several times. We do not want to share our thoughts and feelings with others. We are very, very busy. We have no time to stand and stare. A kind of veil seems to have been put upon each one of us, which prevents us from interacting with others. We try to move away from the unknown. Our quest for knowledge has gone down possibly. That is affecting our peace and happiness. We are seeking peace within materials. We are getting disheartened.

So I have a desire to bring like-minded people together from everywhere, so that they do not feel lonely and do not suffer emotionally. I am looking for people who still honour the age-old values of life. Even if I come across one such person, I will be happy. I have a Facebook group

http://www.facebook.com/groups/thewisefinch/

under which I intend to bring such like-minded people together to share things and find peace. I myself won't be having a big role to play except bringing a few ( or many) people together, and sharing things with others. Bringing like people together is a big job as well as satisfaction in itself.

My Facebook link is http://www.facebook.com/chandra.b.gupta

Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheWiseFinch
Don't you want to do something good, want to contribute for a good cause? I think you do.
So do not hesitate, join now! You are most welcome! I will be so happy. Have a good day. Thank you.

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The All Important Spiritual Need

Why we have come out in the street? Is it for our bread and butter, and clothing and shelter? The answer is "No". Our need is far more extensive and deeper than these basic needs for subsistence. Then what is that most important need? That is our need to know ourselves, and thereby to get ourselves. Until and unless we know and get ourselves, we will never be able to unify ourselves with the Universal One (The Divine Soul of God). That is why we are constantly striving to transform ourselves into a purified, magnanimous, perfect and complete form.

Through the teachings of the master, one has to know himself first. Once a person knows himself, he can feel the presence of God within his heart. That is the essence of the religion of humanity. At some time or other, everybody will have to give his/her best efforts to know himself/herself, and thereby subscribe to the cause of the religion of humanity. The root of this dictum is there within the eternal truth that is embedded within the heart of every human being. This only can help us to move from death to eternity.

Thus every person is moving towards a direction of completeness. He is revolving around a point with which he has an inseparable connection, from where he is constantly deriving the juice of life.

Right from childhood we keep on trying, almost unknowingly, to educate our nature and to refine, reform and restrain our behaviour. Around each of our bigger aims and objectives we keep on building up smaller practices and try to regularize them. Incorporation of such special practices in our lives clearly show our comprehension that life is not just pushing through the days and performing all our social and economic practices in a religious manner. We constantly want to see us in a transformed state, which ought to be of the highest degree, which surpasses the present time, its surroundings and circumstances, our nature and all our aspirations.

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A few things about colours and painting pictures

Here I am discussing some of my findings while painting pictures. Hope students of fine art find them interesting, even if not very academic. These are just a few tips worth trying, though some may sound unconventional.

First imagine your picture in monochrome colour. That will help you to decide which particular colour will play the most important role in the painting you are about to do. That particular colour is the one that comes to your mind first when you try to visualize your painting in colour.

A very clear concept about complementary colours is necessary to give your painting a striking visual effect. My experience with colours show that red and blue are complementary colours. Violet and orange, reddish-violet and yellowish-white, yellowish-white and light-blue, brown and prussian-bluish-brown are some other complimentary colours. By placing complementary colours side by side, the visual effect of the painting can be increased many times.

Now a few words about warm and cool colours. Red, orange, yellow and brown are warm colours that evoke excitement. It should be mentioned here that diagonal lines also evoke excitement, whereas horizontal lines evoke tranquility. Upward brushstrokes evoke excitement, downward brushstrokes evoke tranquility. Also curved lines evoke love and affection. Warm colours catch the eyes first. Blue, green and violet are cool colours, though violet, with varying proportions of red, can, at times, work as a warm colour, as it contains red in it.

Warm colours tend to bring an object near, whereas cool colours push an object to the distance. Thus cool colours have a retreating effect. So the foreground of a picture should be in warm colours and the background in cool colours. This is the basic rule.

Complimentary colours can be mixed together to produce various types of grey colours. Grey colours, when placed near any of its constituent colours, give a good visual effect. Grey colours can also be used to reduce the effect of primary colours.

Shadows mean areas where there is less light. Proper colouring of shadow areas is very important. Colours of shadows also depict the time of the day.
In the morning shadows have a bluish-grey tinge. Morning light is slightly blue in colour.
Bright sunlight, as found during the afternoon, is yellowish white in colour. Afternoon shadows are bluish-violet in colour.
Evening light has an orange tinge and evening shadows have a reddish-violet colour. Length of the shadow also indicates the time of the day.

A coloured object reflects its own colour. So it tends to throw light of its own colour. This has to be kept in mind while handling light and shades. Primarily shadows tend to have some blue in it mixed with some other colour(s).

Borrow some colour from the main object of the picture and use it in a nearby area of the picture. This mostly gives a very good visual effect.

Pencil-sketch is the best thing to keep in constant touch, even if one fails to sit with brush and paints. After a long lapse, it is pencil sketching that will again bring back the touch. Every fine artist must do at least one pencil sketch every day.

Hope to share more of my experiences with pencil, pen, brush and paints again.

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Rediscovering Ourselves

Only one thing remains forever new till the end of life. It is knowing and rediscovering oneself constantly in new ways. All other things in life become old sooner or later. And how do we know, how do we rediscover ourselves? The answer is very simple. Life is an accumulation of numerous chapters just like a book. At every chapter of life we find ourselves in a new role. It is through our new roles that we come to know about ourselves in new ways. Only we need to keep ourselves engaged in some activity. The rest happens quite automatically. Thus we come to know about our strengths and weaknesses also. That prepares and equips us to face the external world.

At the early stage of life we are the children of our parents, then we become the life partner of someone, father or mother of our children. Then comes the stage to play the role of grandparents. Thus broadly also our life is designed in a way where we need to play different roles at different ages, multiple roles at the same age, and keep on rediscovering ourselves.

One must always try to be himself, not someone else.

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The Night

It is 12:35 am by my computer's clock. It is the month of July. The monsoon is in full swing. It is raining pretty hard outside. Just in front of my house there is a wood apple tree. Water is dripping, or should I say running, down its leaves. The street-light is getting reflected from the shinning leaves making the tree look like one that has been illuminated by a thousand lights. At a distance there is a palm tree, a betel-nut tree I suppose, standing tall against the dark sky. The sky at night appears a bit reddish in colour, rather than bluish, when there are rain-bearing clouds in the sky. Nights can be so wonderful, so mystic, yet very few people stay awake to see its beauty.

At least one half of the world is asleep, silent. The silence of the night is being disturbed by a continuous noise of falling water which possibly has accumulated on some neighbour's roof. But really is the night so silent as it appears? Possibly not. Silent nights are more lively and active than noisy day times. One has to have the inner eye to feel the silent harmony that exists in nature during the night. Such harmony cannot be found during the day time. It is during the night that everything grows. During the day time the world belongs to us. We use it according to our need. At night we belong to this world as it is during the night that we find ourselves in our spiritual form and all our spiritual longings come up to the surface. We tend to fall back during the night, whereas during the day time we keep on looking forward and we remain more human than spiritual. At night we feel selfless, compassionate, benevolent and altruistic. These characteristics can seldom be seen within us during day time.

It is darkness that brings us back to our spiritual senses. We keep on losing ourselves step by step during the day time, only to rediscover ourselves in a new light during the night. That way the night really does a world of good for us. Night has got an element of loneliness in it, which enables us to come within ourselves. It is at night that we can relate ourselves to the distant stars and the mystic moon. Our mind can then stretch itself as far as it wishes to. The mysticism of the moon can be understood very beautifully if we compare the distinct, different effects that a full moon has upon us as compared to the sliced moon. The sight of a full moon fills up our mind with love whereas the sight of a sliced moon arouses a tragic feeling. Darkness of the night reveals to us much more than what the broad daylight can. The night makes revelations, which have a profound, permanent, soothing effect upon us, which the daylight cannot. Night creates and recreates us so that we can carry on with our journey of life. At night we seem to communicate with some divine entity, some divine soul, that makes us fresh once again. Really morning never dawns upon him who cannot enjoy the darkness of night and hold it in his heart.

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The Wait

This is an old drawing done by me in pencil on wood. The picture has not come very good. Still I thought I can share.

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Essence of Complexity

Whatever we try to create ourselves, that becomes complex. Our relationships within the family are complex, our society is complex, and our lifestyle is complex, because these are man-made. Complexity makes things weak, simplicity makes things strong and easy to grasp. Religion has never been a complex stuff. From times immemorial, it has always been so easy to grasp. That is the universal religion, the religion of humanity.

If religious practices appear to be complex to us, that is because we have made it so. Instead of submitting ourselves to the simple religious faiths and beliefs, we have tried to mould religion according to our wishes, our needs, our faiths and beliefs. We have complicated religion with artificial practices, complex explanations and unrealistic imaginations, which make it so difficult to comprehend. We have curtailed religion in many a ways and tried to give it our own shape, and in the process fragmented it into innumerable parts and divisions. Religion does not change with time or place. As a gift of God, it remains same for everyone, same for every place and time.

We try to assume or imagine religion in a way that would bring comfort to our hearts. Our assumptions make it fragmented again and again, and we wrongly assume it as consisting of all the characteristics of this material world with its vast complexity. We try to build it in our own way. That eventually brings sorrow.

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Spirituality in easy words

Spirituality is an all-pervasive affair. It permeates into every facet of life. Religion provides the basis for it, but it transcends all religions, customs, practices, rituals and traditions. Basically spirituality extends beyond the limits of ordinary experience. It surpasses all that we perceive; it goes beyond the limit of all possible ordinary experience and knowledge. It goes beyond all our ordinary comprehension. To tell it in simple words, it begins at a place where perception of material existence ends. To reach that point seems to be our goal. Spirituality is to perceive and understand the easily unfathomable character of fundamental reality.

Our human experience always tries to digress us from the essence of spirituality, as we are humans. We are encircled by desires of all kinds. We tend to relate ourselves more and more to the material aspects of life. At every step we fail to keep us away from the corrupting influence of the material world. Material desires keep on growing. We fail to control it. We fail to perceive that desires are endless and materials are subject to decay. Sooner or later we will lose it. It is an inherent property of the material world. Our own joy and merriment engulfs us. We agree to do things which are acceptable in the human world but which are not approved in so far as purification of our souls is concerned. This list of humanly, but not spiritually, acceptable things are increasing by leaps and bounds. Many of these are spiritually unacceptable.

We tend to think that death can always bring us relief. We fail to comprehend that there is life after death. Our souls continue to live even after our death.

Even if we realize our mistakes, we feel afraid to rectify ourselves. Our ego prevents us.

In everyday life we hear things, we speak out words and we act in various fashions. We are mostly led by human thoughts, which are considered in isolation, without taking into account the distant effects of these thoughts. We do what we can do without ever considering the fact that it may not be honourable enough to do it. It may fill up my heart with joy and satisfaction, but it may rob someone else of his basic means of existence. We tend to consider love as a commodity.

We fail to comprehend that we all are connected, and in no way isolated. Whenever we think of us in isolation, we tend to go in the wrong way. We suffer. We fail to understand that we have not come to this world to enjoy all that is perfect and best. We have really come to this world to relate ourselves to the imperfections in a loving and caring manner so that these imperfections can be eliminated. We have to set things right in whatever small way we can. That is our job. From times immemorial, God is waiting for us to turn the imperfections into perfections. We have to improve upon the basic facilities that have been provided to us by nature and create a heaven on earth itself.

Also read: Spirituality in a nutshell | Spiritualization and common man

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Count your blessings

There is an unwritten principle in management study pertaining to decision-making. While selecting an alternative it is seldom a case of selection of the best. Mostly it is rejection of the worst. By keeping on rejecting the worst one can tend to move towards the best situation as much as possible and practicable. No harm if one cannot reach the best possible alternative. It may not be possible at all.

The same principle applies to various situations of our life. We must never feel annoyed if we are unable to reach the point which can be considered the best and the ideal. As much we can move towards that ideal, that much should be satisfying for us. Within such a compromise lies the essence of peace and happiness. To put it in other words, we must keep satisfied with what life has given us. However our endeavour should always be to attain the best possible. Our attainment, in most cases, may not be 'the best'.

We must always try to surpass our own achievements and keep on moving towards further prosperity. We must also try to honour our achievements. We must always try to count our blessings.

In a relationship also one must not make material pursuits its first and foremost basis. What one is supposed to gain out of a relationship is highly immaterial and abstract, which can only be felt by the heart. Failing to comprehend that feeling can disturb and destroy a relationship. Extreme caution needs to be exercised in all our dealings within a relationship. In a relationship one can only win by 'giving'. If one is not ready to give himself or herself, he is not worthy enough to enter into a relationship. If one can 'give', the 'takes' will pour in naturally.
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A bit of humour after some serious talk

There is a man in our neighbourhood who has arrived recently. Initially he tried to be very friendly with us and we found nothing wrong in it. But now I have made it a point not to entertain him any more. The reason is very annoying as well as ridiculous. During a conversation, while standing face to face, the man keeps advancing inch by inch towards the person he is talking to. God knows why. But really it is a very unacceptable and unpardonable habit. Initially, for two or three days, I kept on going back slowly to maintain the basic minimum distance between us. The more I retreat, the more he advances, without in any way interrupting the conversation. He literally breathes down upon the other person's face. Now the moment I see him, I just change my route and take a roundabout way to avoid him. How his family members tackle this problem I would really like to know. Such peculiar habits some people possess.
What if the other person is a woman?

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An all-pervasive feeling for the ultimate truth

Someone once asked Lord Buddha that from where do all these happenings of this world originate, where have we come from and what is our destination? Lord Buddha replied that we need not bother about all such questions. Now we only need to concentrate upon what is absolutely necessary. I know that you all are in great distress. You do not get what you want; what you get, you cannot cling or hold on to it; you fail to have a firm grip upon all your acquisitions; you cannot put your stamp of authority upon them; whatever you can save for yourself, you are not satisfied with that. These are creating endless sorrows in your minds. First try to solve these problems. Then only you will be able to move on to the bigger questions about life. He said that escape from sorrows and sufferings is our primary aim and asked us to join him in finding a way to total freedom from all such distressful conditions.

Here we must mention that freedom from sorrows and sufferings can never be the primary aim of life. That is definitely not in human nature. We can clearly see that in no way do we dislike sufferings and distress. Many a times we most willfully embrace certain sufferings and distress.

To survive and live, one does not need to climb at the top of Mount Everest or Alps. There was no need to set his foot there. But man has taken up all such troubles without any apparent reason. There are numerous examples like this.

The reason behind this is that man has a courageous and defying attitude towards sufferings and distress. He always tries to know it himself, and make it known to others that he can endure or put up with all sufferings, discomforts and distresses. He can confront suffering with boldness. The real cause behind this is that man wants to be great; he does not want comfort.

The great Greek ruler Alexander set out to conquer territories, leaving behind all the comforts and luxuries of the throne. What made him do that? A desire to bring other's territories under his control? Not really. He wanted to become great in some way, and thereby comprehend or grasp the true nature of his strength.

Man has never been able to save himself from this inherent desire.

One who wishes to amass wealth, and thereby attain greatness, it is useless to tell him how to get rid of his sorrows and sufferings. It is needless to tell him that he should give up all his desire for worldly enjoyment and comfort. Because he has already given up enjoyment and comfort in his quest for accumulation of wealth.

Thus the path that Lord Buddha has shown us to get rid of sorrows and sufferings is a very difficult one with numerous hindrances and obstructions. We can travel along that path only if we are willing to embrace suffering. By embracing suffering man becomes aware of his strength and his greatness. Wherever man can see there is an opportunity to become great, he rushes towards it.

Had this path led man to a place where there is no suffering or distress, then man would definitely have moved to a different path that only leads to suffering and distress. If we tell man that in order to get rid of suffering, you have to give up all comforts, he will ask for something greater than just plain relief from suffering. He is ready to give up all comforts, but against that he asks for something greater that just plain relief from suffering. What is that greater thing? It is man's ardent desire to be great! In wealthiness, in learning, or in fame, we are always sacrificing comfort and peace for greatness.

But this greatness is not so great a thing that acquisition of it can bring total comfort and fulfillment to our souls.

So if the one and only God can be placed in front of men as his ultimate aim, then we can satisfy his ultimate need to a great extent. Relief from suffering is not totally acceptable as the ultimate aim.

Many a people say that this attainment seems quite far-fetched. It requires renunciation, purification, devotion, celebration and all that. That which is our primary aim and objective, if that can be incorporated into our lives at the very beginning in some way or other, then all the material instruments like devotion, renunciation, ceremony, celebration, worship and purification does not turn out to be our ultimate aim.

So the realization of this ultimate truth 'to get united with God' should be incorporated in the early part of our lives. Then He alone will guide us all through our lives with utmost care. Then our journey of life will become joyous and smooth.

Learning grammar is for the sake of literature. One has to be careful that becoming an expert in grammar without ever entering into the realm of literature is not the aim.

Translation based on Bengali works of Rabindranath Tagore ("Bhuma" in Bengali)

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