Kahlil Gibran on Love...

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was born to a Maronite Catholic family on January 6, 1883 in Besharri, Lebanon, a scenic town nestled in the mountains near the Cedars of Lebanon. He began writing in Lebanon, and spent many years of his life in the United States. Following his death on April 10, 1931, his body was buried in his hometown of Besharri, where a museum preserves his writings and paintings.

His most famous book of poetry is The Prophet, published by AA Knopf of New York in 1923. Other writings include The Forerunner (1920), Sand and Foam (1926), Jesus The Son of Man (1928), and the Wanderer (1932). The Prophet has sold nearly ten million copies through the years, has been reprinted over 100 times, and has been translated into twenty languages. Kahlil Gibran has captured the human spirit in this exceptional work. This selection from the Prophet is on Love.

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When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

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It's exactly how it is, isn't it?

'Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.'

Beautiful...

Drink... And Drive...

Forget what the law states, I say that you drink and drive. Stop rubbing your eyes in glee, you read that correct, go ahead, drink and drive.

Drink water, that is.

Drink plenty. And I mean plenty. It is absolutely lawful (which incidentally rhymes with awful and that certainly is a misnomer here), and is 100% safe.

Water not only replenishes the oxygen supply to your body cells (which BTW, not same as the AA or AAA cells, you aren't a remote control, are you?), but also that the more water you drink, the more it purifies the skin (just as positive thinking purifies the soul, but spiritual talk some other day, one journey at a time), giving you a much healthier and younger looking skin.

FYI, do not wait until you feel thirsty before you drink water; as you age you become less sensitive to your body's craving for water and more sensitive at the mere mention of aging per se (now don't flare your nostrils, I know I am absolutely incorrigible, but I am what I am, and this ain't about me but about you). Kapish.

Statistically speaking, your body, sexy as it is, is made up of about 70% water. And when you drink water, you replenish the very stuff of which you are made of, by putting more of the most important substance back into your body. So whether it is the blood, or the brain (yup, water wahan bhi hai, tabhi toh chemical locha hota hai :-|, elementary, ain't it?) or the muscles in your body, all of them have and need a lot of water. Sirf aapka dil hi nahin, aapka blood, brain and muscles bhi maange more.

Understand that water not only regulates your body temperature (yes, you are hot, please stop drifting, I do not refer to your oomph quotient), but also helps to remove the waste (crap, am needlessly drawing a picture, you are already privy to this leaked info, aren't you?), and thus keeps the body functional and moving. Get moving. Go get a glass of water rightaway. I kid you not about kidney matters. Never ever.

It is vital to comprehend that water is vital to retain the vital nutrients (yup, grammatical harakiri, repeated vital thrice in the same sentence, but what the heck, meri marzi!), and effectively the body works more efficiently.

But that's not all, here is the new and improved (ah! the cliché) buy 1 get 1 free wala offer that you desperately seek. Drinking water will help you loose weight too. Because you eat less as your cutu petu is already filled up. And not only loose weight, but it also help in keeping your body slightly alkaline in its chemistry. This is really important, because according to the science journals, all cancers are caused by internal inflammation, and that inflammation is sparked and fueled by an acidic internal environment. Pray, please bring this healthier change into your internal environment even if you are or aren't much bothered about the changes in the external environment. Promise?

Hope by now you have realized that water is the miraculous energy drink that you have been having daily. Alas, yet some of you don't believe in the miracles per se! But what to do, c'est la vie, such is life.

Like I goaded you in the beginning, please drink and drive (towards good health). Cheers!

Good luck and God bless.

*And I fade in the background singing "paani paani re, yeh thi teri kahaani re", Adieu!*

~The Laughing Heart; Charles Bukowski~

Your life is your life.

Don't let it be clubbed into dank submission. Be on the watch, there are ways out, there is a light somewhere.

It may not be much light but it beats the darkness.

Be on the watch.

The gods will offer you chances. Know them. Take them.

You can't beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes, and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be.

Your life is your life.

Know it while you have it.

You are marvelous, the Gods wait to delight in you.

~The Laughing Heart; Charles Bukowski~

~Kahlil Gibran; On Good and Evil~

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.
Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.
For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.
Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."
For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,
Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.
And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.
Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping. Even those who limp go not backward.
But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,
You are only loitering and sluggard.
Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.
But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest. And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.
But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"
For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"

~Kahlil Gibran; On Good and Evil~

Soul mate...

A soul mate is someone with who you experience a deep intimate spiritual connection, a profound synchronicity. 

Upon your first meeting you feel as if you have known each other for years, and there's a feeling of being able to relax and fully be yourself. You feel like you can share with your soul mate what your life is about without editing your words in any way. 

There are many people on the planet who can be your soul mate, who may fit you like a glove and you can have this deeper profound loving connection with them. 

However, if you carry any wounds from the past intimate relationships, they will block the manifestion for that loving person you want to be with. The negative experiences from the past penetrate our heart deeper than we realize and reveal. And in turn create a shield of defense that doesn't allow in any pain or feelings of being loved, blocking both the positive and negative experiences from happening, leaving you completely numb and lacking personal intimate relationships. 

The melting and healing of these walls is an imperative key to healing your life and reconnecting with your soul mate. And on melting, it will drench even an impermeable gone stone cold heart.

But first, you have to vibrate what you want to attract. When the soul is ready, the soul mate will appear.

Good luck and God bless.

Insanity is an antidote to the mad world...

Harr shakhs deewana, harr insaan yahan majnoon,
Mukhtalif deewangi, zehan mein alag hai janoon,
Aakhri manzil ke rah-guzaar, raah par hai judaa,
Koi zar, koi zarre mein dhoondta hai apna khuda...

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.

~Mark Twain~

Promises to The Soul...

Promises to soul...

Feel the fear and just do it. There's always a way when there is a will. Life is too short for an unlived and unloved life and too long to die carrying the cross of distress.

Forgive others and forgive yourself. And then move on. Forgiveness doesn't means making yourself vulnerable again, use freewill and move away from all anguish, hurt and other low energies. Forgiveness is to let go of all negativity and make space empty only for positivity. Remember you don't find what you don't seek.

Give no excuses and take no excuses. Always be clear cut with the truth and let people handle it on its face value.

Good enough is never ever good enough. Don't compromise on life. It's all you have got. Every time you fail, is actually one step closer to the success.

Happiness stems from within. Always look within. Don't seek it without.

Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking.

Let go of pretense; both to self and to the world, and similarly stay away from all those who are pretentious. The world is huge and can accommodate everyone without having the need to needlessly run into each other. They are on a different karmic journey, and you on a different, don't try to change the world, change yourself.

Trust your instincts. Trust yourself. And most of all, implicitly trust God. The accountability starts and ends with God and lies not with the humans.

Tea, Coffee, or Me...

OK, let's get this straight...

Persistence pays, but persistence sans common sense takes you nowhere... It is more bane than boon...

Lemme explain... If it is your dream to someday make world's best cup of tea, and in pursuit of that, day in and day out you continuously experiment with the amount of water, tea leaves and flavors, so as to develop the right formulation, I'd say that you are right on course, keep up the hard work and one day it will reap the result that will satisfy you...

But if you have coffee beans instead of the tea leaves and yet you believe by continuously experimenting with the quantity, your persistence will pay off in creating the formulation of world's best tea, then my friend your persistence is actually leading you to nowhere...

Not doubting your skills but to make a cup of tea, world's best or not, you need tea leaves and not coffee beans...

Hereby I raise a toast, may you have an undiluted common sense and an unending persistence, and may you create worlds finest cup of tea...

Cheers...

Good luck and God bless...

Gratitude Universe...

Dear God, Dear Universe, Please crack everything that has grown too brittle in my life. My focus ain't on the breaking of the egg; it is on the emerging little chick. I release all that's not for my higher good, I let go of all apprehensions, I surrender to your will, I relax in your grace. I no longer try to repair the irreparable and instead I am absolutely focused on the possibilities I will have once the shell is no longer holding me back. Gratitude.

Common sense. Come'on sense.

There's a reason why even before you fly, the airline crew will guide you towards all emergency exits and in case of loss in the cabin pressure, advise you to first help yourself with an oxygen mask before attempting to help someone seated next to you.

Because by helping yourself first, you empower yourself to eventually help not just one, but maybe several others.

Unless you help yourself, you are never in a viable position to help anyone else.

Common sense. Come'on sense.

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If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

~Buddha~

Common sense. Come'on sense.

There's a reason why even before you fly, the airline crew will guide you towards all emergency exits and in case of loss in the cabin pressure, advise you to first help yourself with an oxygen mask before attempting to help someone seated next to you.

Because by helping yourself first, you empower yourself to eventually help not just one, but maybe several others.

Unless you help yourself, you are never in a viable position to help anyone else.

Common sense. Come'on sense.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

~Buddha~

The Journey...

Prologue:

Wow… So you are heading to Goa… Rocking… Have a joyously safe journey.

Hope you are taking everything that you would need… Woollens, Jackets, Gloves, and lest I forget Brandy to keep you warm!

Wait a second, do you suspect it is weird to take warm clothing to Goa; it is not as if you are heading to Ladakh? Shouldn’t it be cotton casuals, swimwear, and sun-screen etcetera?

Oops, seems just alike the way I live life, I forgot to hold my horses and have rushed through.

I am sorry, my bad.

(BTW, I am sorry and my bad are similar in nature unless you say it one instead of the other at someone’s funeral. However this is the frivolous part, better to stick to the main story.)

Rewind…

Wow… So you are heading to Goa… Rocking… Have a joyously safe journey.

Hope you are taking everything that you would need… shorts, tees, swimwear et all?

Now it makes sense, does it? It isn’t as if the woollens are in any way less or more important than the casual summer wear but that it is not what one needs on the beaches.

OK, now to the next level but this time let me start with the basics.

A for Apple, B for Boy…

Journey:

Just as you primarily need shorts, tees, swimwear instead of the woollen jackets to Goa, and vice versa in Ladakh for that matter, similarly you need to identify the purpose of your soul, why you are here on earth, where are you going, and what is of the optimum need of the soul in its journey. Understand that you are a soul with a body and not a body with a soul; and the soul is here on a journey or a lifetime if you may please, which is a part of several journeys that you make within your karmic itinerary or blueprint, designed by The Almighty, The Creator, The God, and The Universe.

Your soul, like all other souls, is different from the others. It is unique in every way just as its creator intended it to be. It has its own divine purpose to be on earth. And your soul, like all other souls, has a different life path, travelling here to learn what it couldn’t in some previous lifetime. The soul travels again and again, until it make amends, grows, and is ready to reach the next level. And though the soul travels alone, yet the soul is never alone. Surrounded by the borrowers/lenders of its karmic balance sheet, the soul repeatedly meets its other counterparts in all the lifetimes, giving and taking, guiding and be guided, learning and teaching, until the karmic account is balanced and outstanding is settled to nil. And once the karmic account is settled, some souls move to the next level and some others who still have business pending with other must stay on. But because each soul has been assigned a different role, different purpose, different lessons, and there’s only as much as you can take along so it is imperative to take along whatever makes your journey comfortable and complete.

The lessons that soul needs to learn are easy to know. At every bend of life, all that you learn is a part of that entire of what The Almighty wants you to learn.

The challenges for soul, its amends, and thereby the growth are relatively easy to identify too as whatever is your weakness, you have to overcome that. Whether it is anger, or jealously, or greed for money, or lust for power, or whatever it may be, that is what is chaining your soul in the karmic cycle and you need to overcome it in order to grow. If the soul remained fearful in its previous lifetime or is meek this life, the resolve should be to turn bold and fearless. If the soul is abusive, the requisite change is to become gentle and polite. And so on. Hope you get the drift.

But here comes the difficult part.

To identify the life purpose, how to go about it, what to take along and what to let go.

This is where your intuitiveness plays a major role. The signs and the dreams that repeat time and again. Listen to what your gut tells you. Pay attention to your hearts calling. See but have a vision too.

Once you sort this, you are ready for the next level. Good luck.

Epilogue:

Suppose the airline misplaced your bag, and that what was yours to begin with landed up in an alien land because of an error whilst tagging. And believing it is forever going to be untraceable, you made peace and moved on with your journey. However one day by the stroke of luck, the bag is found, and you can identify that it belongs to you. If you get an opportunity, go ahead and claim it. Obviously the paperwork is extensive but if it is worth the gain, then surely it is worth the pain.

(P.S.: Replace airline with destiny and bag with soul-mate in the above and read again.)

And lest I forget, have a happy journey. 

God bless.