Clarity

I had learnt this meditation for flights where, while observing the present, if a thought from the past arises, then you remember the city your flight left from as a reminder to return to the present, and if a future thought arises, then you remember your destination city for the same reason.

Anyway, while just doing this process, I finally got some major clarity on something - 

I always was afraid of completely separating myself from my mind, because I always considered it my biggest asset - that was the device responsible for my creative ideas/funny thoughts. But I finally just realized that while these are nice to have, they are not what makes life beautiful. They merely are vestibules for earning temporary flashes of respect in the world via self-proclaimed fame, but lasting equanimity is won by what is done by the heart.....by sharing kindness....(which is the budding flower before love, but hold your horses, I'm still a pony :)

The heart doesn't direct in words, but it has this fascinating magnetism towards the rest of the world - I've noticed that if you just follow its magnetic path, instead of listening to the mind, life all of a sudden feels gleefully light. 

Anyway, I was just feeling very grateful for you for pointing me in the right direction. I could have easily gone decades more with the unwavering belief that my mind's talents are why I'm here and I'm nothing without it. 

Thanks for saving me some time :)

Silence Retreat

Just did it....frightening then freeing experience.  When I moved myself away from the crime scene altogether, my first reaction was "well if those thoughts/sensations/tickles aren't happening to me, then why do I even need to be here? Why did I even come?" 

Then it retracted further into a view of the movie from behind the screen, peaking from behind a curtain. Not the best seat in the house, but wildly entertaining to watch the audience watch the movie.

Then the curtain crashed with an alert from everyone's favorite iPhone app.......... "Messages" 

Jeff - I don't know how you're finding time to breathe truth into email after email, but it's making my time breathe easier. 

We're almost a month out from the course, and somehow your hug is still vibrating my heart.  It's inspired my own style to evolve from "side hug" to "full frontal."  Plus your soothing background singers named Meditation and Nature have inspired as well.

(the part where I tell you how):

NATURE

1) There was a moment by the main pond where I was watching my thermos allow steam escape, yet the steam's exit strategy was no strategy at all....it was at the mercy of the Wind and the Nature. 

We, too, are at Nature's mercy.  It is so much bigger than us - who are we to complain what it serves us as guests in its house? Enjoy every dish Nature serves with enthusiasm and an appetite.

2) It was Nature's size that inspired the attached doc as a morning reminder for how insignificant/unimportant our worries are (it's editable, so feel free to re-word for your own inspirational taste) 

In my mind, I always wished that I lived near the stars or ocean for this very reminder, but MS Word reminded me that everything is solvable. 

) I've never been an active nature advocate (my apt building doesn't even recycle) -- but every time I walked out of the woods and back to the parking circle, I couldn't help but notice how out-of-place the cars looked in comparison to their surroundings.  They looked so.....unnatural.  And this feeling was coming from someone who LOVES driving - who once even drove 8000 miles from Germany to Mongolia.  

Yet, since the course, my to-do list now says "sell car".....(for a smaller car). 

Nature, pat yourself on the back, you win. Your mother (Divine?) would be proud.

4) While walking uphill, a parallel thought occurred that an Incline Treadmill is the world's greatest laxative. 

MEDITATION

1) For "Meditation-in-Motion" (or as my mind calls it, "Hell"), I have to thank Kiki's sound effects a.k.a. opera-singing exorcism that kept me going.  

It got to a point where the sensations just felt like my body trying to speak.  In the hollow-and-empty afterwards, I thought "how adorable that my body was trying to talk, like a baby trying to talk." Moral is to observe objectively and enjoy every sensation, it's just your body being silly. 

2) Those H&E's really slowed down the mind's frames so I could see each thought separately, like separating/opening up a stuck-together plastic produce bag. It shined a light on my disguised actions that were indirectly desiring happiness. Doing things for external approval, when I already had my own approval.  It reminded me of when I used to hide school supplies in the house, just so we could buy new ones.  But Mom would say, "we already have that, why buy it again?"  

We already have love, happiness, joy.  Why try to buy more elsewhere? 

3) Don't scold yourself when you know you've thought something you shouldn't....it happens every time we're asked to slowly open our eyes when we feel complete.  Mine try to open as slow as possible, to win Room's Most Graceful Eye-Opener. Then my mind reacts to my participation in an imaginary game and instead the eyelids open as smoothly as a pinball garage.  

INSTEAD, skate smoothly past thoughts, knowing that they're just thoughts, they're just there..........like Hrithik Roshan's thumb.

4) The most profound personal revelation was while Sri Sri asked us to imagine our last 7 days on Earth. I just assumed I'd want to spend it awash in Brazilian sex adventures and ice cream bubble baths.  But in truth what surfaced was the desire to spend those days just laughing hysterically with friends and family. 

And why wait til the last 7 days? This can be done EVERY day.  Like MS Word taught me earlier, everything is solvable. 

JEFF 

1) Your Sri Sri stories made him seem so fun and playful. Like the challenges on this path were being designed by an enlightened child, not a nazi monk. It reminded that we should enjoy every moment on this path, instead of taking it so seriously :) Like you said, every moment is a gift. 

2) When a thought arises, IT'S JUST A THOUGHT. 

Your simple words were so right.  I realized these thoughts are made by cells which have all the same parts as the cells in my foot hair.  Would I ever listen to my foot hair?

A few questions:

1) I understand the mind "toll gate" analogy, but what about Sri Sri's strategy of being with a thought in order for it to dissolve? How do you know when to be with a thought, instead of just lifting the bridge before the thought crosses into Attention Ave?  

2) Can you define "Divine"? How necessary is it to establish a belief in divinity/grace for this spiritual path to make sense? Can't the universe's ecosystem of souls self-govern themselves without a higher power, like a dog who's able to lick itself clean? 

3) Thanks again for teaching this Art of Silence - but when are you teaching the Art of Hugging? 

Hugs and kisses,

Mohit

Buddha's Meditation Rd 2

Ekta, you skinny-skinny Buddha....thank you for fattening us up with new wisdom, and showing us how to feed on our own flavorless sensations.

Your Satthipatthana, which in Hebrew means "Surface Surfing," allowed us to swim deep into our ocean's mind and send memories to the surface for pleasureless bubble-popping. 

What continues to astound me is how you don't use any notes.  Meanwhile, I'm nothing without notes, and here are all of them from last weekend as proof:

EKTA/SRI SRI QUOTABLES

1) The highest priority is the benefit of the other person. 

2) Small talk is just for getting rid of initial nervous energy

3) You can be happy without a reason, but you can't be unhappy without a reason.  

4) The senses' ability to enjoy is limited, but the mind's desires are unlimited.....when the mind says it's completely satisfied, that's nirvana. 

5) My aversion to someone else's habits is the cause of my own dukkha. Though by its very nature it will change, only nature can decide when.

MOHIT'S SANYA 

1) My biggest challenge is to not challenge my thoughts. But judging/arguing with your thoughts is only further tangling the cords behind your mind's TV.  If you just comb all your hair forward, that is, just say yes and think less, the wires and hairs will untangle themselves. Unhampered hair is happy hair :)

2) Speaking of hair, don't waste creative/thinking energy on non-hairy situations. Your brain has limited problem-solving energy, so if you waste that on problems that aren't problems (i.e. what to wear, where to eat, when to call, etc), you won't have mental energy to solve what really matters (how to help, how to build, how to create). 

3) If you're awake and unaware, you might as well be asleep. 

4) Doing satthipatthana before meditation is like the deep sea scrub under your nails before putting makeup on the mind with meditation. And the stronger the satthipatthana practice, the less makeup you need.  

What also helps both meditation and less makeup is dim bulbs :)

5) Letting the sensations sensationalize the whole body simultaneously is like the end of a bucket bath where you get to dump yourself with all the extra water. Except bucket bath finales are for enjoyment, and satthipatthana parties are for observing.  

6) Waiting too long after meditation to try to absorb knowledge is like tossing presents at a closed garage door, for them to get later washed away on the driveway.  Those moments after meditation are oh so precious, when your mind is momentarily turned into double-sided tape. 

7) There's something so satisfying about knowing that everything is incapable of satisfying - no need to continue looking in between the unturned couch cushions of the world.. Observe everything truly "as it is," and take everything at face value, instead of pursing an insatiable search for meaning.  Somehow, knowing that nothing means anything, it just "is," means everything.

8) We have graduated from witnessing our own life as if we're in someone else's movie, to witnessing as if every moment is a new movie.  Don't worry about finding sequence in the scenes; after all, life is an incongruent comedy.  And if you're observing "as it is," then what does it matter as it was?  

9) Manipulating the breath, instead of just observing the breath, is like using formula instead of breastfeeding........it's easier but less natural

(this analogy is from my personal experience as a former mother)

Most inputs that my mind observes still come out a shade of pink that could've only been laundered by an analytical shade of red.  

The other day, I was waiting in line at Kroger, and overheard a guy behind me tell his friend "...and thank god I'm off on Wednesday night."  My mind's factory processed this as "oh they have a weeknight job, oh they don't have a salaried job, oh I'm better than them........then another layer of the mind's tiramisu noticed me noticing this, and applauded for noticing at all. 

Even my ego has an ego. 

But Buddha's 'loving-kindness" technique in lines and times like these can help - simply speaking, instead of thinking how others are different, you simply wish others the upmost happiness - it's a quick-fix-clean of hiding everything in your closet before your in-laws come.  Eventually, these judgy/fudgy habit-patterns will have to be properly cleaned instead of temporarily hidden.

I still remember watching watching one of the first Ashtavakra videos for the first time in Jayshree's basement, oh so long ago.....probably the same year that India gained independence. Ekta was describing dispassion, and I challenged that it's passion that creates creativity. She said ask Aditya, he has a lot to say on this subject, to which I thought, "who the hell is Aditya?"

Then, a skinny Shah Rukh Khan started speaking from the side, and explained how dispassion in fact enhances creativity. 

When Aditya says something, it immediately makes sense, so you agree....... but then doubt seeps through later, as you understand that you've understood nothing.

Only in this past week did I truly finally understand this, at the experiential level.  And regardless, if I have to choose between being interesting and passionate instead of boring and happy, give me boring and happy.  

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS (in order of difficulty)

1) Who are you?

2) Who am I? 

3) If you feel the mind analyzing (sanya-izing), do you immediately search your body for corresponding sensations? It's like, if you're wearing loose pants and suddenly feel a draft on your butt, do you immediately reach for your ankles? 

4) What's your favorite color? 

Love,

Mohit

On Meditation

Boys and Joys - most of you know that I've been exploring meditation over the past few years.  

It certainly hasn't been a linear path in progress......sometimes 2 steps forward, then 3 steps back, crabwalk sideways, full fist in your butt (~Maya Angelou).

But as I learn more about meditation and my own mind, I'd like to share my learnings with you.  

Most of these are addressed as letters to my meditation teacher, Ekta Bathija, who I'm almost positive is not a human. (for more on that, stay tuned)

Anyway, today's sharing was written after a weekend retreat with this guy - one of the world's foremost huggers.  

--------

I never understood why people became wild primates whenever Sri Sri was near.  It was like Bono x Bieber at Mardi Gras, if Bono x Bieber wore a kurta.

He says our natural state is love; but eyewitnesses of his groupies say our innate state is animal. (At least that's what's released every time DJ Sri Sri walks into a party).  But in last week's "Get Happy*" course, Dr. Guruji medicated us with a meditative talk that tamed all our inner tigers and tied itself to our memories.

Except my memory expires in 10 minutes ago, so quickly here before I warp it further into fairy-tale:

(Timeout - let me preface that we've all heard these points before, but sometimes returning to kindergarten lets the legos spell out new truths - also, I'm writing this from a bakery and no treats were harmed in the making of this email)

1) "If it's not a hell yes, it's a no. But if it's already happened, it's ok. Be ok with everything that happens."  This is a Daily Reminder that goes off on my phone every morning. It was mainly meant to apply to situations/events, but Drinks expert Sri Sri added a lemon twist - "Let everything flow in the same direction, even conflicting thoughts." Being ok with everything means even being ok with your thoughts; and anyway, they live in a Dressing Room, so why react adversely to an outfit you know they'll change out of anyway? 

2) Speaking of changing, the same goes for everyone else's thoughts too -- their thoughts are made of the same star stuff and have the same knack for change.  Yet the ego, and its insatiable craving for respect, thinks it can kidnap people's opinions and freeze them in time.  But opinions like thoughts like minds are all slippery fish that aren't meant to be held for long.  So what does it matter what anyone else thinks? 

After all, the only constant is that everything is changing. 

3) Meditation is not just about concentration; it's also about relaxation. If we're so focused on concentrating, we cut off innocuous thoughts from sharing our lane, which only inspires road rage and revenge on our attention. 

4) "Most of the day we try to impose our will on nature - Meditation is the time of day where you listen to what nature has to tell you." 

While it doesn't happen every day, only in deep meditation does nature whisper in unquestionable clarity. We already have all the answers; it's just hard to hear over our mind's whining.  And these minds mistakenly point us to the outside for advice; but look within because "advice is that thing you ask for when you secretly know the answer and wish you didn't." 

5) About 5 or 6 years ago, I had a drunken debate with a friend about if humans were supposed to seek out happiness or focus on influence.  I fought hard for influence, contending happiness was selfish...and that crabs were shellfish.  But Sri Sri Shakkarpara tipped that flimsy point over with his skinny stick....... in fact, my friend and I were arguing for the same thing.  After all, everything we do is for happiness - even ambition, even legacy, even influence; it's for happiness. So instead of aiming for influence/respect to make us happy, be happy first and the rest will follow. 

5) "Think about how your time is spent amongst 80 years of life. 40 years is spent sleeping, 10 years eating, 5 years in the bathroom.  And then all that time we spend THINKING about sleeping or eating or bathrooming. So we must find a way to sleep happily, drive happily, BE happily," and remember that thinking is the opposite of living.

At the course a few months ago, I had a profound realization in meditation - the kind that gives unquestionable clarity.  The meditation takes you through all phases/ages in life -  "Remember how things were at age 5 in the sandbox, then age 10.... now you're just beginning high school..........now you're 40, how do you feel? Now you're 0, imagine what's around you, and imagine your emotions."

I'd come to terms a while ago that money has no correlation with happiness; but my ego still felt that "You know, I've made a lot of people smile in a lot of countries......I need to achieve something that etches that in record - whether that be through writing a book or making a movie or winning an award, or just SOMETHING that makes me 'deservedly' known to a larger audience than just the people I'd encountered in person." 

Going through that meditation, there my 50-yr old self sat, imagining having accomplished and achieved everything that I've ever wanted to accomplish and achieve. 

It wasn't half as satisfying as I'd always imagined it to be.  I understand why now -  accomplishments/achievements are small peaks in this life's mountain range.  Most of life happens in between the big events, and if we're just looking forward to the pretend peaks, we're going to miss most of life.  So as our mind continues to sew together meaning out of past acts, know that our true purpose is whatever we're doing right now.  Take pleasure in every moment by giving it your undivided and smiling attention; and remember that it's our responsibility to spread smiles in every moment we're around others.

In college, I wrote my purpose to be "to make as many people as possible, happier." Professors forewarned that "as many as possible" was a never-ending number, and that this lofty goal would need a larger platform.  But now I know not to care about reaching an end or a number; the only number in time is Now O'Clock.

*you can't "Get Happy," just BE Happy

Title

As most of you know, I recently completed a road trip from Germany to Mongolia - 7803 miles to be exact and all the dirt road you could eat.

We picked up hitchhikers, camped in the dessert, drove through rivers.....even danced with Uzbeki nanis.  

And somewhere between nani hopscotch and deep sea driving, I witnessed some of our spiritual teachings in action.  Thought I'd share my findings:

1) You see, at my day job here, I'm the only one at our small company to do the sales....via calls/emails/candy/etc.  During the 5 weeks I was gone and nobody doing this in my absence, our sales actually went UP.  Proof that not only am I not the doer, I'm not even the seller. 

2)  Doing seva/being around people whose problems are exponentially greater than mine takes the mind away from personal memories and anxieties and into the present moment with their presence. 

3) Though the one place that even Ashtavakra would agree it's ok to move your mind away from the present moment is a 3rd-world country's public bathroom. 

4) People's expectations from strangers are low, but that's almost a good thing - you see, that means it's easier than it should be to bring them joy.  Just by blowing bubbles and passing out soccer balls to unexpectant families, the adults' smiles along our path were even bigger than their kids'. 

5) And both kids and adults alike around the world unanimously know one english word and one word only: "selfie"

6) Russia, which I imagined to be covered in a grey cloud of communism, was actually shockingly beautiful and friendly. That country just needs a better publicist.  

When I asked one Russian if people in the bigger cities are just as nice as in the smaller towns, they wisely responded, "People are nice everywhere. It depends on you, not them." 

7) It was easy to noticeably follow the flow of life's river when I was on a journey where every day's location and adventure were different.  It'll be harder to notice the same flowing river back home where the scenery changes...less. But that's why, wherever we are, we just have to be aware of the adventure that's happening around us. 

Hugs and kisses,

Mojikistan 

PS in case you're interested, below are some photos:

On the way from Urgench to Bukhara (Uzbekistan), we saw some russian-looking hats on display off the roadside. Nobody was around, so we walked around back, and accidentally woke up the sleeping couple. We didn't buy anything, but these people with almost nothing offered us their single cucumber and half a piece of bread - we handed them money, but they refused to take it:

At the Kazakh/Uzbeki border, which took a little longer than forever to cross, the locals were beginning to get cranky in the heat, so we blew up a bunch of balloons for them and they wiggled with appreciation: 

We had to spend 2 nights at the Russia/Mongolia customs crossing due to don't get me started, but it ended up being a huge blessing in disguise. We were stuck there with a group of Italians who've spent the past 5 years driving around the world showing movies to kids in villages who've never seen a movie before, and a German couple who are on a year-long global road trip to cook a meal for at least 1 family in every city they stop.  We spent the last 10 days with both groups, and collectively agreed to split the money we'd raised for charity with the Italians for their awesomeness and shared vision to bring more smiles to the world:

And last but not least, my new best friend is this monk who I caught gossiping with his girlfriends: