Rains

Yesterday, after a particularly dry day, I looked up at the skies, gave up on rains and went outside to water my plants. I watered them tenderly, generously, one at a time, speaking to them, all the while - I know I havent been paying you much attention, I have been busy, but I love you and dont want you to die on me...etc etc. Some intimate private time with my plants. My husband Atul came out and hung around watching our plants. A neighbor approached and stayed for a chat. When Atul and I were leaving for our walk, she said " go fast for your walk, it might rain!" Rain?? Ridiculous...I looked up at a few fluffy clouds and skies turning pink behind. There was a cool breeze. A perfect evening for a walk. I said " Its impossible that it rains today.."

Atul and I were walking under the giant trees, barely ten minutes into our walk, when drip-drop - giant plops of black on a long, grey tarred road. We grinned an said " Nah...this is not for real" and continued - still away from home. Another ten seconds, and the skies tore open, buckets of rains poured in torrents. We made a hasty U-turn and started running  - laughter gurgling and spilling out, skin drenched, eyelashes dripping, hair plastered, clothes wrinkled and cling wrapped around our bodies. We ran back laughing all the way, happy at the drenching, and yet eager for home - high on the rain, the wind, the cold, the earth-smells, this life and us.

Swimming

I swim. Its been more than two decades since I took to swimming - seriously. I swim for a variety of reasons - most very common. I swim for exercise, to de-stress, to take a break from staring at a screen, to help preserve a bad back. But I also swim to meditate, to play, to compete against my own self, to see if I can swim longer, faster, better, stroke counts without breath, under water, just feet paddle, and the list goes on. In other words, I swim, and I really like it. Almost unconsciously I have acquired a habit of clocking my swimming. And to my surprise, I discovered something interesting today.

Usually after a number of warm up laps, I start swimming fast. I consciously speed up, beat my legs harder, move my hands faster. Then slow down on my last lap and flip over floating and looking at sky while catching my breath and then jump out. Today I forgot to do that. I got too engrossed staring at the perfect butterflies coming together with a bubble heart in reflection in a breast stroke and the quiet paddle sound of rowing in the freestyle. I got too absorbed watching and listening to myself swim. And at getting out - found that I had broken all my previous records.

I had swum faster in effortless silence than in furious conscious speed. Interesting, huh?

Nude

Sometimes when the head boils and the heart brims, I take to a woodblock and with a mallet, chisel away at all that should not be, in the head, and the heart, and racing blood streams. I chip away in intense gouges, ripping lengths, molding curves and shapes, till nothing remains covered, hidden - and all burden is lightened.

A Trip to Coorg

And Flowers Bloom in My Garden...

..and nothing more needs to be said....

And a Caveat...

In a previous blog I talked about recognising axioms in my life - and how I came by them.

I thought that the second of these - of 'No Mind' needed some elaboration. There is a fine distinction but a quantum-leap of difference, between 'no mind' and 'mindless'. While the latter refers to ordinary tasks, ordinarily conducted in a mindless, careless, habitual manner, the former take even the ordinary acts to a level of extraordinary achievements, even perfection itself. The transition from mindless, to mindful, and to no mind is an act of purification through simple process of attention - and yet this is the most difficult part of it. To shed the unnecessary - thoughts, influences, habits - to shed 'parallel processing', is a direction towards this 'no mind' or 'empty mind', from which spring pure, creative, and balanced, action - I Think.

Wave