There is a song deep inside you. You are born to sing a song and you are preparing. You are moving around in the stage with your dresses, but you are forgetting to sing---holding the mike, too, but you are keeping silent. 'Til that time, you'll be restless---until you can sing that song which you have come on the stage to sing. Doesn't matter if you feel a little out of tune for one minute or two. Go ahead. Sing. - Sri Sri Ravishankar

They are born knowing "Object Impermanence" and then slowly learn "Object Permanence". Eventually they will have to unlearn that, for there is really no permanence in this transient world.

These were my thoughts when I was reading a BabyCenter newsletter on how 8 month olds develop awareness that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible. :-).

Sanskrit is a divine language that evolved from sounds in nature. From birds, from rivers, from planets, from space, from air, from land, from the entire cosmos.

Sanskrit is a language built to last, even when people will hardly speak or understand the language. The reason is, the vibration of Sanskrit words do not need understanding at an intellectual level - they reach the being at a subtler level. This is again because the language is in harmony with the universe. It makes the being within us vibrate in resonance. Now we know why sitting amidst Vedic chanting calms down the mind and uplifts us. I have also noticed that as you keep chanting, the meaning just comes to you at the intellectual level too!

Sanskrit is also a language friendly to the modern computers. Well, it was the language of the omniscient Gods, people who had transcended time.

Google has made our otherwise monotonous lives so peppy! First it was the intuitive search results, and now it is the clutter free, light and friendly gmail! Very soon we will be saying gmail me, not email me :-).

I am now a big fan of the Planets theme! For the uninitiated, Gmail themes can be accessed from the Settings link that appears on the top right corner when signed into gmail. You can choose the theme that you want to see as a backdrop when you are gmailing, chatting or exploring. Planets is my favorite. I love the way the backdrop changes, almost makes it like a trip to space. I love the beautiful deep colors of the lunar craters, the saturn rings and the bright blue stars. If I gaze at it for long enough, I feel transported to far off and can almost feel the vast expanse of space around me with a meteor shooting by.

I know the whole last paragraph sounds a little too dramatic. But that is exactly my point. Gmail has infused more color and pep into my otherwise monotonous life. Atleast my mind wanders further from my laptop now. And wow, it shoots right into space!!

Thank you Google. Your efforts are appreciated and creativity admired!

The five signs of a Guru are :

Dukhakshaya: Misery disappears.
Sukha avirvhava: Joy swells up in His presence.
Gyanaraksha: Knowledge dawns.
Sarva Samvardhana: You become more talented.
Samriddhi: You will have plenty.

How True!

I used to love Hindi poetry classes in school and Dohas used to be my favorite. I used to like pretty much all poems with rhyme, but Dohas had the extra attraction of a deep meaning in a concise couplet. I was always impressed by them, be it Rahim, Kabir, Soor or Tulsi ke dohe - they all influenced a lot of my ideas during my growing-up years.

One such couplet is the one above. When I first learnt this Doha in 8th or 9th grade, I loved it instantly. I tried to practise it and do so even now. In moments of extreme joy, I bring the Divine in my thoughts. And of course, thoughts of the Divine is all that we have in moments of difficulties.

But of late, a different dimension to this Doha has been working on my mind. I no longer think Kabir is talking about thinking of God at moments of Joy. I think he is talking about being centered and stable even in extreme joy. Isn't that what Divinity is ? A vast expanse of serene cosmic calmness. Bringing in that tranquilness in our minds when we are faced with any extreme emotion, or for that matter in every single moment, is the essence of spirituality.

That centeredness, that stability is carried over at moments of sadness and difficulties. That way, we eventually develop equanimity towards happiness and sadness. Everything comes by practice. Being centered at all times also comes out of practice. Practice makes it a habit eventually, almost part of your nature. And realizing that the Divine is part of our nature....even a remote glimpse of that realization takes us much closer to our goal.