Dear conscious being and lovers of writing,

I find myself constantly evolving with reading all your blog and attempting to write and experiment with all that needs a loud thump and voice. All that we come across, think about and never pen down.

So here it goes. It is october 2018. I am grateful for each day the sun shines and it was warm day worth being gratful for. At night, I am planning purchases to decorate a  new house and indulging online, tempting myself with a new wadrobe for festivities. Then, I come across a documentary on coral reef and how it is ‘bleaching’ and dying. Such is the contradiction in activities. My conscious mind is engaged in understanding aftermaths of a want based living. There is helplessness, depressive angst at how in matter of couple of year with collective increase in consumerism, there is a effect and a price that we are to pay and yet the lower mind is still on the phone -browsing. It took some active effort to stop the online browsing and feeding the want to constantly accquire and stop the voice that I have so strongly found that says I deserve it, I want it. It is almost convincing me that I need it to feel a certain way.  That is one october  night, one day and I wonder how much effort it is required to appeal to the higher self to take over and not pay heed to the man made efforts to constantly keep you acquiring.

There are many october nights to plan ahead- to ignore the false call of want and to break out of circle based on needs and want. Intellectually, It is easier to understand a deep void one is trying to fill. But each step in direction of altruism is heavy. Yet, awareness is a start. There are many october nights to plan and action. I cannot forgo personal responsibility of carbon footprint and waste. I own it with a heavy heart but I own it with loving kindness and a prayer for consciousness to seep in and stop us in the tract – when we are only focus on serving self. Let this journey be about ‘we’ in wellness not ‘I’ and illness.

May this blog be an affirmation and manifestation that our future generations can witness the grandeur of coral reefs. May they enjoy their odd october warm days atleast and may we not unconsciously take it away from us. May we have the courage to walk even a single step in direction of alternative energy, vegetarianism and observant of our carbon footprint.  May we extend a huge hug to Mother Earth for all that is provided to us in form of one less trip to the mall rather a walk to the beach.

May I visit this blog with a awakened smile of contentment at tiny step of change.

Please write your thoughts on coal reef and consumerism.

This Era,

Or That,

Life transpires in thread of breaths,

Moments walked,

They never aim for shores,

Eachtime,

The destined seeked a cherished garden,

They missed countless flowerbeds,

Along the way……………………

-Rupika Moitra

………………………………….

इस दौर, उस दौर,

ज़िन्दगी की डोर,

पल गुज़रा, पंहुचा कहीं और

हम मंज़िलोह पर ढूंढ रहे थे अंजुमन,

और कितने गुल गुज़र गए

• र
  

Let the thoughts drip away,

like sweat,

For the force they exert,

Let the wisdom seep inside,

Subtle in their delight

Absorbed in this parched being,

Are lessons lived.

Wounds disguised,

Becoming every ounce,

Drenching every inch,

This whole is of sweat and turmoil,

But also;

of untold glory and delight….

-Rupika Moitra

The fight between the self ( ego and the one that surrenders) is bigger than any war going outside. Every outside enemy/ war that propels one to choose side and fight is but a distraction not to fight the ‘egoic self’

“And if I take your enemy away

Who are you then? ”

Transcendence happens either voluntarily ( ascension) or pain/ trauma will bring the shift (dissension) it will definitely knock..

It knocks harder many times and break the pretence of who we are as narrated by the ego.

Poets like Robert Bly have deeply thought about it. People who brood about a value diminished culture with developments that doesn’t cater to life or nature try to

hold on to the horses of the thought and remind ourself again and again of our Nafs and the real war within us. And everything else is a BIG distraction

Well, three practices of fighting nafs

Ta’Jeel or Swiftness. A good deed must be done immediately and there should be no laziness.

Tehqeer or Contempt. You must look at your good acts with contempt otherwise you will become self-righteous.

Ikhfa or Secrecy. You must keep your good acts secret otherwise people will praise

you and it will make you self-righteous.

I can try,

Only try,

Maybe writing to you,

I am writing to me,

Doing,

As soon as I think,

I must,

Maybe share content,

that’s substance to us

Reference

Chittick, William (1983). The Sufi Path of Love. State University of New York Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-87395-724-5