On the Eve of 45. . .

The best advice I have received in a long while.

"Sumanth, tomorrow is your birthday. So, don't do certain things that you do daily. Take the day off. Go for 20 rounds in our community.  We will watch Avengers cartoons after that." - Atri

Notes from T.D.

"It's like in this universe, we process time linearly forward. But outside of our space-time, from what would be a fourth-dimensional perspective, time wouldn't exist.

From that vantage, could we attain it? We'd see our space-time would look flattened, like a single sculpture with matter in a superposition of every place it ever occupied. Our sentience just cycling through life like carts on a track.

See, everything outside our dimension - that's eternity. Eternity looking down on us." - R Cohle.

The Druid's Prayer

I chanced upon the Druid's Prayer several years ago.  For some reason, I never did think to put it up, although I do relate to it almost daily.  

Recently in a conversation with a dear friend, I gave the TL DR version:  Druids are reverent and worship nature.  The prayer however, captures it all for me:

Grant, O Nature thy Protection
And in Protection, Strength
And in Strength, Understanding
And in Understanding, Knowledge
And in Knowledge, the Knowledge of Justice
And in the Knowledge of Justice, the Love of it
And in the Love of it, the Love of All Existence
And in the Love of All Existence, the Love of Nature and All Goodness.

Peace
S

PS:  The prayer itself is supposedly composed by the Welsh visionary, Iolo Morganwg.  I am simply posting it here.  All copyrights belong to the respective owners of this work and not to me.

Who was he. . .

Last night I was at the crossroads. A few people were milling around there.

I saw an old man being assisted by a young lad. The latter's features were obscured. He was helping the old man walk at the cross roads.

After a brief moment, I found myself frantically looking for the boy, but he had vanished. "Who was he?" I wondered.

The name 'velavā' echoed repeatedly. And I woke up.

Forgive Us Our Cynical Thoughts

There is a delightful song by a band called Rush.  It's called Emotion Detector.  The first lines of which run thus:

When we lift the covers from our feelings
We expose our insecure spots
Trust is just as rare as devotion
Forgive us our cynical thoughts

I am constantly amazed by the insecurities of the people who surround me.  It makes it difficult for ME to trust THEM, unconditionally or otherwise.

It's almost as if I measure them often and find them, well . . .  - Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin  - if you get my meaning.

Octave Mirbeau

As I start 2014, I remember Mirbeau's singular quote from the Torture Garden, a book I read over 2 decades ago:

"You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That is the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world."

My continuing resolution for the coming year is Never More.

S

Pictures of Home

Somebody's shouting
Up at a mountain
Only my own words return
Nobody's up there
It's a deception
When will I ever learn?

I'm alone here
With emptiness, eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home

Wondering blindly
How can they find me
Maybe they don't even know
My body is shaking
Anticipating
The call of the black footed crow...

I'm alone here
With emptiness, eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home

Here in this prison
Of my own making
Year after day I have grown
Into a hero
But there's no worship
Where have they hidden my throne. 

I'm alone here
With emptiness, eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home. 

Just brilliant. Deep Purple Mark II folks. That's what it is. 

Valmiki-an Syndrome

Most of us in India have heard of Valmiki, the sage who composed the rāmāyanā, India's enduring myth. 

I am not so concerned with the sage as I am with his life before he became one. Myth has it that he was a notorious highwayman named ratnākarā, who waylaid travellers and robbed them of their belongings after killing them. 

One day, our hero accosted a sage with intent to loot and pillage. They got talking and the sage told him that taking a life was bad with the accompanying bromide - eternity in "hell", no turns at the salvation lottery and so forth. 

The sage then asked him why he thieved to which ratnākarā replied that he had to do it to feed and take care of his family. 

The sage told him that he'd wait while asking our hero to return home and find out from the latter's family whether they would accept their share of the attendant sin from the homicides for material gain or just plain boredom (who knew?). 

Our friend went back home and had a conversation with his family - which we were led to believe comprised his parents, wife and children - on the lines of something like this executive summary:

ratnākarā: I kill and loot people to provide for you all. Will you also take a share of any sin that accompanies the act. 

Family: It is your duty to provide food for us, shelter us, take care of us and our needs. As far as partaking of any karmic or other consequences of your actions. . . . ummmm, no. 

Basically, they told him to go FUCK HIMSELF with knobs on!!

And that dear readers is the Valmiki-an Syndrome. People will freely partake of benefits when offered; never in the underlying risks and actions that made them possible.

Let Auspicious Impulsions Come To Us

Over a decade ago I came across a didactic statement in a book, “Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.” I was curious as to who the author of this statement was and finally managed to trace this to the ṛgveda, albeit to a more pristine form. This enigmatic statement was what first spurred me to start reading this ancient scripture and make the effort, as it still is, to understand what it contains.

Since that date, I have pursued the path of spiritual knowledge, to learn and understand the experiences of our human fathers and their yajña, in the hope that I will also benefit from and be able to emulate their example one day. Today I happened to reread the entire hymn that changed the course of my life so many years ago. It is a hymn of ten parts revealed to the ṛṣi gotama rāhūgaṇaḥ and I reproduce it here:

आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतोऽदब्धासो अपरितास उद्भिदः ।
देवा नो यथा सदमिद्वृधे असन्नप्रायुवो रक्षितारो दिवे दिवे ॥

ā no bhadrāḥ kratavo yantu viśvato'dabdhāso aparitāsa udbhidaḥ
devā no yathā sadamidvṛdhe asannaprāyuvo rakṣitāro dive dive

May auspicious impulsions come to us from all sides
Which harm no one, are unimpeded and victorious over the forces of division
May the Gods always be for our increase, never moving away from us
But always guarding us day by day

देवानां भद्रा सुमतिरृजूयतां देवानां रातिरभि नो नि वर्तताम् ।
देवानां सख्यमुप सेदिमा वयं देवा न आयुः प्र तिरन्तु जीवसे ॥

devānāṁ bhadrā sumatirṛjūyatāṁ devānāṁ rātirabhi no ni vartatām
devānāṁ sakhyamupa sedimā vayaṁ devā na āyuḥ pra tirantu jīvase

May the auspicious and right thinking of the Gods be ours
May their gifts to righteous persons be also bestowed upon us
May we attend to the friendship of the Gods
May the Gods extend our life span

तान् पूर्वया निविदा हूमहे वयं भगं मित्रमदितिं दक्षमस्रिधम् ।
अर्यमणं वरुणं सोममश्विना सरस्वती नः सुभगा मयस्करत् ॥

tān pūrvayā nividā hūmahe vayaṁ bhagaṁ mitramaditiṁ dakṣamasridham
aryamaṇaṁ varuṇaṁ somamaśvinā sarasvatī naḥ subhagā mayaskarat

With the ancient word, we call them
bhaga, mitra, aditi, the unerring dakṣa
aryamaṇ, varuṇa, soma and the aśvins
May felicitious sarasvatī grant us bliss

तन्नो वातो मयोभु वातु भेषजं तन्माता पृथिवी तत्पिता द्यौः ।
तद् ग्रावाणः सोमसुतो मयोभुवस्तद् अश्विना शृणुतं धिष्ण्या युवम् ॥

tanno vāto mayobhu vātu bheṣajaṁ tanmātā pṛthivī tatpitā dyauḥ
tad grāvāṇaḥ somasuto mayobhuvastad aśvinā śṛṇutaṁ dhiṣṇyā yuvam

May vāyu waft for us the felicitious medicaments
May Mother Earth and Father Heaven bring it
May the felicitious stones preparing the soma secure it
May the aśvins hear our call with understanding

तमीशानं जगतस्तस्थुषस्पतिं धियंजिन्वमवसे हूमहे वयम् ।
पूषा नो यथा वेदसामसद्वृधे रक्षिता पायुरदब्धः स्वस्तये ॥

tamīśānaṁ jagatastasthuṣaspatiṁ dhiyaṁjinvamavase hūmahe vayam
pūṣā no yathā vedasāmasadvṛdhe rakṣitā pāyuradabdhaḥ svastaye

The lord, the protector of all things, mobile or stationary
Who fills all with enlightened thought, him we call for protection
He, pūṣān, has been the increaser and guardian of our knowledge
May he, unobstructed, promote our welfare

स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः ।
स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमि स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥

svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ
svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣṭanemi svasti no bṛhaspatirdadhātu

May indra, of wide fame, promote our welfare
May pūṣān, all knower, make us prosper
May tārkṣya, with non-injuring fellies, promote our welfare
May bṛhaspati make us prosper

पृषदश्वा मरुतः पृश्निमातरः शुभंयावानो विदथेषु जग्मयः ।
अग्निजिह्वा मनवः सूरचक्षसो विश्वे नो देवा अवसा गमन्निह ॥

pṛṣadaśvā marutaḥ pṛśnimātaraḥ śubhaṁyāvāno vidatheṣu jagmayaḥ
agnijihvā manavaḥ sūracakṣaso viśve no devā avasā gamanniha

The maruts, sons of pṛśni, with deer of pure white spots
Who are of happy gait, go frequently to the place of the inner yajña where knowledge is revealed
They are the knowers radiant as the sun, with agni as their tongue
May these Gcome here for our protection

भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।
स्थिरैरड़्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

bhadraṁ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devā bhadraṁ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ
sthirairaṛgaistuṣṭuvāṁsastanūbhirvyaśema devahitaṁ yadāyuḥ

O Gods, may we hear only what is auspicious
O worshipful ones, may we behold with our eyes only what is auspicious
Praising you with bodies having firm limbs
May we enjoy the god-given span of life

शतमिन्नु शरदो अन्ति देवा यत्रा नश्चक्रा जरसं तनूनाम् ।
पुत्रासो यत्र पितरो भवन्ति मा नो मध्या रीरिषतायुर्गन्तोः ॥

śataminnu śarado anti devā yatrā naścakrā jarasaṁ tanūnām
putrāso yatra pitaro bhavanti mā no madhyā rīriṣatāyurgantoḥ

May we be in your proximity for a hundred years, o Gods
Before the decay or old age strikes our bodies
Before our sons become fathers
Interrupt not the span of our life journey in the middle

अदितिर्द्यौरदितिरन्तरिक्षम् अदितिर्माता स पिता स पुत्रः ।
विश्वे देवा अदितिः पञ्च जना अदितिर्जातमदितिर्जनित्वम् ॥

aditirdyauraditirantarikṣam aditirmātā sa pitā sa putraḥ
viśve devā aditiḥ pañca janā aditirjātamaditirjanitvam

aditi is heaven, aditi is the mid-world
aditi is the mother, aditi is the father and son
She is the collectivity of all the gods, she is the five people
aditi is all that is born and what is yet to be born

The idea behind this is that the cultivation of enlightened thought dealing with the welfare of all, automatically also gives us protection. The circumstances which confront us, beneficial or otherwise, are caused by our own thoughts

Even today, when I read these verses, I continue to be inspired by their profundity. Onward and upward.

Peace
S

We Look At It But Do Not See It. . .

We look at it but do not see it;
We name this "the minute."
We listen to it but do not hear it;
We name this "the rarified."
We touch it but do not hold it;
We name this "the level and the smooth."

These three cannot be examined to the limit.
Thus they merge together as one.
“One”—there is nothing more encompassing above it,
And nothing smaller below it.
Boundless, formless! It cannot be named,
And returns to the state of no-thing.

This is called the formless form,
The substanceless image
This is called the subtle and indistinct.
Follow it and you won’t see its back;
Greet it and you won’t see its head.
Hold on to the Way of the present—
And to know the ancient beginning.
This is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.

The 10 Principles of Dharma

Dharma pertains to righteous conduct in society by a person which transcends any particular religious or spiritual system. It gives a personal road-map by which all activity should be regulated for all peoples in all societies from all times at all times.

1. Dharma is Unchanging.

The key characteristic of Dharma is that it does not change based on whims, fads or trends, but is timeless and eternal. The values of Dharma do not change as society changes. Rather it is Dharma which governs HOW societies should function at all times.

2. Dharma is Natural

Dharma is not an artificial imposition on the mind but rather the essence of man. Only by acting in a dharmic manner will man truly be at peace with himself. It is un-dharmic conduct which is imposed on us due to the dictates of our senses, mind and pressures of society.

3. Dharma is Service

Dharma is to always be performing service, whether it to be to one’s spouse, children, employer, work colleagues, customers and God. All action must be performed with a view to giving and not expecting: “All that which is not given is lost”

4. Dharma is Truth

That which is not founded on truthfulness can never stand, though it may appear to temporarily yield benefit. Accuracy, fidelity to the facts, honesty in speech and dealings, and above all the promotion of that which is right over wrong, even though it maybe unpalatable and unconventional in society must always be adhered to:

“The greatest sin of the mind is to believe something without evidence” – Thomas Huxley

5. Dharma is Responsibility

In all dealings the need to execute our duty, whether it be as a father, husband, employee or devotee, must take precedence over all other desires, whims, wants, needs and pursuit of personal gratification.

6. Dharma is Devotion

Action must not be performed grudgingly, for expectation of reward, or for one’s own sense of satisfaction. It must always be performed in a spirit of devotion, where the mere execution of the activity is the reward in itself.

7. Dharma is Gravity

Dharma is to never be frivolous and to take every second as being of supreme importance and precious for in this way we will value this life that God has given us and not waste it. Man is said to be a social animal but he must not fritter away his life like the animals for he has been endowed with the capacity for higher moral thinking. Such high thinking must always regulate our thought processes and transcend the urge to always reduce the way we see things via our basest instincts.

8. Dharma is Uninterrupted

The performance of Dharma is never impacted by considerations external to the activity being performed, but it always executed without hesitation and hindrance until it is completed.

9. Dharma is self-actualization

Man must always strive to rise to the highest level of his consciousness and come in touch with his real-self which is beyond the body and mind which are continually changing throughout one’s life. He must be at ease with his real identity as a spiritual and moral being, whose is more than simply a product of body chemistry and the society in which he was brought up. In this way all of mankind is united beyond the apparent differences which may exist due to the community and society in which one is born. This realization is real unity in diversity.

10. Dharma is Personal

Ultimately Dharma is always recognizing and acting on the basis that we and the people with whom we interact with are all unique, individual personalities who are all special in their own way. Though we are united spiritually, we are also different personalities in our own right. Recognizing this about ourselves and each other will ensure that each interaction will be supremely personal, touching, joyful and always emanating from the spontaneous recesses of the heart and not the calculations and manipulations of our mind.

The Four Agreements

I happened to stumble upon don Miguel Ruiz completely by accident earlier today. I read what he had written - a philosophy of sorts for life - called the Four Agreements. It is simple yet very powerful and I reproduce it fully here. Don Ruiz introduces the agreements as follows:

"Everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible. One single agreement is not such a problem, but we have many agreements that come from fear, deplete our energy, and diminish our self-worth."

Miguel Ruiz then goes on to elaborate on what he calls the Four Agreements.

Agreement 1 – Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Agreement 2 – Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Agreement 3 – Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Agreement 4 – Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Beautifully summarised.

Peace
S

Two Hymns to savitr

sūrya-savitṛ represents the godhead of the supreme Truth and is the father, fosterer and enlightener of our souls. When we receive some part of this illumination, we strive to yoke our whole mentality and thought to the conscious existence of the divine sūrya-savitṛ within ourselves. Our obscure mental states and our erring thoughts are applied to this Light manifested within ourselves so that it may turn the obscurity of the mind into clear perceving and convert the errors of thought into truth.

Set out below are two hymns on this process of turning to this Divinity.

युञ्जनः प्रथमं मनस्तत्त्वाय सवित धियः ।
अग्निं ज्योतिर्निचाय्य पृथिव्या अध्य्ऽभरत् ॥
युक्तवाय मनसा देवान्त्सुवर्यतो धिया दिवम् ।
बृहज्ज्योतिः करिष्यतः सविता प्र सुवाति तान् ॥
युक्तेन मनसा वयं देवस्य सवितुः सवे ।
सुवर्गेयाय शक्त्यै ॥

yuñjanaḥ prathamaṁ manastattvāya savita dhiyaḥ
agniṁ jyotirnicāyya pṛthivyā adhy'bharat
yuktavāya manasā devāntsuvaryato dhiyā divam
bṛhajjyotiḥ kariṣyataḥ savitā pra suvāti tān
yuktena manasā vayaṁ devasya savituḥ save
suvargeyāya śaktyai

Yoking first the mind, extending his thoughts
Discerning the Light, savitr has brought agni from the earth
Yoking the gods with the mind, going to heaven and the worlds of light with thought
savitr impels those that make the great Light
With minds well yoked at the impelling of savitr
May we have the strength to go to the world of Light

युञ्जते मन उत युञ्जते धियो विप्राः
विप्रस्य बृहतो विपश्चितः
वि होत्रा दधे वयुनाविदेक इत्
महि देवस्य सवितुः परिष्टुतिः

yuñjate mana uta yuñjate dhiyo viprāḥ
viprasya bṛhato vipaścitaḥ
vi hotrā dadhe vayunāvideka it
mahi devasya savituḥ pariṣṭutiḥ

Illumined men yoke their mind and yoke their thoughts
To him who is illumination and largeness and clear-perceiving
Knowing all phenomena, he solely orders the energies of the sacrifice
Vast is the affirmation in all things of savitr, the Divine Creator

Peace
S

On Curiosity. . .

I was reading a few lines written by Galen (130-200 AD). Galen was educated in Alexandria and became a physician to a school of gladiators in Asia Minor:

"I do not know how it happened, miraculously or by divine inspiration, or in a frenzy, or whatever else you may call it, but from my very youth, I despised the opinion of the multitude and longed for truth and knowledge, believing that there was for man no possession more noble or divine. . . We must be daring and search after Truth; even if we do not succeed in finding her, we shall at least come closer than we are at present."

Curiosity. Unbound, it does not kill any cats, rather it helps us learn and therefore dispels fear of the unknown. Consider that today is an age of specialisation, not one of all-embracing knowledge. In such circumstances, we are most comfortable defending ourselves on familiar ground, on our islands of limited knowledge. In several areas of our lives, this approach does not work.

In an age where information is vastly available, it might actually be better to look for roads that do not restrict us to narrow specialisations, roads that help us see the universe as a whole. That is where curiosity helps.

What The Thunder Said. . .

Among my favourite pieces of scriptural literature is the brihad-aranyaka upaniṣat, which I personally call the great (brihad) forest (aranyaka) of wisdom. Summed up by Chitrita Devi, a Bengali scholar, “this upaniṣat has mingled love with knowledge, forests with cities and the practicality of daily life with the hope of immortality.”

In this upaniṣat, I discovered a central character, a sage called yagnavalkya, a great teacher and a colorful personality, known for the famous yagnavalkya-smriti authored by him– a smriti which forms the basis of hindu family law in India today.

I admire his several dialogues with various people throughout the brihad-aranyaka upaniṣat and the manner in which he applies his acquired knowledge for the help of others, a quality that I try and emulate in my daily endeavours. yagnavalkya teaches us more than any other teacher or sage about what the upaniṣats mean by freedom, in his own universal albeit inimitable style.

However, what I am writing about today is on three principal virtues as enunciated in the brihat-aranyaka. The famous English poet, T S Eliot wrote a poem called, The Wasteland, which speaks about a human soul seeking its release. In this poem, in a section called, “What The Thunder Said”, he speaks of three words – dAmyata, datta and dayadhvam – originally from the brihad-aranyaka upaniṣat*.

त्रयाः प्राजापत्याः प्रजापतौ पितरि ब्रह्मचर्यम् ऊषुः देवा मनुष्या असुराः उषित्वा ब्रह्मचर्यं देवा ऊचुः ब्रवीतु नो भवान् इति तेभ्यो हैतद् अक्षरं उवाच द इति व्यज्ञासिष्टा इति व्यज्ञासिष्मा इति होचुः दाम्यत इति न आत्थेति ॐ इति होवाच व्यज्ञासिष्टेति ।
अथ हैनं मनुष्या ऊचुः ब्रवीतु नो भवान् इति तेभ्यो हैतद् एवाक्षरं उवाच द इति व्यज्ञासिष्टा इति व्यज्ञासिष्मा इति होचुः दत्त इति न आत्थेति ॐ इति होवाच व्यज्ञासिष्टेति ।
अथ हैनं असुरा ऊचुः ब्रवीतु नो भवान् इति तेभ्यो हैतद् एवाक्षरं उवाच द इति व्यज्ञासिष्टा इति व्यज्ञासिष्मा इति होचुः दयध्वम् इति न आत्थेति ॐ इति होवाच व्यज्ञासिष्टेति ।
तदेतदेवैषा दैवी वागनुवदति स्तनयित्नुः द द द इति दाम्यत दत्त दयध्वम् इति तदेतत्त्रयं शिक्षेत् दमं दानं दयां इति ॥

trayāḥ prājāpatyāḥ prajāpatau pitari brahmacaryam ūṣuḥ devā manuṣyā asurāḥ uṣitvā brahmacaryaṁ devā ūcuḥ bravītu no bhavān iti tebhyo haitad akṣaraṁ uvāca da iti vyajñāsiṣṭā iti vyajñāsiṣmā iti hocuḥ dāmyata iti na āttheti om iti hovāca vyajñāsiṣṭeti
atha hainaṁ manuṣyā ūcuḥ bravītu no bhavān iti tebhyo haitad evākṣaraṁ uvāca da iti vyajñāsiṣṭā iti vyajñāsiṣmā iti hocuḥ datta iti na āttheti om iti hovāca vyajñāsiṣṭeti
atha hainaṁ asurā ūcuḥ bravītu no bhavān iti tebhyo haitad evākṣaraṁ uvāca da iti vyajñāsiṣṭā iti vyajñāsiṣmā iti hocuḥ dayadhvam iti na āttheti om iti hovāca vyajñāsiṣṭeti
tadetadevaiṣā daivī vāganuvadati stanayitnuḥ da da da iti dāmyata datta dayadhvam iti tadetattrayaṁ śikṣet damaṁ dānaṁ dayāṁ iti

The triple offspring of prajāpati, the Creator – gods (devā), men (manuṣyā) and demons (asurā) – lived with their Father as students to obtain sacred knowledge.

When they completed their studies, the gods asked him, “Please instruct us, O venerable One”. To which prajāpati uttered one syllable da and asked them “Have you understood?” The gods replied, “We have understood. You said to us dāmyata, control yourselves.” He said, “Yes, you have understood.”

Then men said to Him, “Please instruct us, O venerable One”. To which prajāpati uttered the same syllable da and asked them “Have you understood?” The men replied, “We have understood. You said to us datta, give.” He said, “Yes, you have understood.”

Then the demons said to Him, “Please instruct us, O venerable One”. To them also, He uttered the same syllable da and asked them “Have you understood?” The demons replied, “We have understood. You said to us dayadhvam, be compassionate.” He said, “Yes, you have understood.”

This very thing, the heavenly voice of thunder repeats, da, da, da, that is control yourselves, give and be compassionate. One should practice this same triad – self-control, charity [to the best of one’s ability] and mercifulness.

Peace
S

(* V.2.i-iii of the upaniṣat)

Real Prosperity

I read this story several years ago from that classic book, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.

* * * * *

A rich man asked Sengai to write something for the continued prosperity of his family so that it might be treasured from generation to generation. Sengai obtained a large sheet of paper and wrote: "Father dies, son dies, grandson dies."

The rich man became angry. "I asked you to write something for the happiness of my family! Why do you make such a joke of this?"

"No joke is intended," explained Sengai. "If before you yourself die your son should die, this would grieve you greatly. If your grandson should pass away before your son, both of you would be broken-hearted. If your family, generation after generation, passes away in the order I have named, it will be the natural course of life. I call this real prosperity."

* * * * *

I was reminded of this story today in a disturbing incident. I humbly pray that the soul of the helpless little angel rest in peace.

Peace
S