Thank you for holding space for all of us so beautifully today.. This month's call for me was particularly beautiful because there were so many stories and anecdotes and learnings.. much deeper learnings. Deven and Shaaloo opened up beautifully with the seed question of 'being aware of the inner bhaav of connection in the mundanest task, or moment of being'. It was highly visible in each one's sharing and learnings.. Thank you for setting that tone for deep listening today..
Here's a quick update for all that everyone shared from their heart:
Darpan shared about his experience with Karma Kitchen Mumbai and how it started with just supporting Drishti. What he found in the process was his own clarity of intentions. Deeply grateful to so many visible and invisible hands He felt deep gratitude for Rahul and Kinnari for being their biggest pillars in making this dream come true, from talking to the restaurant owner to helping organise all the logistics, funds, volunteers, advices, inspite of them not being able to attend it physically. He learn't that it takes a village to host such gatherings and was humbled to receive noble friends and support from the Pune family, Seva Cafe Ahmedabad family, KK family in California, Surat family and so many more visibly and invisibly.
Deven shared his experiences from the family's individual and collective 20 days experiences. While Deven sat for his 20 day, Neerad was on his 20 day admission at the hospital for his BM transplant, while Shaaloo and Simran were on their 20 day kindness challenge post which Simu went for a 20 days kids camp without parents for the first time. He shared of how he experienced the power of collective sadhana and how each one becomes instruments of the other in their own little experiences of searching for the torch-light within.
Drishti shared her experience from the recent KK Mumbai of how she waited outside the restaurant with a few friends inviting strangers to come and experience the joy of giving and receiving a meal. She was bombarded with infinite thank you's from those strangers later on, for allowing them to experience this shift of perspective and the joy of receiving abundance. An experience that they would have totally missed out on if Drishti and team hadn't been inviting 'strangers' who were now friends :)
Harsh shared of how each moment of his life he has been living with a lot of heart, whether its going to work, or reading a book or watching a movie or eating mangoes. He shared about his recent aha moment while reading the book "Old Path White Clouds' that we are all constantly living in comparisons, whether its food, shelter or lifestyle and are completely missing on living in the moment now. Something he is practicing cultivating even deeper.
Khush shared about the various transformations happening on the outside and on the inside in these past few months. After a long time she had found herself some alone time to do things that mattered most to her, focusing on holistic ways of living, gardening, food choices, understanding her own body and the science behind it all. But found herself going with the flow instead. Contrary to all the planning she had done to set that routine. She was eventually comforted by witnessing of all the same things happening in that flow itself the moment she surrendered to whatever was emerging. She shared about the strength, resilience and humility as they witnessed the journey of Neerad and Sheetal and how they are holding the community so beautifully. While Neerad is in and out of hospitals, Sheetal is constantly practicing acts of kindness, whether its a sweeper, a nurse or a doctor. At such times its difficult to hold oneself, but in those moments to hold others with the same compassion and loving kindness is beyond inspiring :)
Kinnari shared of her little new friend - the butterfly. She shared about how they were gifted a little caterpillar by Anu and Goli and how each day everyone spent in observing the little adventures of this tiny creature. Butterflies live for may be 7, 8 at the most 10 days and to see them go through the whole chrysalis was more than humbling for her. Not knowing where they will fly, or how it shall look, all the butterfly is concerned is to be in the flow. Something that left a huge impact for her.
Meghna shared of a story she heard of a spider, and how it waits - in faith and hope - while it throws out its first silk; that the wind will blow at some point or some day for the thread to latch on to something, where it can then keep building its web. Whether its hungry or sick or even dying, it waits for the wind. She notices the power of this community with the same faith and hope that someone is always there to blow the wind so the web can be built.
Rahul shared of how kids are such windows of inner bhaav, very naturally. He shared of how at a recent family holiday, him and Agastya were waiting for a Table Tennis playing spot in a queue. It was quite a long wait. Finally after they got the table, few minutes into the game, Agastya noticed another father and son waiting for the table (that they were playing on) to be vacated so that they could have a turn. Agastya did not want to continue playing and left the spot. Confused by the act, Rahul wondered that Agastya absolutely loved Table Tennis and after waiting for almost 25 minutes and playing for barely 5 mintues he had left. What had suddenly happened. To this Agastya replied that when he saw the other kid, he remembered how frustrated he had felt when he had to wait that long and did not want the child to feel the same! After a bit, the kid who was playing before them (younger than Agastya) came to him in a space of spite and almost threatened to hurt him. After a little while Rahul observed Agastya and this kid shaking hands. When asked what happened, Agastya very casually mentioned that he realised that this child was much younger than him, there is no way the kid is going to be able to beat him up, and felt instant compassion for the kid and offered him a hand of friendship instead.
Shaaloo shared her experience with Simran while they were practicing 20 days of kindness. One of the acts was filling a bird bath on a hot summer day. Simran decided to do the same act the next day as well. Shaaloo observed how the adult conditioning in her judged Simu, whether she is taking it easy, it's already sunset, the birds will not come, does it make sense to keep it going, should she interfere or should she let her do what she wishes to. In that moment 3 birds came, took a dip, drank a little water and went on their way. She realised that sometimes adults miss the spontaneity that the kids inherently have. Even if a small deed is done with purity, big changes happen within.
S2 also shared her experiences of seeing Darpan and Drishti grow into maturing adults at a time when they needed the family to be right besides them. It was an aha moment of seeing 'these kids' now grown up to take the responsibilities life had offered them. Today was also the 75th day celebration of Po's recovery post the transplant. One of the things that Neerad has been doing since day one is observe a minute of silence before every, injection, inspection, cleaning, operation, treatment, medicines etc. This one time Neerad was drowsy and the nurse had come in to give an injection. Sheetal noticed how this nurse closed her eyes and waited. Confused, she asked her what was wrong, and the nurse simply replied that she was doing her minute of silence :) She also shared of how they kept the environment light and happy by distributing home made sweets to whoever entered the hospital room with gratitude of all that they had and to make things lighter within, while things on the outside seemed not too stable. It were these and many more moments that kept them going with faith and gratitude of the bigger Grace that is constantly circulating them.
S1 shared of how these past few days have been an interesting whirlwind of events on the outside. From the house (an ashram) being broken into; to good friends backlashing them on public forums. It is currently a moment of practicing equanimity through it all. He shared a conversation he had with Nipun Bhai few years ago. "In this path when you give someone apples, sometimes they may turn around and offer you Oranges, and sometimes they may turn around and offer you suffering. In receiving Oranges, there is Grace, and in receiving suffering there is bigger Grace." This was a timely reminder for him at this moment of test. And to learn the timely lessons that were coming to him before they are to repeat themselves again.
This and a lot more journeys were experienced in just 90 minutes. I'm probably not doing enough justice to all that each heart shared and to all that each heart deeply listened to.
I'm reminded of this little piece while i reflected on what each one shared - "When wisdom (paññÄ) views things correctly with insight, this right view then leads to right intention, right speech, right action, and so on. This all involves psychological conditions that have arisen from that pure knowing awareness. This knowing is like a lantern shedding light on the path ahead on a dark night. If the knowing is right, is in accordance with truth, it will pervade and illuminate each of the other steps on the path in turn."
Thank you for collectively building our wisdom as we all walk individually yet together towards our own light..
For our friends (Nimo, Meet, Bhuvana, Ashima, Sachi, Hari Uncle, Kishan, Yogesh Bhai) who could not make it today, we missed you and hope to see you all on another call :)
Sharing with you all our little group snapshot and the recording of the song that Shaaloo and Deven offered to us all :) :)
Lots of love in Maitri! :) :)
Here's a quick update for all that everyone shared from their heart:
Darpan shared about his experience with Karma Kitchen Mumbai and how it started with just supporting Drishti. What he found in the process was his own clarity of intentions. Deeply grateful to so many visible and invisible hands He felt deep gratitude for Rahul and Kinnari for being their biggest pillars in making this dream come true, from talking to the restaurant owner to helping organise all the logistics, funds, volunteers, advices, inspite of them not being able to attend it physically. He learn't that it takes a village to host such gatherings and was humbled to receive noble friends and support from the Pune family, Seva Cafe Ahmedabad family, KK family in California, Surat family and so many more visibly and invisibly.
Deven shared his experiences from the family's individual and collective 20 days experiences. While Deven sat for his 20 day, Neerad was on his 20 day admission at the hospital for his BM transplant, while Shaaloo and Simran were on their 20 day kindness challenge post which Simu went for a 20 days kids camp without parents for the first time. He shared of how he experienced the power of collective sadhana and how each one becomes instruments of the other in their own little experiences of searching for the torch-light within.
Drishti shared her experience from the recent KK Mumbai of how she waited outside the restaurant with a few friends inviting strangers to come and experience the joy of giving and receiving a meal. She was bombarded with infinite thank you's from those strangers later on, for allowing them to experience this shift of perspective and the joy of receiving abundance. An experience that they would have totally missed out on if Drishti and team hadn't been inviting 'strangers' who were now friends :)
Harsh shared of how each moment of his life he has been living with a lot of heart, whether its going to work, or reading a book or watching a movie or eating mangoes. He shared about his recent aha moment while reading the book "Old Path White Clouds' that we are all constantly living in comparisons, whether its food, shelter or lifestyle and are completely missing on living in the moment now. Something he is practicing cultivating even deeper.
Khush shared about the various transformations happening on the outside and on the inside in these past few months. After a long time she had found herself some alone time to do things that mattered most to her, focusing on holistic ways of living, gardening, food choices, understanding her own body and the science behind it all. But found herself going with the flow instead. Contrary to all the planning she had done to set that routine. She was eventually comforted by witnessing of all the same things happening in that flow itself the moment she surrendered to whatever was emerging. She shared about the strength, resilience and humility as they witnessed the journey of Neerad and Sheetal and how they are holding the community so beautifully. While Neerad is in and out of hospitals, Sheetal is constantly practicing acts of kindness, whether its a sweeper, a nurse or a doctor. At such times its difficult to hold oneself, but in those moments to hold others with the same compassion and loving kindness is beyond inspiring :)
Kinnari shared of her little new friend - the butterfly. She shared about how they were gifted a little caterpillar by Anu and Goli and how each day everyone spent in observing the little adventures of this tiny creature. Butterflies live for may be 7, 8 at the most 10 days and to see them go through the whole chrysalis was more than humbling for her. Not knowing where they will fly, or how it shall look, all the butterfly is concerned is to be in the flow. Something that left a huge impact for her.
Meghna shared of a story she heard of a spider, and how it waits - in faith and hope - while it throws out its first silk; that the wind will blow at some point or some day for the thread to latch on to something, where it can then keep building its web. Whether its hungry or sick or even dying, it waits for the wind. She notices the power of this community with the same faith and hope that someone is always there to blow the wind so the web can be built.
Rahul shared of how kids are such windows of inner bhaav, very naturally. He shared of how at a recent family holiday, him and Agastya were waiting for a Table Tennis playing spot in a queue. It was quite a long wait. Finally after they got the table, few minutes into the game, Agastya noticed another father and son waiting for the table (that they were playing on) to be vacated so that they could have a turn. Agastya did not want to continue playing and left the spot. Confused by the act, Rahul wondered that Agastya absolutely loved Table Tennis and after waiting for almost 25 minutes and playing for barely 5 mintues he had left. What had suddenly happened. To this Agastya replied that when he saw the other kid, he remembered how frustrated he had felt when he had to wait that long and did not want the child to feel the same! After a bit, the kid who was playing before them (younger than Agastya) came to him in a space of spite and almost threatened to hurt him. After a little while Rahul observed Agastya and this kid shaking hands. When asked what happened, Agastya very casually mentioned that he realised that this child was much younger than him, there is no way the kid is going to be able to beat him up, and felt instant compassion for the kid and offered him a hand of friendship instead.
Shaaloo shared her experience with Simran while they were practicing 20 days of kindness. One of the acts was filling a bird bath on a hot summer day. Simran decided to do the same act the next day as well. Shaaloo observed how the adult conditioning in her judged Simu, whether she is taking it easy, it's already sunset, the birds will not come, does it make sense to keep it going, should she interfere or should she let her do what she wishes to. In that moment 3 birds came, took a dip, drank a little water and went on their way. She realised that sometimes adults miss the spontaneity that the kids inherently have. Even if a small deed is done with purity, big changes happen within.
S2 also shared her experiences of seeing Darpan and Drishti grow into maturing adults at a time when they needed the family to be right besides them. It was an aha moment of seeing 'these kids' now grown up to take the responsibilities life had offered them. Today was also the 75th day celebration of Po's recovery post the transplant. One of the things that Neerad has been doing since day one is observe a minute of silence before every, injection, inspection, cleaning, operation, treatment, medicines etc. This one time Neerad was drowsy and the nurse had come in to give an injection. Sheetal noticed how this nurse closed her eyes and waited. Confused, she asked her what was wrong, and the nurse simply replied that she was doing her minute of silence :) She also shared of how they kept the environment light and happy by distributing home made sweets to whoever entered the hospital room with gratitude of all that they had and to make things lighter within, while things on the outside seemed not too stable. It were these and many more moments that kept them going with faith and gratitude of the bigger Grace that is constantly circulating them.
S1 shared of how these past few days have been an interesting whirlwind of events on the outside. From the house (an ashram) being broken into; to good friends backlashing them on public forums. It is currently a moment of practicing equanimity through it all. He shared a conversation he had with Nipun Bhai few years ago. "In this path when you give someone apples, sometimes they may turn around and offer you Oranges, and sometimes they may turn around and offer you suffering. In receiving Oranges, there is Grace, and in receiving suffering there is bigger Grace." This was a timely reminder for him at this moment of test. And to learn the timely lessons that were coming to him before they are to repeat themselves again.
This and a lot more journeys were experienced in just 90 minutes. I'm probably not doing enough justice to all that each heart shared and to all that each heart deeply listened to.
I'm reminded of this little piece while i reflected on what each one shared - "When wisdom (paññÄ) views things correctly with insight, this right view then leads to right intention, right speech, right action, and so on. This all involves psychological conditions that have arisen from that pure knowing awareness. This knowing is like a lantern shedding light on the path ahead on a dark night. If the knowing is right, is in accordance with truth, it will pervade and illuminate each of the other steps on the path in turn."
Thank you for collectively building our wisdom as we all walk individually yet together towards our own light..
For our friends (Nimo, Meet, Bhuvana, Ashima, Sachi, Hari Uncle, Kishan, Yogesh Bhai) who could not make it today, we missed you and hope to see you all on another call :)
Sharing with you all our little group snapshot and the recording of the song that Shaaloo and Deven offered to us all :) :)
Lots of love in Maitri! :) :)
Reflections
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