Concentration

Well this pretty well sums up why I am going to India...

Our thoughts have prepared for us the happiness or unhappiness we experience.                         Bowl of Saki, June 14, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan: All our possessions, all that we collect in life, all these things which we shall have to leave one day are transitory; but that which we have created in our thought, in our mind, that lives. A person thinks, 'Some day I should like to build a factory.' At this time he has no money, no knowledge, no capability; but a thought came, 'Some day I should like to build a factory.' Then he thinks of something else. Perhaps years pass, but that thought has been working constantly through a thousand minds, and a thousand sources prepare for him that which he once desired. If we could look back to all we have thought of at different times, we would find that the line of fate or destiny, Kismet as it is called in the East, is formed by our thought. Thoughts have prepared for us that happiness or unhappiness which we experience. The whole of mysticism is founded on this.    from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_17.htm Every good or bad word or deed is reproduced before us, though it seems as in a dream. If we watched life keenly, we should see how true this is. Joy, sorrow, love, all depend on our thought, on the activity of our mind. If we are depressed, if we are in despair, it is still the work of our mind; our mind has prepared that for us. If we are joyful and happy, and all things are pleasant, that also has been prepared for us by our mind. It is only when our mind works without control that unhappiness, sorrow, trouble, pain, or whatever we experience comes without our intention. No one could wish to create hell for himself; all would create heaven for themselves if they could; and yet how many allow their minds to create these things for them, regardless of their own intention. The control of the activity of mind is called concentration in the language of the mystics. The meaning of this word is often not rightly understood. People are apt to think that concentration means only closing the eyes. But one may close one's eyes for hours, and still the thoughts keep coming like a moving picture. People are never at rest, never at peace; anxiety and sorrow do not disappear just because they close their eyes. It is concentration that does that. Concentration is activity of mind in the direction desired; our desire dictates in which way the mind is to be active; the mind acts according to our wishes.    from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_16.htm In point of fact, whatever one makes of oneself, one becomes that. The source of happiness or unhappiness is all in man, himself. When he is unaware of this, he is not able to arrange his life. As he becomes more acquainted with this secret, he gains mastery. The process by which this mastery is attained is the only fulfillment of the purpose of this life.    from  http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_4.htm    ~~~ Our thoughts have prepared for us the happiness or unhappiness we experience.

Learning how to edit videos

Just bear with me.  I learned how to create mini videos today.  Looking to the future for creating sale horse videos and videos for the blog while I am living in India.  I have always had someone do this for me, but now I have the freedom to do it myself.  Technology is so cool!!

The dismantling of my life in California feels like plastic surgery for a mummy.  As I find homes for items and store others, it feels like peeling layers away but the inside is an unknown.  Exciting for sure. With the items on the departure list getting checked off, I feel the level of shakti rising in my center.  Now whenever I am not distracted by life, my inner energy level takes on the feel of sitting in the ashram.  It is always with me.  Sometimes I have the feeling of "don't operate large equipment" while in this state.

Karn has been keeping me updated on events in India.  Oh my--118 degrees (48C) yesterday!  I have lived in weather that reached 110, but this is a new level.  Looking forward to all of it.  There seems to be some interest in me teaching or training horses while in India which I didn't expect.  I thought that I was stepping away from that aspect of my life, but the universe may have another plan...

My First Project

Roalty and Ultimo June 13 2011

Return to India

Ultimo got a lovely home where he will loved and cared for by a wonderful new owner. Finding a home for the horse was one of my biggest obstacles for returning to India, so now that is off the list, I will start to finalize all of the other details for returning to India. There are still plenty of things on the list, but I am hoping mid-July will be the time frame. I am very excited! Jai Guru!!

Inviting stillness

How lovely to have to an hour and a half to kill sitting in a beautiful garden, light breeze, sunshine, a live classical pianist playing, and no immediate responsibilities--just waiting for the concert guests to emerge so we can start serving appetizers. As I sat and closed my eyes, I was transported back to the inviting stillness of the ashram--no urgency or pressing agenda. Only peace to deepen into.

Dancing with horses

Does anyone in India know about this? I might like to find a way to ride and train horses while in India?

Queenie

I saw elephants doing remarkable things in India, but not water skiing... Maybe that could be added as an attraction: a water skiing elephant around the floating palace.

Queenie, water-skiing elephant, dies at Ga. park

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  In this undated 1958 photo provided courtesy of Liz Dane, Dane is shown performing …

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — Queenie, an Asian elephant who gained fame by water skiing decades ago, died this week at the Georgia theme park where she had retired.

The 59-year-old elephant was euthanized Monday at the Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, Ga., park general manager Bob Montgomery said. The animal had suffered from declining quality of life and chronic health issues, The Valdosta Daily Times reported.

Liz Dane, who worked with Queenie for years, told The Associated Press on Thursday night that the elephant was a natural performer. Archival footage shows the younger elephant balancing on two attached giant skis with Dane alongside it as a motorboat pulled them through the water.

"She would stand on the skis at the edge of the water, and then once she got used to that they just slowly started towing the skis out and she just loved it," said Dane, who lives in Concord, N.H. "She would put her trunk in the water and get a big scoop of water and spray it all over the place!"

"I doubt very seriously that you'll ever see another elephant water ski," Dane said.

Queenie was born in Thailand in 1952 and imported to the U.S. as a baby. In the fall of 1953, during a visit to a New York City pet store, the 9-year-old Dane told her father she wanted the animal as a pet, she wrote in a historical account of their relationship.

So they loaded the 250-pound elephant into their 1953 Mercury — with the back seat removed — for the drive home to New Hampshire, she wrote.

Queenie also played the harmonica, and performed at state and county fairs, Republican rallies, military bases and circuses around the country.

Dane said it was a Florida couple, Marj and Jim Rusing, who taught Queenie to water ski, which she did during the 1950s and 1960s. Dane said the Rusings had trained other elephants to ski, but Queenie at the time was the world's only water-skiing elephant.

Queenie retired to the south Georgia theme park in 2003. Dane said the handlers there took excellent care of her.

"I had been bracing myself for the day I would get the call that she had passed," Dane said. "I've had a lot of ups and downs since then, and I've been hearing from so many people reminding me of how many memories they had of Queenie."

Uncertainty

" If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity."

I have looked at this quote daily for over a year now. I am not sure who said this. If anyone knows, please pass on the information. From the enneagram point of view, I appear to be a 5 which is part of the fear based section. I often feel that fear has been one of the last and largest stones that I carry around unnecessarily. Currently examining the line between healthy skepticism and fear. Can I find a substitute for fear--something lighter and more flexible? The concept of faith is showing up, but what is that? In the English language we often use the two words together: blind faith. Is there a seeing faith? Or a knowing faith? Doesn't faith live in the unknown category: "acceptance of uncertainty."

The return to India is a start for living in this uncertainty. I will know where I am living and the physical aspects of where I will go to meditate (training wheels for the uncertainty?), but beyond that, all of it is an unknown. No idea how long that I will stay, where it all leads, where I go afterwards, or what I will do, but I am starting to find this exhilarating. What a remarkable opportunity to be free of knowing. As I examine my daily life, it is with a smile that I think I don't live in the unknown now. I start each day with a plan and then see how long I stay on track with the plan. Sometimes it is minutes. Other times it might be hours or.... As westerners, we are trained to always get "our ducks" in a row--life is about creating order out of chaos. It is often what drives us and leads to our remarkable intensity and work ethic in this culture. Not all bad, but it can be crazy making to try and create the allusive "perfect lifestyle."

No answers, just showing up.

( I added a few pictures to the satsang in Temecula post if anyone wants to see the view from the top of the hill--some similarities to the temple views, but some differences too...)