Gerald D'Cunha

“It was my letting go that gave me a better hold.”  ―  Chris Matakas , O ur attachments breed fear… the fear of losing what we are attached to. We are attached to our people… We fear we may lose them. We are attached to our wealth… We fear we may lose it.   We are attached to our fame, reputation and position… We fear we may lose them. We are attached to our physical beauty… We fear we may lose it, one day. We are attached to our ideas, beliefs and opinions…  We fear we may be proved wrong. Yes, right from our looks, public opinion, people, wealth and ideologies, we are attached to everything in our lives. There is an inherent fear of losing in attachments. Fear exists, as Jiddu Krishnamurti says, only in relationships… In every relationship.  The relationships are our attachments. When we ‘see’ this truth… that our attachments bring fear - and, thereby anxiety, worry, sorrow, guilt, anger, ...

“One is never afraid of the unknown…  one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” - Jiddu Krishnamurti I was a school boy when I first saw Vinod Khanna in the movie ‘Mere Apne’. He never ceased to fascinate me – challenge, inspire and even confuse me – ever since! Like most around me, whatever I know about Vinod Khanna has come only through whatever I have read in newspapers and magazines, or watching television and his movies … or through pure grapevine. This Post, therefore, is not about Vinod Khanna, the glamours Greek God, that he had been on the silver screen, but about the fallible and vulnerable human that he came about to me from my own perception… I always admired Viond Khanna’s looks… He looked stunning, a Greek God! But, I was aware, that what I was admiring was just an outer body of a mortal… It would wrinkle with age, look frail with sickness and age… The other day, when that picture of Vinod Khanna in the...

O ften, Jiddu Krishnamurti used to say, “Fear exists only in relationships.” I had heard that before from other teachers, too… when they said, that fear stemmed from our attachments. As a young man, I would appreciate the deep meaning of this wisdom. However, like the vast majority around me, I would find it extremely difficult to go about my life by detaching myself from the world around me… The world around me included my nearest and dearest ones… my friends and relatives… my associates and neighbors… my community people - religious, political, social - etc. Well, my world was not made up of only people… It included all my possessions… my dreams, beliefs, ideas, opinions, even feelings… Yes, as a young man – why as a young man, I want to say as a human being on this planet – I would wonder whether it was possible for anyone to live life without creating around him this web called ‘relationships’. The very post that I am now writing is a clear proof for what I...

Pic.: Ashwin Mohta T hough I am a Christian, I rarely go to church.  But, I go on my knees and pray a lot, and, as I pray those ‘wordless’ prayers, tears simply flow down my cheeks… I feel extremely closer, loved, cared, protected and healed by my Hero – Jesus Christ. I look up to Him more like my true well-wisher… and, hence, I feel comfortable seeking His hand anywhere I feel like… Why wait for a Sunday morning? Why against the backdrop of scintillating choir and why in the midst of a packed church? Why should my prayer and worship be choreographed? Why should this be mechanical? Why should it be stereotype… bereft of my soul, my presence? So, whenever someone – a very ‘concerned’ fellow-Christian - asks me, ‘Why don’t I see you in the church?” I smile and tell him, “Jesus Christ comes home.” “Blaspheme! “Blaspheme! Yes, I can see my fellow-faithful tearing off his cloak! Hello, Jesus Christ really comes home, if I am really, really sincere. He ...