Gerald D'Cunha

  “In the province of mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true.” John Lilly W henever there is sadness, depression, irritation, anger, anxiety and violence within me, I can trace its source to my one kind of psychological attachment or the other. Often, the most common source of my ‘mental unrest’ is the attachment to my deeply-rooted beliefs, ideologies and prejudices. Like, if I am excessively attached to my religious beliefs, or, if I am a die-hard devotee of a particular political party, its ideology or leader, then, any challenge or questioning of my belief can send my mind into a tailspin – causing a very reactive behaviour from me… This is evident whenever I watch a religious, political, racial – or any kind of – debate. If I have decided to take side – route for one particular faith, ideology, leader etc., then, my mind can easily turn into a ‘mob-mind’… I cheer with the mob; I boo with the mob. My critical thinking, therefore, goes out in the wind!...

“There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son; I wish I could keep ’em all away from you.  T hat’s never possible.” Harper Lee W hen our innocence is lost, our ability to live – enjoy life – is lost. And, I think, to lose or not to lose our innocence is the choice each one of us make, each morning. Let me take this morning as an example to check if we all have a choice in this regard … ‘Vikas Dubey is killed’! That’s a ‘big-breaking news’ right when the Sun was coming out in the East, today. For last one week or so, there was too much news about this man from Kanpur – call him a criminal, a gangster, a terrorist or a friend-of-the-powerful – whatever… yes, that’s irrelevant. What was expected had just happened. I, for one, was not at all affected by the cat-and-mouse or hide-and-seek or chor -police drama… Not a bit when he gunned down the cops, not a bit when the cops gunned him and his men down. I could sense, quite clearly, that the moment I ...

I t was a busy narrow-street. On both sides of the street, there was hardly any space left for people to walk. Everyone was maneuvering his way through the chaos, and so was I. Just then, a friend of mine, who happened to pass by on his motor bike, sighted me… He spontaneously parked his bike on the side and crossed over to my side to talk to me. Even before I could remind him to park the bike little away, where there was some open space, the motorist behind him yelled, “Akkal nahin hai kya?” I instinctively knew it would provoke my friend… Yes, it did. “Tameez se baat karo,” my friend pointed his index finger. “Gaadi hatao ,” the motorist screamed… “Nahin hataunga,” my friend challenged. By then, the motorists from all sides were honking incessantly… I pressed my friend’s hand and gently whispered, “Let’s take your bike a little ahead and talk… It’s better for all of us.” Luckily, my friend did not show any resistance… He crossed ove...

T omorrow, early in the morning, I will be leaving for our annual, 2-day Tai Chi camp in Lonavala. This will be my third camp in a row. During the earlier two camps, I had published two of my books. First one was ‘Flowing With The Wheel’. The second one was ‘The Dragon Tail’. This year, I have no plans to publish any book… Patterns and compulsions, in life, are, always, counter-productive. They drain our energy and make us deviate from our authentic, joyful living. Yes, a couple f times, I did contemplate on working on a new book to be published during this year’s camp. But, I wasn’t feeling strong about it… The call did not seem genuine… Yes, I did not feel, that I was flowing with the wheel! So, here I am… On the eve of our Lonavala Tai Chi camp… feeling excited about the camp… but, not bad about ‘missing’ a new book… I have nothing to prove to anyone… and, nobody expects me to do that, in the first place, you see! A fter our morning walk, sitting with...

I s watching our thoughts what meditation all about? I think, it is… I like to write and post my Blogs almost every day… I have done that when my mind had the happiest, saddest, scariest and funniest thoughts, all. But, for some mysterious reasons, I was not inspired to write anything during the last nine days… And, these nine days have been usual days… with their shares of happiness, sadness, fear, fun and confusion. So, on days like these, I do blog. But, this time, as I confessed, for some strange reasons, I let the days go by without a word being typed… Often, such a practice is termed as ‘spiritual practice’. It helps one to feel centered… see things in proper perspective… and allows the silence to usher in. Equanimity is not for those who choose to react for every little buzz and ripple around them. All comments are not worth reacting to… All criticisms are not worth sulking about… All arguments are not worth getting entangled in… All people are not worth...

Pic.: Avinash Mantri Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found it very useful – was telling a nice story in two tenses… Past and Present. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people who were earnest to improve their English with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and tell it to someone. I like this story. Several years ago, my friend, Mr. Manjeet, had recounted it to our ‘young disciples’ during a P.D. session. Silence is tough…Very tough. And, the mind can be so funny! After reading, writing teaching and preaching for decades, I am only able to see myself somewhere there among those four amazing disciples! THE SILENCE OF FOUR  DISCIPLES PAST: O ne day, a Zen master wanted his four disciples to observe a day-and-night silence. He asked his servant to guide them to a nearby room. “Please light the lamp when darkness...

Pic.: Chetna Shetty Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone… I had first heard this story from an elderly Christian couple, some twenty-five years ago, in a Marriage Encounters programme my wife and I had attended…The story happily pops up every time my panic button goes up! BEWARE OF DOG  PAST: O nce, a Christian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fernandes, came to live in a new housing society. Their flat was on the ground floor. Everyday, Mr. Fernandes  left for work early in the morning and came home late in the evening. His wife began to get bored being alone at home. There was another Christian family, D’Souza...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha Y ears ago, when I had decided to do something about my poor English, one of the things I did – and found very effective – was telling a nice story in two tenses… the Present and the Past. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of people, who were earnest about improving their English, with the same method… Yes, write a nice story down in both the tenses… and, then, tell it to someone! Every time my mind clings to the past… every time it makes its own interpretations… every time I struggle to ‘drop’ what is not necessary – ‘the excess load’ – yes, that is when this beautiful story come to my aid… and makes me feel light… CARRYING A YOUNG PRETTY WOMAN  PAST: One day,   two monks were crossing a river. The water was knee-deep, and there were many people crossing the river. A pretty young-woman was afraid to cross. When the older monk saw the plight of this frightened woman, he gently said to her, “My child, may I hel...

Pic.: Chandrasekhar Varier L ast week, I had watched the English movie – ‘The Walk’ and liked it immensely. (I had even blogged on it a day later). Then, in our Tai Chi class, on the following Sunday, I spoke about the movie to everyone I met there. At the start of every Tai Chi class, (after the initial ‘Empty your Mind’ meditative exercise, we go for a ‘Tai Chi walk’. In this walk, we bring our focus to what our teacher calls – tanteen’ – the spot some two inches below our navel… shift our full weight on the left foot, gently and slowly lift our right foot… and land it; then, we shift our full weight on the right foot, gently and slowly lift our left foot… and land it… as slowly and as gently as possible… all the while feeling the inflow and outflow of our breath… bringing back our focus to the tanteen… trying to close our eyes (I am not able to do it still!)… and, then, walk backward the same way… When you read it, it might sound so simple. But, then, ‘doing i...