Soul

‘Sirat’, A कारवाँ

Observation

**Eroding beautifully.**
[Source – Pixabay]

Quiet and meditative energy of the whole world appears to erode everything here for it is a rocky desert region, and that golden sun and that bright moon drop shadows, following every soul as if to engulf it.

But that which is eroding is full of life and not static. It moves in all directions, in exuberance, this energy does, swallowing whatever comes in between.

Nothing is lost here and nothing is found, everything stays right in front of your eyes and you take in as much as you can.

A कारवाँ (a caravan of people travelling together) moves through such a land and is caught unawares in this directionless, seamless bigger movement. They stay in shock until they learn to tune themselves to what is unfolding.

What is unfolding is too simple to be seen in a rush, it is a drama that is acting upon itself. Its movements are beautiful, in stillness it rises and flowing it colours us all, sooner or later.

The कारवाँ sees its beauty, at times terrified by its brutal suddenness, unable to see its care in a rush. They finally become one with the quiet and meditative energy of the whole world, the whole universe that appear to be eroding everything here.

***Sirāt*** is a 2025 drama road film directed by Óliver Laxe and co-written by Santiago Fillol and Laxe. It follows a father in search of his missing daughter along with his son and a group of ravers in the deserts of southern Morocco. – Wikipedia [Image source – whentostream.com]

Check out Sirat’s trailer here –

Morning Sunlight Carrier

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Jagriti Rumi Calling Carrier Dawn Foggy Karate Hands Lonely Road Martial Arts Mind Morning Old Answer Papier Mache Patience Philosophy Practise Soul Sunlight The Sun

Poem

“Shiki zokuze ku ku zokuze shiki.”

“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form itself.”

– Heart Sutra, Shingon Buddhism

Karate-do Kyohan – the Master Text by Gichin Funakoshi

**Dawn… an old answer**.
**(Image by Joe from Pixabay)**

Morning Sunlight Carrier

When the road is lonely, sans the dirt, the thorns, the lightning and

Sans even the enemy’s fiery glare, the roaring army and

The check-mate, in such a land how do you walk without falling

Twice, thrice as if you are papier mache made, a smattering

Of vague profoundness, uniqueness, an idea of truth,

But unsure yet conforming like an uncouth.

Then, at last, thank god, it becomes foggy, and you stop

Keen-eyed you look, broadening the vision, reaching atop

A cliff overlooking a valley, smoky where it rests.

This journey afresh, towards a calling, arrests

Your mind and soul; finally, meeting the master, humbly you bow,

And that is lesson one, just so you know.

Practise patiently, practise patience, and o warrior

Gently turn your karate hands into morning sunlight carrier,

For those who live in the dark wake up late

With a grudge against the sun and zero tolerance to wait

For an old answer.

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of the Shotokan style of Karate, presented a martial arts philosophy that focused on perfecting the character of an individual. He believed that the karate practitioner should –

“purge oneself of selfish and evil thoughts… for only with a clear mind and conscience can the practitioner understand the knowledge which he receives. Funakoshi did not consider it unusual for a devotee to use Karate in a real physical confrontation no more than perhaps once in a lifetime. He stated that Karate practitioners must never be easily drawn into a fight.”
Karate-do Kyohan – The Master Text by Gichin Funakoshi

Karate then is a fine practice to live by, a practice that gives us clarity to turn the lost papier mache mind into a strong sunlight carrier.

Read more about our magical sun in the following short posts –

Sun – A Flambeau Hi-Fi

Amla Pickle

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Ancient Dusky Rivers

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Jagriti Rumi Ancient Congo Dusky Euphrates Journey Life Love Mississippi Nile Poem Rivers Soul Stories Sunset Testimony

Coverage

**The river… sketching its way ahead…**
**[Source – Pixabay]**

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

by Langston Hughes

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Rivers – streams, creeks, brooks or rivulets – love to flow; flowing towards a sea, lake, an ocean or another river, and at times also drying out. Rivers love to flow just like life.

Most of the earlier civilisations prospered when they settled around rivers, channelizing the same love when drinking its fresh water.

And when mankind sat in a circle around the fire and created stories – of the sun, the moon, the thunder and the wind – they fostered their imaginations and decided to pass on the love running in their blood to a lovely supreme one.

Different supreme ones took the centre stage at different places and myriad dramas unfolded that the rivers watched quietly, flowing, gushing with joy every moment.

Resisting neither the rocks nor filth, accepting the dead and plastic bottles alike, it continues to flow… for now.

**Still like a mirror, moving like a reflection…**
**[Source – Pixabay]**

Langston Hughes in his poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers connects the human soul with the world’s ancient rivers; the hands that cupped to drink water, the feet that crossed the river, whatever race it belonged to, felt the same damp calmness every single time they drank water and crossed the river.

Written during the early twentieth century when African Americans struggled to achieve equality and justice, Hughes, presenting a powerful historical perspective in this poem, emphasises the link between his ancestors, the ancient rivers and the rest of the human civilisation.

The Euphrates, often believed to be the birthplace of human civilisation, the Congo, powerful and mysterious, that saw the rise of many great African kingdoms, the magical Nile that carries with poise the secrets of the great Egyptian pyramids, the folklorist Mississippi that shared here the tales of Abraham Lincoln and American slavery – shows how rivers carry the past in its depth, carrying it always with love.

And the one who sees with love can sense the connection between rivers and souls, between them and us; we all started this journey together, the rivers are a testimony.

“I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

Experience and history, though often oppressive, have not extinguished but rather emboldened the development of a soul, the birth of an immortal self, the proud ‘I’ that now speaks to all who will listen.
Christopher C. De Santis

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Lord Jagannath’s Eyes

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Jagriti Rumi Brahman Harmony Lord Jagannath's Eyes Million Revelations Music Peace Soul Space Time Universe

Spirituality

**Lord Jagannath by Vrindavan Das.**
**[Source – fineartamerica.com]**

One eye says that the play is on.

The wheel of Time moves ceasing for none, winning over oceans, mountains, the sky, the wind and the fire.

People crowd to clench forms and beliefs, together they build and destroy. They wait to gauge for more and what is better.

Look now, how they shine, bright like fireflies, honest to the core; look now, how they lure, how they trick the tricksters, how they slay a man’s soul.

Speak not, for they are at work, cross-legged monks, meditating on what is less; speak not, for you will fail to express how chaotic is the chaos.

Rising high is the music of unity and harmony; falling face down is the corrupt, fake cry of every rigid mind.

Knowing the beginning, waiting for the end, it walks, it lingers, we walk, and we linger.

Tala Pattachitra, Palm Leaf Painting – Odisha’s ancient art form.
[Source – **ethnicpaintings.com**]

Second eye says that it is all absolute bliss.

There is no Space or Time and it binds none; the ultimate end and the ultimate start merges with the absolute existence.

Flowing in a silent music, dancing always, the ripple reaches the centre.

The Brahman breathes; formless, it is of the colour peace.

Lord Jagannath’s eyes are the universe we see and the universe we can’t see. The happy devotee who bows, who worships, who sings, who gazes gets mesmerized by one of the universes, and by Lord Jagannath’s smile.

Our million eyes find a million revelations in Lord Jagannath’s eyes.

**Lord Jagannath, Lord of the Universe.**
**[Source – harekrsna.de]**

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Sri Aurobindo

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Jagriti Rumi Beauty Celebration Divine Within Life Soul Sri Aurobindo Truth

A way of life that knows simplicity and truth, that values every living thing, that changes with the changing time, staying focused all the while on the one who is beyond time, beyond space, the one who is eternal.

A life where every second is a celebration, where the soul sees the divine and dances with it, where the mind witnesses birth and death and yet continues. The drama of this wonderful life goes on.

A life that sees beauty all around, that values beauty, that breathes in beauty, that prays to spread beauty, understanding that the beautiful is the perfection is the divine… the divine which is within.

A life of action.

A life of responsibilities.

A life of renunciation.

A life of freedom.

The man who lived such a life was called Sri Aurobindo.

Sunflower Smile

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Jagriti Rumi Crayon Forever Gin-soaked Hour Rosy Glow Soul Sunflower Smile Sunlight Tiny White Daisies Warmth Winters

Flash Fiction

**The sunflower warmth just touched you.**
**Image from Pixabay.**

Smile that sunflower smile, I love to see your beaming face, eyes closed and the rosy glow. Oh, come on! Remember those winters how we huddled to be in direct sunlight… warmth of the burning star touched our souls, and we smiled.

Peeping through the bushes, the sunlight always made me feel like I am in a photograph – yet to be taken.

While the tiny white daisies were busy decorating and tackling the mad wind, blushing, swaying and often taunting it for impeding their progress, the sunflowers stayed glued like a crayon drawing on the wall, letting the sun seep within.

Seeing the clouds approach, the sunflowers never trembled or rebuked the sky’s spongy friends… for the sunflowers could feel the presence of that warm burning star, part of it now stored inside them.

Maybe that’s why sunflowers’ signature reads ‘Forever’ rather than their glowing name. Oh, how lovely!

Now just smile that sunflower smile, I love to see your beaming face, eyes closed and the rosy glow.

**Smiling sunflowers and the gin-soaked hour.**
**Image from Pixabay.**

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It Came Quietly To Me

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Jagriti Rumi Always Eyes I Am Free It Came Quietly To Me Life Mind Soul Stories Times

Poem

Mountains… grand and free. [Image by Jagriti Rumi]

Cry at times and don’t hold it back,

Take a pause and then look back,

You’ll find a way,

You’ll see the light,

With a calm mind and free eyes

You’ll connect with your soul and realise

That you were, you are and you will

Always be free.

I am happy I am free.

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Sitting Calmly, Eyes Closed

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Jagriti Rumi Love Meditation Mind One Seeing Soul The Buddha The Mandala World

Poem

**In meditation, in love!**
[Source – Pixabay]

The image that once rose

The lotus, the dandelion, the rose

Feels it very clearly

Like the wind brushing past dearly

An aura shook the land

With the touch of a hand

It was the enlightened one, Buddha

Seeing right through the Mandala

The universe looked just like a sphere

A sphere just like the world

A world just like the mind

A mind just like the soul

A soul just like the One

Slowly and at once he won

Changing into a lotus there

The Buddha permeated the air.

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The Moon Is Singing White Light

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Alive Float Blissfully Mind Moon Soul Unfold

Perhaps it is better to know the world after you know yourself completely. When the fog will disappear and the pain will die out, you’ll see what you’ll see. It will be real and true. You can float blissfully only after you have drowned, till the depth pushes you back and alive. It is not the misty wind or the world that shakes me but my ideas. Everyone is quiet outside but the moon is singing white light. Until I say ‘see you later’ to the world and tap my mind twice, my soul will stand separately on the hill.

I touched my shadow and folded it and I have hidden it in the pocket. Don’t panic. Though I am running but I am looking for something…I am looking for a silent room with green grass and a tree to sit under it. I’ll unfold things without judging then.

You Think You Have Time?

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Inner Self Meditate Mind Soul Time Universe

**It is time to know yourself.**
**Image from Pixabay.**

“The trouble is, you think you have time”- a straightforwardly true quote.

But listen don’t worry… just take a deep breath. And allow your mind to be empty.

It is true that time is running but that doesn’t mean you have to run with it.

Instead, you should stop and discover your inner self.

Knowing who you actually are is a big question for which you should hurry; being aware of every breath that you take is important, and for this you should be quick.

Time is fleeting and there is a whole universe to explore within and without.

Our soul is something we don’t consciously think much about and rarely do anything special for it, for it to flourish.

So there is no time to waste in any trivial issue when inner peace is all you need.

The solution to this trouble is to be extremely quick in settling your mind without spending the time elsewhere.

A settled mind can make you sit calmly, a calm posture can make you concentrate, you can meditate and what comes next is even better… a mind that meditates can stop Time.

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