tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236893242012-01-15T00:51:54.133+05:30Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comBlogger2251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-52564624177442366242012-01-15T00:43:00.004+05:302012-01-15T00:51:54.142+05:30

By Ajahn SumedhoMany Buddhists see nibbana (Sanskrit: nirvana) as something unobtainable—as so high and so remote that we’re not worthy enough to try for it. Or we see nibbana as a goal, as an unknown, undefined something that we should somehow try to attain.Most of us are conditioned in this way. We want to achieve or attain something that we don’t have. So nibbana is looked at as something that

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-31633361960066954722012-01-10T16:21:00.001+05:302012-01-10T16:22:45.862+05:30

The final discourse of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti to his students, one month before his death:Love all and hate none.Mere talk of peace will avail you naught.Mere talk of God and religion will not take you far.Bring out all the latent powers of your beingand reveal the full magnificence of your immortal self. Be overflowing with peace and joy,and scatter them wherever you areand wherever you go. Be

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-91806965732463356742011-10-30T21:25:00.006+05:302011-12-23T23:31:21.592+05:30

When we talk of an individual, the individual is really a human being who is totally completely whole, sane, healthy and therefore holy. And to bring about such a human being is our responsibility in education, politically, religiously, in every way. - J. KrishnamurtiVideo: Knowledge & Transformation - J. Krishnamurti Online

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-66150354220512627762011-10-13T21:50:00.000+05:302011-10-13T21:51:32.574+05:30

What is the purpose of my life?When your complete and undivided self is in the present moment, then this question falls away. Then you are only concerned with responding to what is in front of you (work, relationship, place), however big or small, with as much authenticity and vulnerability as you can.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-7013346499268943962011-09-18T14:46:00.004+05:302011-09-18T14:54:35.824+05:30

There will always be differences in opinion with another. There always will. But what we need is not always 'agreement' but rather a deep sense of empathy in being available to understand another and cultivate our capacity to love beyond thoughts. Without empathy, we are only building walls of our ego and judgment.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-34101725143902945342011-09-18T00:31:00.002+05:302011-09-18T00:35:50.370+05:30

Life is suffering.Life is beautiful.Strangely enough I can feel both these statements as 'true' for me in the same breath.Indeed life's sweet juices secrete in paradoxes.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-82563548351403860672011-09-18T00:17:00.001+05:302011-09-18T00:18:59.717+05:30

Saw Mukul Shivputra (Kumar Gandharva's son) perform live today. In a remarkably mysterious way, he was singing but his voice was producing an ever expanding silence in the space.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-80472318486933020702011-09-11T01:43:00.005+05:302011-09-11T02:48:06.343+05:30

I invite you to a two-day workshop on 'Silence, Awareness and Creative Expression' that I am offering with my friend Priya Shah.www.tobetrue.in (you need to know about the workshop) Facebook page: like

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-45703685815564610582011-09-09T10:12:00.007+05:302011-09-11T02:56:02.338+05:30

A recent design project with Priya. The black and white is a madhubani painting. The logo and logotype were hand-designed and then cut in SS. LED's and the works. The whole design is about 15 feet by 13 feet. You can see it at Center Point, Panchvati Panch Rasta, (next to old Dairy Den), Ahmedabad, India. It was done for Traditions, a designer store that promotes traditional textiles and creates

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-22933283050269712522011-09-09T02:39:00.003+05:302011-09-09T02:44:18.752+05:30

By getting rooted in the present you ripen. From awareness you release the juices of wisdom inside you. With equanimity you begin to taste sweet.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-12791926276227500322011-09-06T01:37:00.005+05:302011-09-06T07:50:43.287+05:30

Sometimes, when life is challenging and outward circumstances are testing for another, one may not be in need of solutions. The skin is very tender and the slightest harshness or pressure can cut through. Can you simply hold the person in your heart, be sensitive, understand, empathize and just be there?Perhaps, that is the hardest thing to give!

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-56233992500670286522011-09-04T16:08:00.009+05:302011-09-09T14:18:57.983+05:30

Me: Dude, I've been OD-ing on Jughead comics these days. It's helping me maintain sanity.Samir: Nee, you also gotto read asterix and tin tinMe: Really? Tin Tin? Sounds kinda lameSamir: Nee, you will realize how great it is once you read it. Tin Tin is like the Bhagwad Gita. It's really profound. There are these layers and layers of truth hidden beneath the words.Me: HAhahhahahahhahaha

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-12483087980149717582011-09-04T16:07:00.003+05:302011-09-04T16:08:41.530+05:30

"I have to carry this burden of awesomeness everywhere I go... why did God make me sooo cool? I just wish I was normal!" ...overheard

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-72484033213049282832011-08-29T15:39:00.004+05:302011-08-29T17:30:53.157+05:30

Here's a game you can try with me :) Every morning when you wake up, you can see how the choices you are about to make will heal you and others around you, OR how they will hurt you or others around you. Every night before going to sleep take only five minutes to write down the observations in a diary. I feel it's okay if we are sometimes healing and sometimes hurtful. It's natural to living. We

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-33286114177399473582011-08-28T22:46:00.005+05:302011-08-29T01:14:48.880+05:30

A conversation with Pree in Dec, 2010. Over the months what limits have split open and expanded: ...I felt that what is so magical about life is the choice of being true and authentic to ourselves without having to take on the burden of pleasing, being acceptable or right/succesful/respectable according to others. The freedom to be a clown/prostitute/artist/farmer/outright commercial/ greedy/fat

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-54205808738498044042011-08-09T17:30:00.000+05:302011-08-09T17:31:49.710+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R378SwPH-b0

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-85294172215335316902011-07-21T10:26:00.028+05:302011-07-23T12:48:13.512+05:30

My life is a chingum,I often expand it, contract it,Play with my fears in the center,Stretch the edges of my thoughts,Blow out a bubble from my desires, andWatch my ego go puncture in public;And when the shit hits the roof,I see those self-images explode flat on my face.Every suck and crush between the teethKeeps releasing the juice of living,And that's how my chingum keeps me changing.My life is

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-66528079275621620362011-07-14T16:08:00.004+05:302011-07-14T16:11:29.790+05:30

We rarely split the moment to penetrate into its silence. When we do, a different world opens up.A world that negates this world.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-14759884683250440162011-07-14T12:33:00.001+05:302011-07-14T12:36:45.827+05:30

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. - Douglas Adams

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-50867305009120337792011-07-14T12:26:00.002+05:302011-07-14T17:22:39.926+05:30

Responsibility and Productivity - the biggest justifications we give to wound our soul.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-53993585034086256832011-07-12T13:59:00.003+05:302011-07-12T14:04:36.625+05:30

Bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. Good news is, there's no ground - Trungpa RinpocheLike a jar you housed infinite tenderness.And the infinite oblivion shattered you like a jar.Pablo Neruda

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-40131967279647452262011-07-09T00:23:00.002+05:302011-07-10T10:53:37.668+05:30

How does one become love?When one becomes a star or maybe a gutter.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-54894761772694494612011-06-26T23:21:00.001+05:302011-06-26T23:23:54.997+05:30

...mother earthhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeXdv-uPaw(5 mins worth spent. Put your speakers on).

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-22047632596638976712011-06-25T11:59:00.009+05:302011-06-26T22:46:27.338+05:30

A friend's friend asked a beautiful question:P: If nature is so beautiful, so superlative, and so exhilarating, why is it that man who lives amidst it is almost drowned in unhappiness, in sorrow, and in dejection? To the extant that nature gives us joy and happiness, to the same degree of negativity does man abide in. What is the reason for this paradox?Me: Dear P,I am not attempting to

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-51692947914759722112011-06-24T02:51:00.000+05:302011-06-24T02:52:00.269+05:30

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”- Leonard cohen

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-13966529886714126052011-06-21T15:31:00.007+05:302011-06-22T09:16:24.962+05:30

When I was in 5th grade, my mom bought me six pairs of pompom socks. Now I have only three pairs left and I lost the rest when I was very young - in purple, blue and sky blue. They are dearer to me than diamonds.Just when you were expected to be all grown up and walk into a big room, you go out in your pompom sock with a tear in your toe tucked safe inside your shoe like a secret that only you

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-72111178295606118682011-06-21T11:54:00.005+05:302011-06-21T12:40:06.866+05:30

there's this life floating about in a green bottle in my bedroom. Whenever I see it, I feel happy.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-44209109423515272342011-06-20T10:01:00.007+05:302011-06-20T13:33:06.616+05:30

So often I am surrounded by women who are willing to trample on their own dignity, violate the tender truth of their heart and choke their self-expression for others. They call that 'love'.When another woman is being beaten or raped, some of them say, "She must have done something wrong!"When another woman does not allow violence and insults to be inflicted on herself and does not allow her

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-55227252475653099962011-06-16T22:53:00.002+05:302011-06-16T22:55:36.510+05:30

The way to get from Point A to Point B is to be completely at Point A - anonymous

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-58885325251886856622011-06-16T02:19:00.002+05:302011-06-17T15:04:43.094+05:30

all this experience, weighs me down...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IK4oLCDB0o

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-35758989845808384452011-06-12T17:53:00.023+05:302011-06-29T14:16:45.848+05:30

what do you do when you feel love? what do you do with it? when love begins to spill itself out of the body? what do you do when you do not know how? how to pour it all out in everything you see, touch or feel? How do you do it my love, for it is so hard to contain.do i become dust and get swept away into a breeze and travel down to places I do not know... where will I blow... where will I go?or

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-78386290508745319102011-06-11T00:06:00.003+05:302011-06-18T14:57:19.940+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPg9DnMP2D4&feature=related

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-20361811884950210862011-06-06T16:07:00.002+05:302011-06-18T13:17:41.153+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtJXRbyh_g

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-46689794592435698382011-06-04T13:40:00.004+05:302011-06-04T13:53:53.691+05:30

On a day like today, I wish I could drift like a leaf in the wind through parks, schools, houses, roads and traffic. Hardly consequential. Barely visible. That way I will be touched only by those who are interested in small things.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-52348119029580580962011-06-03T21:50:00.010+05:302011-06-17T15:09:19.027+05:30

On a hot summer evening, in the suffocating heat of Ahmedabad, it suddenly rains and the trees and the earth and the people breathe the moist air so deeply into their body, as if new life needs to enter their parched throat. But what I find most enticing, is the response of birds to rain. They keep staring at the sky with a vague innocence. Their feathers drip. Their wings leak. Their

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-35909335161350948312011-06-01T01:43:00.002+05:302011-06-18T14:43:42.898+05:30

In my body you search the mountainfor the sun buried in its forest.In your body I search for the boatadrift in the middle of the night. -- Octavio Paz

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-76837145086550949372011-05-27T10:17:00.002+05:302011-05-27T10:37:25.102+05:30

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; }p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; }p.palbuttonstyle, li.palbuttonstyle, div.palbuttonstyle { margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.5in; text-indent: -

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-84901806438897440862011-05-26T10:49:00.003+05:302011-05-26T10:53:44.180+05:30

sometimes I wonder if I am making too much of a big deal of all the harsh experiences suffered in childhood. Or am I underplaying it in my mind in order to protect myself from those memories.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-33184134600447598602011-05-24T15:24:00.003+05:302011-05-27T11:00:25.729+05:30

Questioner: When did you first realize you wanted to become a poet?William Stafford: My question is 'when did other people give up the idea of being a poet?' You know when we are kids we make up things, we write, and for me the puzzle is not that some people are still writing, the real question is why did the other people stop?

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-66734359361192457182011-05-18T20:55:00.003+05:302011-06-18T14:44:11.099+05:30

Snitched from Samir's BlogWhen no one is looking I swallow deserts and clouds And chew on mountains Knowing they are Sweet bones!When no one is looking And I want to kiss God I just lift my own hand To my mouth. — Hafiz

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-55318609958673657772011-05-17T12:14:00.004+05:302011-06-18T14:44:25.511+05:30

This is one of the best poem I have read in my life so far.Rumi A thousand half-lovesmust be forsaken to takeone whole heart homeLet the lover be disgraceful, crazy,absent minded. Someone soberwill worry about things going badly.Let the lover be.Lovers don't finallymeet somewhere.They're in each other all along.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-34918489743140928352011-05-10T22:48:00.008+05:302011-05-11T15:04:50.138+05:30

The last few days I was grounded in my room, sitting in front of the computer, finishing the editing of my most recent documentary film. In the evening I came down to the garden and laid on the grass staring at the sky for an hour or more. It was the perfect time as the sky was changing colors from light to twilight to dusk; the birds circling the sky, before settling down on the

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-63168815174097296292011-05-10T11:47:00.006+05:302011-05-10T11:56:52.916+05:30

This is the first joke I ever learnt in my life . All in all, I must be nothing more then a tender four. So it goes, "One day, Bruce Lee was walking on the streets of Ahmedabad with his nunchucks and he found a dosi (very old Gujarati woman) and yelled at her with a karate stance, "Hooooo haaaa!!!" and the dosi replied, "Ghooooo Khaaaaa!!!" (eat crap!)..........heeeeheeee haaaa haaaa haaa, ehum,

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-61276413470155289102011-05-10T11:42:00.004+05:302011-05-10T11:44:56.105+05:30

When I told someone, "Life is meaningless",He thought I was depressed.When I told another person, "Life is meaningless",He thought I was enlightened.When I realized myself, "Life is meaningless",It didn't mean much!

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-44706424803530855352011-05-10T10:02:00.001+05:302011-05-10T11:59:03.866+05:30

With Tao under heaven,Stray horses fertilize the fields.With Tao under heaven,Warhorses are bred on the frontier.There is no greater calamityThan not knowing what is enough.There is no greater faultThan desire for success.Therefore,Knowing that enough is enoughIs always enough.--Anonymous

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-20212551659277769992011-05-09T12:16:00.007+05:302011-05-09T12:44:37.224+05:30

http://www.tricycle.com/interview/human-nature-buddha-nature?page=0,0The inevitable split between the Buddha and the Human inside us. An excerpt:So you’re saying that spiritual bypassing not only corrupts our dharma practice, it also blocks our ripening into whole and integrated individuals. Yes. One way it blocks development is through making spiritual teachings into prescriptions about what

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-73852323678305531532011-05-09T12:15:00.002+05:302011-05-09T12:45:04.865+05:30

An important post by Partha: http://core-dumped.blogspot.com/2011/05/3-out-of-5000-students-is-statistically.html

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-52076915909666285122011-05-09T02:01:00.002+05:302011-05-09T12:16:37.325+05:30

respect.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-46455033044870954172011-05-04T11:21:00.012+05:302011-05-04T12:08:31.511+05:30

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Your silence shatters my breath – Questions sit unattended, Like splinters on the floor. You're quiet, A colorless thread woven Into the red cloth of my soul. My inexperienced clumsy feet Balance onto Life Over that thin string of Your faith...

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-57810777837910500402011-04-30T13:26:00.007+05:302011-06-18T14:59:29.816+05:30

You might think I've got a lot of free time, for I had to see this TED video thrice! Thing is, I've not got lots of free time, but I've got these eccentric issues around being a perfectionist- a control freak who pushes herself sometimes too hard to not goof up and deviate from the plan!! My fears are not much around living up to the standards put up by society or the world (never cared much

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-45716818510017698192011-04-25T18:39:00.005+05:302011-06-18T14:46:47.204+05:30

by Naomi Shihab NyeBefore you know what kindness really isyou must lose things,feel the future dissolve in a momentlike salt in a weakened broth.What you held in your hand,what you counted and carefully saved,all this must go so you knowhow desolate the landscape can bebetween the regions of kindness.How you ride and ridethinking the bus will never stop,the passengers eating maize and chickenwill

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-81561301487208269252011-04-23T23:05:00.000+05:302011-04-23T23:06:25.458+05:30

I, for a moment, forgot that you were gone.But then, are you ever gone?For in our comings and goings, we are always arriving at the same place, together.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-24280540292867390812011-04-20T15:55:00.002+05:302011-04-23T01:23:12.874+05:30

yes my friend. this insanity binds us in the womb of wonder. this insanity helps us break free off our prison of knowing.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-62457739586195140902011-04-07T21:29:00.005+05:302011-07-21T23:45:14.588+05:30

In the untamed forest.......the captivating chaos of bright poisonous flowershaunts the soul....... with both fear and beauty unspeakable......................Life is such wildernessThe desirable & undesirable.......always intertwined.Humans are choosing.......while the wind smelling the scent, drifting by.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-84254239964239146412011-04-06T13:08:00.002+05:302011-04-06T13:09:50.894+05:30

There is nothing to be found. Nothing to know. There is this unsettling imbalance of not finding the solid ground of thoughts beneath the feet. The realization that All we step on is impermanent, insubstantial. It's the fall.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-48958516711776621732011-03-04T00:50:00.003+05:302011-03-22T12:59:22.980+05:30

"What can I get...From this relationship,From this place,From this occasion?""What can I give...To this relationship,To this place,To this occasion?"

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-11882740744477939622011-03-02T11:04:00.004+05:302011-03-22T13:02:12.138+05:30

Some of my recent Haiku got published in the World Haiku Review Magazine.Cannot put them up on my blog unfortunately!Love / N

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-37772447065680535872011-03-02T10:53:00.004+05:302011-03-22T12:57:41.908+05:30

An article I had written on the connection between ecology, activism and spirituality was recently published in the Bhoomi Magazine and as well as Shikshantar's Swapathgami Magazine.You may find an online version of the same here: http://bhoomimagazine.org/archives/sustainable-living/item/85-going-beyond-activism/85-going-beyond-activism

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-22745033977766627432011-02-13T15:42:00.006+05:302011-03-22T13:05:54.149+05:30

Even when everything is right, the mind will always find something to not feel right about. It's inherent sense of lack. It's discontent epilogue.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-62451533755705847362011-01-24T02:13:00.004+05:302011-03-22T13:02:57.892+05:30

Some spiritual teachers advocate spiritual practices and others reject them as a waste of time. What's your perspective on this? Eckhart Tolle: There may be a place for spiritual practice. The difficulty with spiritual practice is again that most practices give you "time." They are based on time and on becoming, or "getting good at" something. In the end every practice will have

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-73854499279466756382011-01-03T23:07:00.013+05:302011-03-22T13:03:59.124+05:30

Tao says that whatsoever is beautiful in you, hide it, never act it out; whatsoever is truthful in you, valuable, hide it, because whenever a truth is hidden in the heart, it grows like a seed hidden in the earth. don't throw it out. If you throw a seed on the street for everybody to see, it will die, and die to no purpose. It will simply die, there will be no rebirth.Treat all that

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-82874885137161805922010-12-31T03:44:00.008+05:302011-03-22T13:03:31.455+05:30

I'm not a resolution-maker. But I make indulgence lists ;)So this is when I'm working out my 2011 Bring-it-on list, I get a ping from my very dear ol' friend V. I post this, because I found his answer pure poetry - hard to really understand, but still completely understandable, in a very sweet, unsure and human sort of a way. Maybe you too will see a bit of yourself in his answer, just the way I

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-33674371063990351012010-12-13T13:07:00.007+05:302011-03-22T13:01:52.750+05:30

There was something surreal about the air and the spirit that it breathed into everything it touched. It penetrated a profoundly tender, delicate and alive consciousness into this cold December night. Sometimes I feel like all of nature is trying to bow. The moon is bowing to the earth...the magnolia is bowing to the bee ... the mother's breast is bowing to the child...The bird in flight is

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-20067246383825213782010-11-30T16:34:00.009+05:302010-12-01T00:37:00.646+05:30

his careful hands smearbutter on breadfor her rushed morning -the sun spread warm rayson the dark moist soil...for Sa

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-7717446913846931522010-11-14T17:24:00.002+05:302011-06-18T14:47:01.375+05:30

by Naomi Shihab Nye It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.With sadness there is something to rub against,A wound to tend with lotion and cloth. When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,Something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change. But happiness floats. It doesn't need you to hold it down.It doesn't need anything. Happiness lands on the

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-52726970877630442212010-11-11T16:54:00.003+05:302011-03-22T13:09:04.036+05:30

Mipham, a spoken word artist, records albums, runs marathons and just happens to be a Tibetan Buddhist Lama.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-63436705051829261242010-11-07T18:01:00.005+05:302011-03-22T13:08:48.218+05:30

He's such a cartoon. Reverential bows :)

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-58537701737210178882010-11-07T17:40:00.007+05:302011-03-22T13:07:00.294+05:30

My climate has changed.Someone showered an out of seasonal rain of kisses today!-

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-47550824899555863802010-11-07T16:57:00.012+05:302010-11-09T02:39:37.057+05:30

The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard - one that thinks too much. - The Tao of PoohCourtesy: SamPooh

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-4783171442134481192010-11-07T13:01:00.004+05:302010-11-09T02:40:06.654+05:30

When someone asked The Buddha to describe his experience of enlightenment, he replied:"I gained nothing at all from supreme enlightenment, and for that very reason it is called supreme enlightenment."

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-76592473478305007132010-10-29T11:15:00.003+05:302010-10-29T11:43:55.910+05:30

This body is an infinite mystery. Watch it. Not just to figure it out or get an answer. But to simply listen to its magical unfoldings. To its silent pauses and pulsating surges. The Divine is something to be felt.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-53046291948020794942010-10-18T00:49:00.005+05:302010-10-18T00:59:58.233+05:30

Read here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/10/02/wellesley_professor_unearths_a_horror_syphilis_experiments_in_guatemala/"Picking through musty files in a Pennsylvania archive, a Wellesley College professor made a heart-stopping discovery: US government scientists in the 1940s deliberately infected hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in experiments

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-88391028791001766422010-10-15T02:54:00.014+05:302010-10-18T01:00:42.394+05:30

Excerpts: India dropped two ranks to 67th among 84 developing countries in the International Food Policy Research Institute's annual " Global Hunger Index" for 2010. Even Sudan, North Korea and Pakistan rank higher than India. [...]India is home to 42% of the underweight children under the age of five in the world. The food insecurity is so rampant across the country that India is

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-82903316000047966842010-10-14T16:19:00.002+05:302010-10-14T16:25:13.108+05:30

Sharing something very beautiful that my friend Sangi recently wrote: http://sangeethasriram.blogspot.com/2010/10/accompanied-by-her-30-year-old-daughter.html

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-60664549770312853912010-10-04T01:01:00.004+05:302010-10-04T01:06:14.896+05:30

We were sitting in a closed roomFor more than ten daysBarely a few feet apartThough,Never exchanging a wordNever exchanging a glanceNever exchanging a single moment of familiarity You penetrating into the vastness of your soulMe falling into the abyss of my realityLayer down deep layerDown to the churnings and unsettling purposelessnessDown to the

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-23683064799021185952010-10-03T12:19:00.007+05:302010-10-03T15:12:55.073+05:30

By Mahatma Gandhi : http://www.mkgandhi.org/swarajya/coverpage.htmHe did not just dream of an independent India. He dreamt of Hind Swaraj.If India were to go on the same unwholesome path on which the British were leading us, then what was the difference if it were governed by the whites or the Indians.? What was the need for all the bloodshed, personal sacrifices and freedom struggle?This small

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-80745191311893768642010-09-08T12:54:00.003+05:302011-06-18T14:47:17.433+05:30

Vikas ke Bhagwaan bataa hum kaise jaan bachaaye??Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M5aeMpzOLUState governments leased out a whopping 1,00,871 hectres of forest land in India for mining activities alone: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Miners-love-forest-areas/articleshow/5334249.cms

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-18303648583498800882010-09-04T23:23:00.006+05:302010-09-08T00:27:44.291+05:30

[Letter written to a friend some time back]We live in so many worlds all at the same time.One day I am sitting in a meeting in a grand room plush with italian lamp shades and english armchairs, listening to people talk about venture capital and 100+ crore Rs. projects. Where there is no end to the diversification and expansion of this material organism. There are no barricades in the mind, no

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-41981375687760949652010-09-03T23:57:00.008+05:302010-09-04T23:05:20.313+05:30

In moments when I experience that which is beyond words, but still want to express it in words, for that is the only way I know to communicate with you, how do I express the inexpressible without the distress of the mess that words may repress?Oh my dear friends reading this blog, can we create a new language of communication between us... one that needs no language?If you could understand the

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-7270394943503294182010-08-24T15:31:00.008+05:302011-06-18T14:47:46.346+05:30

The highly ingenious video, critically well thought and researched, technically refined and artistically ripened by Wilbur from Tamilnadu.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TojTlYNNm9w

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-57552154003899381562010-08-22T10:50:00.014+05:302010-09-04T22:49:52.001+05:30

Some friends have often asked me over the years why do I 'sit' in meditation?For me every movement, time and space is an opportunity in meditation - in cultivating awareness. You may be chopping vegetables, carrying water, admiring the sky, reading a book, writing an email, having a cup of tea, listening to a friend, taking a walk or even sleeping.However, I also see value in sitting in silence

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-10831276085559773102010-08-21T21:36:00.001+05:302010-09-04T22:48:15.592+05:30

Love is light.Light is fire.Fire envelopesThe heart.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-33496067474804693882010-08-21T21:17:00.004+05:302011-06-18T14:48:28.775+05:30

O bird of the morning, learn love from the mothBecause it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.-Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-83277176157815773372010-08-16T01:21:00.005+05:302010-09-04T22:46:58.251+05:30

The moment awaits me to jump from the edge of doubts into the ocean of insanity. What am I waiting for?

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-59142723453017242602010-08-09T10:36:00.008+05:302010-08-10T21:21:26.958+05:30

Sewing a poetry is like making a garment for the soul. But when the garment is worn, the soul reveals it's rawness more nakedly than before.Today threads need to be dyed with the color of the Beloved's Grace. Needles sharpened to pierce the Present.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-81716968528254879592010-07-31T14:31:00.007+05:302010-08-08T18:33:15.738+05:30

Kissed by the rain, stroked by the moonlight, the tree, nourishes the deep earth. Caressed by the leaves, held embraced by the winds, the bird, breaks out into a song.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-71888244117569841002010-07-28T17:42:00.008+05:302010-09-04T22:51:11.083+05:30

When you let go your desire to be happy you cast off the last of your shackles.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-39121138730688315452010-07-26T15:34:00.004+05:302010-10-29T11:45:34.289+05:30

Seeing the false as the false, is Meditation. This must go on all the time.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-6873149928480863322010-06-12T12:44:00.002+05:302010-09-08T00:31:39.241+05:30

... from all that I know. From all that was me.Like the roots from my umbilical chord are being snapped away!

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-35702491149805959462010-06-11T23:36:00.006+05:302010-09-08T00:31:44.796+05:30

He said today:Life is...Grow in Love

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-15644914294890727472010-06-05T11:40:00.002+05:302010-09-04T22:54:47.049+05:30

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-29444764780651803212010-05-15T00:23:00.015+05:302010-06-03T21:53:58.306+05:30

If I were a bird,And were asked to chooseTwo wingsFrom all the wings in our worldThat would carry me upward,Into a sky that splits openAll confines to flying unbound,And breaks wide the heartBy an unstruck sound (Anahata Nada),I would chooseOne wing called 'Listen' And another,Called 'Be Patient'May 15th, Ahmedabad-

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-37739969869649073782010-05-12T14:08:00.002+05:302010-09-04T22:53:34.927+05:30

By Jean Cocteau:A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses. An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture. The extreme limit of wisdom, that’s what the public calls madness. The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails,

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-31497355028160022942010-04-28T22:11:00.003+05:302010-09-08T00:31:50.885+05:30

'We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting.'-Khalil Gibran_

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-76187671697143126622010-04-07T14:55:00.015+05:302010-09-08T00:32:07.009+05:30

J Krishnamurti's presence, his intense and composed being and his insights had touched and transformed my life forever about nine years ago. I feel like I have drank directly from the fountain of the sweet juices, the wisdom and love that he poured on me when I was going through the toughest phase of my life. It was a matter of life and death and I just didn't survive, I came ALIVE!Sharing the

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-87665886271127939142010-04-07T12:49:00.009+05:302011-06-18T14:59:35.419+05:30

If I were a swan, I'd be gone.If I were a train, I'd be late.And if I were a good man,I'd talk with youMore often than I do.If I were to sleep, I could dream.If I were afraid, I could hide.If I go insane, please don't putYour wires in my brain.If I were the moon, I'd be cool.If I were a book , I would bend.If I were a good man, I'd understandThe spaces between friends.If I were alone, I would

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-81564738202775978532010-04-04T01:53:00.007+05:302010-09-04T22:57:18.478+05:30

Past or future is imagination. It really does not exist. There is no time.There are no rights and wrongs. Doings or undoings. Matter or thought.There is only LOVE. All the time, unmoving and real. In all. Enveloping all.Constant.Infinite.Flowing.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-42759690324532780002010-03-31T15:06:00.007+05:302010-09-04T22:58:15.232+05:30

Him: In the deep mountains, I watched a beautiful snowflake fall on the ground and melt away into nothingness. In that moment, I realized the universe and surrendered to love.Her: Yes, everything is ephemeral, melting, disappearing, false, except LOVE. So be present to only its glory in every moment. Love in all its expressions and colors is all that exists. All that ever was or will be.

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-56918185396929034162010-03-21T11:19:00.007+05:302010-09-08T00:32:22.321+05:30

Have you noticed the most beautiful things in the world?Like a flower swaying away.Petals lifted in the breeze.A new born child smiling unknowingly.The bare open earth.The breasts of a woman.The spine of a laborer glistening with sweat.A lover consumed by deep tender passion.A devotee melting with affection?There is vulnerability in all. You can simply drop a new born child and it will not be

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23689324.post-4039593503554904422010-03-16T22:49:00.012+05:302010-09-04T23:07:52.973+05:30

I have two keys to give you. So, shh.... listen closely, my friend. Never forget to take them with you, no matter how far you go...Always carry 'maya' in your pocket and 'leela' in your locket!maya= illusion, leela=game-

Nirali Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805899065779009441noreply@blogger.com