Metaphysics, the mind, and a day without complaint

Day 2:

Hmmm.
Hmmmm.
Hmmmmm.

I am going to find the right words to describe this day without stepping on my resolve to not complain for three days.

I found the day very challenging, and my mouth nearly burst with the desire to yak. Some thoughts did run through the mind, which were promptly chucked out. Resistance is futile. It is best to sit back and watch what's going on in the mind. I have found this process to be very revealing - shocking, even.

The earlier part of the day was spent in a rather controlled fireworks display (my mood). I told my mind: think, think. There is another way. You will find a way!

My mind told me that the key was to break the routine. To rely on myself. To keep my power within me. And, for heaven's sake, not to seek external support or help. My mind told me that for a fiercely independent person like myself, I had taken over the cloak of someone unlike myself - a dependent, solution-seeking being - and that until I was either this or that, the clash was going to prevail.

A couple of nights ago, I had opened a book, hoping to find wisdom. I love opening random books on random pages, and often finding exactly what I need. (A friend tells me it's quite an art. We always find what we are looking for!) The book told me quite a few things.

It said: Loss of temper indicates (spiritual) weakness. It is somebody else who has violated the code of moral behavior, so why should it anger you?

The book also said something wonderful: Take out the thought of weakness form your mind and the weakness will go.

I remembered that as a child, we were masters of the knowledge of controlling our minds. We knew that a state lasts only as long as we entertain it in our minds. Don't read past in a hurry. This is no ordinary piece of info, it is a metaphysical truism.

A state lasts only as long as we entertain it in our minds.

As a child, we could shake our heads and move on. The adult world, however, is bizarre. The adult world has somehow grown to believe that life is a set of issues. Why, it is as if we'd think that a car is something that you change the oil and battery of, occasionally.

I say a car isn't even something we drive. A car is something that takes us places! And if there is no car, well, we can still go places.

Think. Think!

The mind must see the worlds of opportunities that are created and destroyed every instance. The mind has the choice to move one from one world to another. And another. And another. Go. Go. Go.

After feeling short at the absence of electricity that held up my work, my mind thought. It gave me an alternative schedule for the day. I went out, shopped, and had a fabulous time treating myself to wonderful things.... and getting work done. The day did not go as I planned. But I am in another world now. I have no past. I have no future. I have this moment to forget the past, and be not anxious about the future. From this world to another I go this second!

Think. Think!

.

Thank You

Last night, I made a resolve. For three days, I am not going to make any complaint. I am not going to say one self-deprecating word. I am not going to whine about the electricity. I will not comment upon the weather in any way that shows that I disagree. I will not talk to one person about another, and I will not say anything unhelpful about the government.

If I utter or think one such statement, I have to remedy it by sending peace upon the energy of the universe ten times, and follow it with praise to the Lord ten times. It takes a while, and serves as a reminder to my mind what it owes its existence to. And it allows the mind to see what it may be forgetting to see while complaining: themany, many gifts and the Beauty of Life.

Complaining, in some ways, takes our energy out of us and disperses it in wide, open, black space. It tells us, in some reverse psychological way, that we aren't masters of our fate. Why, I don't say that we create our fate, but we gradually master it like we master knowledge that we don't create either.

Day 1!

Postcard from Provence - daily artistic delight

Each day since the past few months, I get delighted by a mail in my box, titled "Postcard from Provence." Contained in each mail is the photo of a small painting created by Julian Merrow-Smith, a British painter living in the French village of Bédoin, near Avignon.

A link in the email leads back to the daily painting's home page on Shifting Light, Julian's website that's been operational since a year. Julian lives in a picturesque village now connected to the globe via the Internet. Each day, he is able to reach people across the globe, letting them have a slice of beauty in the mailbox - a rustic, leisurely joy.

Flowers, landscape, still life, and a lot of fruit are the common themes in Julian's art. I often enjoy the early impressionist touch of the paintings. France is the land where impressionism originated, and the French landscape has filled many an impressionst canvas.

Julian draws his inspiration from daily, village life. Part of the charm of his art is that it takes us all back into that world of idleness, homeliness, and a lot of green that a part of us always aspires to. Opening the Postcard mail is my daily moment of escape and relaxation.

Sending these little vignettes from his studio is also a great way for Julian to reach the appreciators of his art. Today's painting, Wild Oats and Wheatfield, has been sold to an Annie Vinnick in DC. Cherries in a Bowl, pictured above, was issued in June 5. It is sold to Patricia Goodstadt in Boston. Who can remain a starving artist in this interconnected world?

"Kulsoom" & CPLC: Beating Harassment Together!

Yesterday, I finally got tired of getting those annoying missed and random calls from a certain number. I woke up to see several missed calls made in the night. I told the culprit mentally, “Well, sir, this is the end of me worrying what’s happening next. On your head be it!”

So I called him, and enquired what was the persisting matter now that I had explained on a call earlier received that I was indeed not Kulsoom the magnificent. As half expected, he replied in his barely educated tone, “I called Kulsoom.”

So who was Kulsoom, and by how many degrees of separation could she be related to me and my cell number? And why are you such a shameless person to make Kulsoom call you back – why not just give her a full-fledged call yourself? Keep aside, for a moment, that I am not Kulsoom. Tell me, why should Kulsoom call you back? And whoever this God forsaken Kulsoom is, has she got nothing better to do? Why, I am a little annoyed at this Kulsoom who must be somewhere within six degrees of my reach.

The man was apparently chuckling with a few buddies on the other side (who does that at 10.30 A.M.? – More jobs, Mr. Prime Minister! Or I’ll keep receiving the phone for Ms. Kulsoom.) I calmly told him that I work for the press, and justice was just a phone call away. I got a chuckle, and a, “Sir ji! Why are you angry!?”

Enough! I then used the power tool that basically dissects the intestines of most awara Pakistani men: accented English. I told him in cold British accent, borrowed from Simon Cowell and with as much “scowl”: “If you don’t stop doing this, I will tell the police.” I must say there was a significant pause in which the mind of the mobile marauder moved, only to come up with another oily, “Sir jiiii!”

That was it. Paa ji was going to have a bad day, and I had decided that before I gave him a last chance. I called up Rescue 115. The dispatcher on the other side was ready for gun & smoke action. He was disappointed at the report; but I persisted for help. He asked me to get to CPLC – Citizen Police Liaison Committee. I called 17 and got CPLC’s contact. Then I called CPLC – never getting tired of the trail.

The CPLC told me they indeed deal with matters of harassment, and the process was to make a written complaint. I got their web address, and got on to beat crime together. Using the contact form, I sent an email with accurate details (misreporting is serious, and just below ethics). Within about ten minutes, I got a call from a gentleman who surveyed the situation. He has told me to send in a written application which will be used to send a verified complaint to the cellular network of the harasser. We briefly discussed the harassment situation in general. He told me that in cases similar to mine, they would normally give a warning call from CPLC to the guilty party. Failing heed, the party’s phone would be blocked. If there was actual threat (i.e. the caller made a threat to life, honor, money, etc.) it would be dealt with accordingly. I didn’t press for details on this one.

Shortly afterwards, I got an apology on SMS: suddenly I was Dear Sister, and not Kulsoom. I replied that he must explain to the police who’d be very interested in the details. He called, and it was a near whimper that he pleaded in. It was not him, but his friend, he explained. I said it indeed sounded like he was chuckling in company at 10.30 AM and who on earth is up and harassing people at that hour in Karachi!

While by attending the phone I let the softer side of my heart hold sway for a minute, I know that I must not budge. Why? Because before I had decided to fight back, it was me with the shaking hands and the absolute dark worry. Let the good men amongst the readers know this: you might think it’s fun, but one has no idea that no matter what age or social class a woman is from, harassing gets to her. And if one has an idea and they persist, well then they deserve a good fight.

I have yet to fax, but I will do that and follow up the case and not rest until this man and his gang of number-swapping offender buddies are taught a lesson.

P.S. Check out the public safety downloads at www.cplc.org.pk/downloads.php. Some very good tips once sent to me couple of years ago; some of which I have found useful after practice.

Scanning brain activity through body language

From the Observation Journal: Understanding mental activity through body language


It started as joke, when we said, “my mind works like a computer – and heats up like one too.” Gradually, though, it became clear that the mind is the original computer we first met. And that it processes, stores, works, and heats up.

Now that I am conscious of this, and also doing a lot of brain work, I can clearly feel the areas on the temples and the front heating up after extensive thinking. If it weren’t for cooling by ablutions and praying, and care by massaging, I am certain that it would accompany major hair loss. As I put water on the head during ablution or bath, the water turns noticeably warm as it flows down the head. Such is the intensity of heat.

I also noted from the cues of body language (people touching parts of their head) as to which area of the brain activity might be taking place in, and what were these brain activities visibly associated with. It’s pretty simple. Observe, in this order:

1. the surroundings and


2. the circumstances of the subject,


3. and see which part of their heads they touch,


4. and what particular action do they do (pull hair, point to their head, scratch).


5. For finer observations, note the intensity and duration of the action.


6. note also whether the action is: a/ agitated or b/ peaceful.


7. Also whether the action is: a/ thoughtful and calculated or b/ reactive and thoughtless.


8. Then note what the subject does and what changes does she make happen in their circumstances.

When I say “surroundings and circumstances” I mean the visible, tangible surroundings. However, that is for the novice observer. An advanced observer will know that “circumstances” are not just visible; they are defined in terms of intangibles such as feelings, emotional dilemmas, and thoughts themselves.

Secondly, not at all times will a person change their circumstances – often the circumstances will just act upon the person. In these cases, the body language is agitated.

I became aware of the whole process recently when during traveling, I met a person for whom I felt a strong attraction. My companion traveler explained that this person was spiritual, and generally had a lot of attraction about him. (Frankly, I didn’t feel it was all “spiritual.”) I decided to observe.

One day, I was toiling away at my computer trying to find a certain troubleshooting method, a task which I had been unsuccessful at in the many earlier attempts. I noticed that he went all quiet. He put the tips of his index fingers on his temples, and appeared to be concentrating. That very moment, I felt as if I had a memory of how I troubleshot the bug earlier. I followed the steps I saw in my mind, and within seconds, I found the method I had been looking for. I exclaimed, “I found it!” He let go of his head and said, “Yes, I was trying to recall how it was done by a friend of mine.” I told him I was sure that I received that information from him. Interestingly, he was a believing kind, and for a few days afterwards, the whole group of us enjoyed a spiritual camaraderie with many experiments that none of us were skeptical about.