When Iam down and sad I keep myself so busy that I dont have time to feel sad..vinays death definetely made me realise how transient life is..it brought back my dads leukemia struggles, sad memories..and most people dont realise but once u have a close relative or close friend go through cancer and you see their pain, it changes ur life forever..u cannot escape from a lot of those memories..Iam sure vinays wife Rashmi and sameers wife Reena are going through the same pain I went through for my dad..my heart goes for these two young brides..My only advice for them would be to keep themselves so busy that they dont have time to remember the pain because how much ever u try to forget those memories they never go away...
So I decided today to go for a discussion on hindu philosophy and Gita..
Iam not deeply religious but I like to call myself spiritual human being who likes peace, hates arguing and may be being a libran like all october born libran I like simplicity and serenity in life..
I compromise, understand my limitations and simplify my life whereever I can..last few years Iam trying to lead a life of minimum expectations and it is helping me a lot..I prefer simplified hindu philosophy and I read Herman Hesses siddartha many times, that book makes me take it easy in life..
Todays talk and discussion was nice..The speaker was very good , knew what he was talking about, recited sanskrit verses with a perfect clarity that you felt peace in his voice.. he had simplified philosophy and gave lovely examples like these
-surya helps us see the world by shining his light on all creatures alike.Our eyes are little suryas so we need to shine light on all creatures and love them.
-God is like fire, you go closer to fire you feel the warmth, if u choose not to go closer to fire or God, you are away from warmth or gods love..god shines equally on everyone..only thing is those who stand closer to him might benefit the warmth of him more just by the choice of being in his proximity.
-we need to give our children spiritual education continously in every day living. It could come out as stories that grannys tell us or it could be early on religious or spiritual education to inculcate good values in them. It is like a school curriculum..kids need to go through a spiritual curriculum too at home, otherwise u cannot teach them suddenly to be religious (I agree to that, I hope I can give my children some spiritual education if not religious education).
-rebirth happens until ignorance is gone.Ignorance will only go away when you have jnana of how to be a better human being. bhakti, karma , jnana are all important. when a spirit or human soul becomes pure it merges with the universal spirit.
- A man or woman with spiritual education can never do bad or say anything bad..
- Like in christainity ,the speaker said hindu couples also should be given or should attend a course on marriage, essential duties of man and woman in a marriage (I would definetely take the speakers course when I find my guy and get married, I strongly believe in this education as most of us who dont have time to think about marriage or understand the intricacies of what keeps marriages surviving should attend a course. I also believe that in real marriages u dont have to work hard on a marriage, if compatible people marry they dont have to work hard at a marriage).
that is the summary of todays talk and discussion I attended. I hope I can attend more talks like this one.. sometimes we all forget in this race and todays materialistic world that there is something more to life than work, partying, dressing up and those artificial conversations...
what else..
I saw this interesting movie called sambar salsa tonite..
A punjabi man and a south indian brahmin woman married together..their london son wanting to marry a spanish girl..all culture clashes..very interesting ....rishi kapoor is in this movie...mother becoming possessive of losing her son...very interesting..I dont know why there is culture clash as I have friends from all cultures and I get along great with everyone..most of my clashes are bec. people are out of my league or bec. nature is different from mine but I never had problems because someone is south indian or north indian..
My own cousin who is ofcourse a southindian brahmin like me married a punjabi girl from london and they are happily married for 5years now..my mama and mami love their punjabi daughter in law a lot...I never met her as Iam always here in US when they come for vacation to India but all my relatives adore her and all her relatives and adore my cousin..
so sambar salsa for me was an interesting movie..I dont if all that was due to culture clash or because of insecurities of women... I feel like in any relationship if each person keeps their own world independent of their wives, husbands, sons, daughters probably there wont be that much clash..I wouldnt want my hubby to give up his life or friends or hobbies for me..because that would keep him happy..same here too I dont think i would give up reading books or things I do to keep me happy and smiling..a little freedom and independence and space people give for each other goes a long way and avoids clashing and being too possessive.. on a whole an interesting movie about cross culture relationships..
today I made a sweet dish for the discussion I went to as everyone is supposed to get a snack..
my sweet dish is fruit salad : one can of fat free cream cheese, one can of condensed sweetened milk- mix them in a mixer. then add grated pinnapple, tropical fruits, raisins, canned peeled oranges and sliced almonds..this makes one delicious fat free fruit salad . everyone loved it.
An aunty made a salad which was yummy .I asked her the recipe..she grated lettuce, carrots,cabbage,carrots, green pepper, added lemon and salt to it..it was yummy and spicy..
what else..
this week I had dinner with my friends 70 year old mom and her 80 year old friend all americans..it was very interesting to converse with them..such independent women who have a hard time just getting up from a chair yet drive and keep fighting with life..sometimes independence of american women is amazing and inspiring...
I have a headache tonite...Iam tired after a long drive..
I want to do some crosswords for fun, read some vikram seths poems or some novel, have a glass of warm milk and sleep like a baby..
so much to do from tomorrow as usual tiring busy week at work..glad it is going to be a long weekend..
