Mind Over Matter: The Meditation Club

In my opinion, one should be mindful while performing high risk and productive activities or jobs as even a small negligence or overlooking can be fatal or create huge losses. But Mundane things can be multitasked to save time. Mindfulness practice can be useful when one is not hurried.

 

My students love it when I read aloud a book to them. While I love to see the joy on their faces, I have learnt that unless I pause and read with interest and intonation all of that reading does not make sense. Slowly this habit is rubbing off on some of the books I read at home. While we do have a couple of books on "speed reading techniques", with sparknotes these days if needed, they are rarely used

However, mindfulness comes to me naturally while reading Sanskrit - I enjoy every word so much (I absolutely love the language, that could be the reason) that when we pause to discuss I am completely thrilled. Unfortunately, this happens only once a week in our Sanskrit class.

Same thing applies to Shlokas - pausing on syllables makes it more joyful and sometimes I do have ha-ha moments when some meaning sits in place finally after years of recitation. The awareness comes once a day for a few minutes.
I think it was Eric Weiner in "The Geography of Bliss" who says, In Sanskrit you don't merely hear words, you feel them". I have begun to see that personally.

 

Dear All,
I missed this somehow but spending time today reading all of your thoughts and practices. I am in awe of all of you.
'Missing bolt' example is the one I am waiting to tell my boys and re iterating to my self when they come back from school. I am trying to implement mindfulness within me and in my kids. Reading this thread gives me many trials to be tried.
When I think about multi tasking, now I can see what will happen when we do many things at a time, we will give more chances for missing bolts moments
I do love mantra chanting and I do whenever I can. I also try to meditate everyday in the morning for 10 mins. Whether I am doing it properly I don't know. When I started I preferred the guided meditation but now I like to be sit without anything.
Here is schools, kids are taught reading with expressions and we work on it. It gives me pleasure more than my kids feel about it.
Thank you all for educating me.
Vani

 

Quite normal for a child to have such thoughts.

People who meditate will have light coming experience and tunnel at the end light experience.

Usually people are asked to meditate on lovely atmosphere.

 

Dear Srama,
I agree with you. Sanskrit has its own divinity as well as lingual attractions.
Here are two small puzzles in Sanskrit,which I think you can enjoy.

01. The women and the tiger

ekona viMShatistrInAm snAnArthaM sarayuM gata |
viMShati punarAyata, eko vyAghreNa bhak****a ||

एकोन विंषतिस्त्रीनाम् स्नानार्थं सरयुं गत ।
विंषति पुनरायत, एको व्याघ्रेण भक्षित ॥

Nineteen women left for taking bath in the Sarayu river;
one was eaten by a tiger, still twenty returned!

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02. What a Pandit knows well

kRuShNamukhI na mArjArI dvijihvA na cha sarpiNi |
panchabhartrI na pAnchAlI yo jAnAti sa paNDitaH ||

कृष्णमुखी न मार्जारी द्विजिह्वा न च सर्पिणि ।
पन्चभर्त्री न पान्चाली यो जानाति स पण्डितः ॥

Black-faced but not a cat; split-tongued but not a serpent;
five 'husbands' but no PAnchAlI; the Pandits themselves know it well.

For answer see below:

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Solving the Riddles
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01. The women and the tiger

ekona viMShatistrInAm snAnArthaM sarayuM gata |
viMShati punarAyata, eko vyAghreNa bhak****a ||

The mistake is in the transliteration: It is not 'ekona'--'one less than' but 'ekaH + na'--'one man and', so 'ekona viMShatistrInAm' means 'ekaH na viMShati strInAm'--'one man and twenty women'. The man was eaten by the tiger.

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02. What a Pandit knows well

kRuShNamukhI na mArjArI dvijihvA na cha sarpiNi |
panchabhartrI na pAnchAlI yo jAnAti sa paNDitaH ||

• The dvijihvA--split-tongued is the nib of the pen that writes, and the nib is black-faced because of the ink it dips into.

• panchabhartrI--five 'husbands' or masters refer to the five fingers used to hold the pen. They live together like the five husbands of PAnchAlI (panchApi angulayaH tayA saha vartante), but here no PAnchAlI is in sight.

This the paNDita--scholars, themselves know very well.

Can be better enjoyed by persons who know a little bit of Sanskrit.

There are so many verses in Sanskrit which when read forward and backward give two entirely different meanings.
There is a shloka constructed with the word'yaa' alone,crafted by Shri Vedantha Desikan.
It is simply amazing when we split the syllables and arrive at the meaning. No doubt, Sanskrit is a treasure to us

Jayasala 42

 

I enjoy reading books set in fantasy worlds. I like imagining the scenes in my head. So I pause a lot.
With non-fiction too I pause a lot, but for a different reason - I often don't get what the author is saying.

I was thinking about rereading favorite books when I read your post. It's like eating comfort food. Predictable taste, but it is certain to be good! And hopefully we have grown since the book was read the last time, and we may find that we have a fresh perspective on a familiar topic - it is interesting to observe.

 

I am pretty bad at multi-tasking. I have realized recently that planning in small steps makes for better time management. Trying to apply it in life, but I am not disciplined enough. Yet.

Regarding driving: I listen to audio books or podcasts... this is no different than a phone call. Right?
When I am not listening to those and when my negative thoughts start to bother me, I try 'Mental Noting'. Just the street names, car colors, sounds. Anything to get my mind off my mind.

 

@kaniths Thought of you when I read this:
Both Zen and drawing are all about fresh and direct seeing. They also share in the understanding that beauty and wonder are accessible through simple and routine activities, if and when you care for and identify with what it is that you are doing. Drawing, like Zen, is active, engaged, and purposeful awareness.
-Brian Curtis

 

Sweet, Thank you!

“When I walk, I have an empty, happy brain and I see things.” – Maira Kalman