Spiritual Jokes


What did the Yogi say when he walked into the Zen Pizza Parlor?
"Make me one with everything."

When the Yogi got the pizza, he gave the proprietor a $20 bill. The proprietor pocketed the bill. The Yogi said "Don't I get change?"
The proprietor said, "Change must come from within."

The "I" thought :
The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be enquired into.

was recently rummaging through some old notes of my granddad..chanced upon a couple of beautiful expresses:

man as a rule is always a fool,
when it is hot, he wants it cool;
when it is cool, he wants it hot;
always wanting what is not!!

a tiny pebble, idly tossed,
into the placid stream.
with gentle splash, it sinks from sight,
and never again is seen.
But , outward from that central splash,
the spreading ripples tend....
who knows on what distant shore,
the spreading impulse ends....

- authors unknown

today is "saraswati pooja", a lovely concept in prayer; an expression of gratitude for all the wisdom and knowledge that flows into our lives from myriad sources.mebbe one should add "blogging" to the endless list of media and sources that fulfil the dream of the rigveda; "Let noble thoughts come to us from every side".The universe, the original multi-media classroom...fascinating, awesome,inspiring, disciplining, self-regulatory and so much more...we are all learners and teachers at the same time as a certain Mr Bach had expressed...

Let this day be a dedication to the spirit of "learning"....

some learnings I have had on "learning" itself"

• never pre-judge, pre-suppose.
• be aware of the contexts and the assumptions.
• every speck in creation is a potential teacher.
• our perceptions and mental formations can inhibit genuine learning.
• learning is an attitude in humbleness.
• teachers persist in our lives until we learn what we have chosen to learn.Hence , we observe repetitive patterns recurring time and again.
• unlearning is a critical part of learning.
• the process of learning is joyful, a voyage in discovery ; not self-condemnatory or guilt-provoking.
• .................and so much more.....

Choosing to "live" over merely existing is a dangerous decision. One earns the right to live after lots of trials and tribulations.One runs the risk of being misunderstood,feeling isolated,being labelled as being insensitive , so on and so forth. Those who have experienced life, if even for a few fleeting moments can never just exist...Return on invests is proportional to one's ability to take risks away from security aspects. Every artiste who dares to exhibit takes the risk of encountering rejection, every musician who steps onto the stage faces the same ; ships maybe safer in the harbour but are not meant to be there. A person who dares to share his/her feelings stands the risk of his/her emotions being trampled insensitively.

Examples abound of people who have dared and been ridiculed; the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Abe Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi...the list is endless....

But to me, the choice to "live" is well worth every risk. The stench of death and decay on the other side is too pungent for comfort.

the process of creating holds a great fascination for me....be it a painter, a sculpture, a cobbler,a carpenter. a software engineer, a wordsmith....the process holds great appeal to me. the focus, the passion, the energy transfer from creator to creation....the dancer becomes the dance at some moment...the adrenalin gushes...all of creation seems to revel in celebration...

crowding people....

sometimes in our anxiety, we crowd people...all of us need our space and we resent intrusions...while knowing this, we still overindulge our concerns and jeopardise our relationships with those whom we care about.Sad, but true. but can we see through the intrusion and perceive genuinity of concern.I always regret it when i snap at my mom if she is over-indulgent.We put up with so many things in our lives but sacrifice our courtesies with those whom we genuinely care about.It is easy to be nice to strangers but extremely difficult with those around us.Paradoxical?

we tend to view the road blocks in our lives as inhibitors or life-stoppers.Can we rather view them as switches, triggers that cataylse our evolution in consciousness....Perceptions energize our lives...

Playback..

if we dont like a movie, we change the dvd/cd. We dont change the screen or the television. does not make logical sense. However, when unpleasant things occur in our universes , we want to change only the external factors. Does it make sense.Should we not look into where the playback is really emerging from?

Gratefulness....

Because everybody is creating a space for you to be transformed -- even those who think they are obstructing you, even those whom you think are enemies. Your friends, your enemies, good people and bad people, favorable circumstances, unfavorable circumstances -- all together they are creating the context in which you can be transformed and become a buddha. Be grateful to all.