Clean your life

The thought of this topic was inspired by an article “Fill your life, Clean your life, heal your life”. The previous blog talked about “Fill your life” and today is an attempt to share what “Clean your life” means to me.

The first thought is to physically declutter. As Lao Tzu says, “The more frugal you are, the more generous you become”. I have an amazing feeling when I give things away. I feel release and I feel I don’t have to depend on things to make me happy. I had penned additional thoughts on this in an earlier blog “Empty the boat”. I clean my clutter, I clean my possessions and I clean my life!

Clean your life – it means I need to be healthy and pure. I need to keep my body, my mind and my soul clean. For the body, I kick out bad habits and focus on being healthy. Reason being, its easier to be centered when we are healthy else the mind constantly focusses on the pain or hurt. I clean my body and I clean my life!

For the mind, I will surround myself with thoughts and people who inspire and uplift me. Energy is contagious. Just like a bad mango can affect the surrounding good mangoes, so can bad company cover the mind with negative thoughts. I set an intention to clean my mind and I clean my life!

For the soul, I will push to understand the mystery of the eternal truth. I will clean my soul of attachments and impressions and I will make it pure to host the creator. Tagore captures this beautifully in Gitanjali

Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.

I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.

I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.

And it shall be my endeavor to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.

In the spiritual practice, I follow a principle called ‘Apras’ which expresses super clean. It implies we get clean and pure before we go in front of God. Interestingly it talks about not just physical purity but of the mind and soul too. So, if I get angry or frustrated, I am required to go clean up again.

I am sure my husband Pranav will love this. I tease him and call him a cleanliness freak around the home though I have seen many worse than him! So much for delegate and Clean your life :). Honestly it’s a blessing as he reminds me of this principle while having a clean home.

The purest of the pure

How can I carry you

In my tainted heart?

And yet its your flame

That will burn these evils

And release my soul….

Fill your life

The thought of this came from an article in the newspaper – “Fill your life, Seal your life, Heal your life”. I focused on the first part “Fill your life”. The question being, fill your life with what?

Fill your life with fun, with scriptures, with friends, with love, with happiness, with contentment, with courage, with purpose or/and with faith. I think the list could go on and on. It’s a fun exercise to think about what is filling up my life or what do I want to fill my life with?

The next question then is what do you fill your time with? Is filling up your life and filling up your time separate things? Are they related?

I fill my time with work and I fill my life with contentment

I fill my time with family and I fill my life with love

I fill my time with scriptures and I fill my life with purpose

Hence, I am very stingy when it comes to time. I protect it very strongly. I usually don’t prefer going along with someone’s programs just to fill time. I may go for the company or to fill my time with friends but not just to kill time. The question is if I am not filling my life then what is my life being filled with?

I have observed that as life situations change, life tends to be filled with different things. Right now, as my job hunt continues, time is filled with job applications, researching companies, interview preparation and playing the waiting game. I guess,

I fill my time with job applications and I fill my life with hope

Overall the question still remains are we true to filling our time and filling our life with things we really want? Are we centered and aligned to our life purpose? Are we living the day as the model day of our lives? Do we have enough fun things to fill our time which will enhance life? Do we the strong intent to ‘fill our life’?

I fill my life with activity and productivity comes along

I fill my life serving and generosity comes along

I fill my life with writing and wisdom comes along

I fill my life with singing and music comes along

I fill my life with kindness and love comes along

I fill my life with courage and strength comes along

I fill my life with smiles and happiness comes along

I fill my life with faith and God comes along

Unhurried ways

The thought of this topic was inspired by Wayne Dyer’s book “Change your thoughts- Change your life : Living the wisdom by Tao”. He expounds on the 81 verses by Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese saint. In one of the verses, he talks about “Unhurried ways”. I am experiencing this phenomenon of no urgency or unhurried ways myself as I am in job hunt mode and I have the gift of time. As William Henry Davies magnificently puts in in his poem Leisure

What is this life full of care

We have no time to stand and stare

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows

No time to see, when woods we pass

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass

No time to see, in broad daylight

Streams full of stars, like skies at night

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance

And watch her feet, how they can dance

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich the smile her eyes began

A poor life this if, full of care

We have no time to stand and stare

I especially like my mornings with this feeling of ‘no urgency’. Usually I am nagging Ashna to get ready quickly so we can rush out, drop her to school and head to work. Now, it’s a relaxed morning. We enjoy a few more hugs before time strikes its call! Pranav calls it a mindset and yes it is one. A mindset of enjoying time flow, enjoying being mindful and not being captured by the clock. Lao Tzu reminds us to trust the Tao and enjoy what the Universe sends your way.

The caution however is not to let unhurried ways lead into inertia and being lazy. Activities do expand to fit in the time. To counter this, I have made a resolution to be productive. I am confident on my ability to find fun things to fill my life.

I now see how saints live and enjoy this mindset of unhurried ways, how they are calm and centered and how they surpass being captured by time! I believe I have to learn to truly be fully present. I am a stickler of finishing tasks (and I am sure this brings a super big smile on my brother’s face as he teases me about it all the time!). With that, my mind hovers around mundane tasks instead of enjoying these unhurried present moments. The goal is clear – have both a mindset of no urgency and being present thus truly enjoying this moment to stand and stare.

How have you experienced unhurried ways in daily life?

A candle

Slowly burning

And

I watch

The flame

Stable &

Flickering

Alive &

Restless

Unaware of the

Light its spreading