Experience is not what happens to you

 image by axinia

Quotaion by Aldous Huxley.

Why Hinduism is not becoming popular in the West?

 image by axinia

The British colonizers discredited Hinduism as being merely backward superstitions, and even today, whereas Buddhism is very much in fashion with American and European intellectuals, Hinduism is largely ignored.

Given that all the essential premises of Buddhism are already contained in Hinduism, including how and why it is helpful to be able to control the senses, it is a shame that so few Westerners are interested in what it has to say…

Your Heart: is it weak or strong?

 photo by axinia

It is not merely romantic nonsense to say that the heart is the seat of your love and compassion. It is a fact. We open our heart to those that are closest to us both in a physical way (by demonstration of affection and generous action) and in a subtle way though the feeling of tenderness and overwhelming concern we have for them.

We say someone is closed hearted when they seem uncaring and selfish, and we call them open hearted when they give to all without a question. These are real examples of power of the heart to help or hinder our enjoyment of life.

A weak heart chakra can show up in may different ways, for example through mean spirited actions, or though deep insecurities which drive us to be selfish through fear. We can find evidence of a weak heart centre in those who are overly neurotic or frail, or in those who question everyone`s motives. Even overly ascetic people can be victims of this problem.

Say it! Or the impact of blogging.

 photo by axinia

 

Have many people really contribute to the Internet content? Apparently, Only 1% of user generate Web 2.0 content. I wonder if this tendency will change, for I noticed something interesting about my own user-behaviour.

Since I am blogging, I realise the value of a comment. I love getting comments (who does not?) but I also love giving them! In fact, I noticed that my awareness for commenting, and generally for creating my content has grown enormously since I started blogging. I develop myself to the even more active user and  - finally - global community member.

A question about spirituality

photo by axinia

The Google Search gave me 61.400.000 results for the word SPIRITUALITY, with the top reasult of Wikipedia, explaining to me what Spirituality is:” Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and faith, a transcendent reality, and God. Spiritual matters are thus those matters regarding humankind’s ultimate nature and purpose, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with a unique relationship to that which is beyond both time and the material world”;

and some more: “Many spiritual traditions, accordingly, share a common spiritual theme: the “path”, “work”, practice, or tradition of perceiving and internalizing one’s “true” nature and relationship to the rest of existence (God, creation (the universe), or life), and of becoming free of the lesser egoic self (or ego) in favor of being more fully one’s “true” “Self”.

Although I agree with the most of it,  I still  wanted to add something based on my personal experiences.

The descrete charms of the world bourgeoisie

 photo by axinia

 

In the mouth of Society are diseased teeth, decayed to the bone of the jaws. But society makes no efforts to have them extracted and be rid of the affliction. It contents itself with gold filling. Many are dentists who treat the decayed teeth of Society with glittering gold.

- Khalil Gibran, (1883-1931) Thoughts and Meditations

 

Italian secret (+ slideshow)

This March turned out to be a holiday month for me – apart from the great journey to Russia and India I went to Italy on corporate holidays.Italy is a country which I know since many years (used to live there for one year and keep coming for a short holidays every summer). But this time Italy s me showed me its true face – its true beauty. The essence of Italian charm: Tuscany.

First enjoy my photo-report with some comments and they read more on Italian secret.

They say Italy is the SOUL OF THE EARTH, and it is what one can feel immediately when in Italy. What I feel when in Italy:

Why people like to travel

 

photo by axinia

Why do we travel? To see new places? To get new experiences? To meet new people? To get way from the daily routine? All that and more are the reasons for the traveller-mood, which is well known to many of us. But these are the obvious reasons. Is there any hidden one? 

Travelling is the first step of seeking the truth. Seeking the truth is the ultimate aim of that seeking for something feeling (or call it wanting something I don`t know what). When we visit foreign countries, it is - deeply seen – not the outer impressions we are looking for. It is the power, the energy, the vibrations of the place we feel. For it is what is truly behind the cladding! 

There are countries we want to visit at any rate. We feel attracted and affected by its mystery, beauty, danger or uniqueness… There are lands we never want to visit – even if they seem to be same mysterious, fascinating or beautiful. What is the reason?

India: the everlasting magnet

More and more people from all over the word choose to spend their holidays in India - some decades ago it was the western seekers looking for the sacred knowledge of Indian sages and gurus. Now places like Goa are full of tourists seeking nothing but exotic holiday on the sea-shore (acutally I don’t see why do they need to go to India for that, this could be any other famous tourist destination).

But whatever the times are, one things is the same: the aspiration when people pronounce the word INDIA.

Despite the modernisation and fast economical and industrial development of that great country, its magic is very special. There are many other exotic countries and continents in this word, however it is only India that has this kind of a spell over everyone!

Just try to tell someone you are going to Africa (any country), Burma, New Zealand, Italy, Norway, Russia - just any, the reaction of your listener will be any possible but not the same when you say you are going to India… (I was very surprised to see that one of my last posts “Going to India” was such a hit!  There was nothing special in there, I guess it was the title..) Obviously people feel there is something very special about the land.

Here I put together my photos that I find in a way express the magnitude of India: The magnitude which is  in the deep roots of spirituality and traditions hand in hand with the leopardizing modernity.

LOVE, axinia

Ask most people what they did on holiday

 photo by axinia

Ask most people what they did on holiday and they`ll tell you about the great sights they saw, the grand events, the glamour, the extremes in weather, environment or people. But they`ll be hard pressed to remember the small things, like the market they passed through on the way to the cathedral, or the beautiful flowers they saw on the path to the beach house. Yet it is the small things which give substance to the reality of the whole experience. 

Meditation teaches us to enjoy the journey as a whole and not to waste time peering into the future to catch a glimpse of the destination. We learn that the flowers at our feet are unbelievably fragrant and beautiful, of only we would stop for long enough to appreciate them. We realise that patience is a power that cannot be cherished too much. It is the bedrock of peace, contentment and our spiritual desires.”All good things come to whose who wait”, is an ancient proverb, and how true it is.