Autumn is the season one should not miss – its golden beauty is mesmerizing like the happiness itself! This year we are enjoying exceptionally warm (about 20° C!) golden November in Austria.
Here are some photo impressions, I hope they can reflect at least a bit the warmth and soft beauty of these days…
images by axinia
LOVE, axinia
axinia
1000 petals by axinia 
That is just soooo Awesome!!!!!!!
4th one my fav :D……Even in UK, OMG what a significant change one can find …..and each season has its own unique beauty…..I used to think Spring to be best of all but after coming here, hmm….I am in love with all seasons even winter 🙂 frosty mornings and fog….mist and dew drops on leaves…..Whoa ……I am starting my day with such wonderful pics in my eyes Umm……Have a wonderful day Axinia 🙂
Sahaja, thank you my dear. It is really the joy – to experience the variety of all seasons here. And since Europe hat no gorseous tropical colours, the autumn offers auch a vivid view…I love it. Apparenty autumn was the favourite season of Alexander Pushkin:
A melancholy time! So charming to the eye!
Your beauty in its parting pleases me –
I love the lavish withering of nature,
The gold and scarlet raiment of the woods,
The crisp wind rustling o’er their threshold,
The sky engulfed by tides of rippled gloom,
The sun’s scarce rays, approaching frosts,
And gray-haired winter threatening from afar.
This is plagiarism.
Axinia, you cann’t post Monet’s or van Gogh’s work as your own photos.
🙂
The translation of Pushkin is beautiful. Very much.
swaps, that is so sweet of you to compare the photos with great artists. But the colours are indeed so vivid!..
Thats yet again wonderful poem….can I borrow these from you??? I am in love all over again 🙂
Yes Axinia, it is not your fault. Especially, the second looks like a painting. I wish you could photograph a more heavily wooded milieu.
point takes, swaps 🙂
next time I go the woods…
Bbbbeeeeauuuuuuuuuutiful pictures!!! 🙂
(In my city, we have only three seasons – hot, hotter and hottest 😦 )
thanks, Raj 🙂
love the joke about your 3 seasons!
the second and the last picture are great 🙂
wwwooooooooooowwwwwwww! I am impressed… I came here through Sahaja’s blog and i am glad i did come!!
These pictures are something and more! Really do not have many words.. i will sure be a regular here!
🙂
We have some respite only in the short so-called “winter” season that is about to begin – the only time of the year when the weather ranges from acceptable to pleasant but it does not last long – the Sun comes out with a vengeance after that and the high humidity makes things terrible 😦
Bowled over by the beauty of the Austrian autumn, I didn’t pay much attention to the horse-drawn carriages. Are they an eco-friendly way for tourists to see the city? (I don’t like the idea of making animals draw carts and carriages in the 21st century.) Or is the notorious international killer corporate oil mafia forcing people to look for alternatives?
@Sakhi, welcome to my blog!! Hope you will enjoy all the other posts as well 🙂
@Raj, i like your supposition about ego-friendly carriages 🙂 Well formulated! Indeed there is nothing behind as the tourist attraction with the typical Viennese flair – Vienna is a city of old traditions, and they earn a fortune on keeping these traditions and the old imperialistc style… it has lots of charm and tourists love it!
Since my first day in Vienna I wanted to make a crarriage tour, but never managed to 🙂
I guess you are correct, Axinia. The subjects, knights, aristocrats and noblemen of these old empires and kingdoms are fond of horses. Closer home, Mysooru is another city with royal traditions that maintains horse-drawn carriages for tourists 😉 I personally don’t like the concept of monarchy as it is incompatible with the idea of egalitarianism 🙂
They may be eco-friendly vehicles but they are definitely not animal-friendly 😦 The poor horses have to pull the weight of three or four people and run on hard roads and get whipped to go faster. Battery operated carriages would be a much better idea 😐
Stunning captures – like the gold leaves particularly.
@Sakhi, I was waiting for you…I knew you will come here 🙂
@Axinia, you are a procrastinator!! Hop on a carriage this autumn…. they just glide noiselessly.
(Here we have ‘tongas’, they are quite seedy, though.)
@Raj,
you say “They may be eco-friendly vehicles but they are definitely not animal-friendly The poor horses have to pull the weight of three or four people and run on hard roads and get whipped to go faster.” – that is not the case here! The horses are just strolling around nicely, rather slow, in order let the tourists see everything properly. It looks rather funny on the same street with expencive cool cars:) but it gives a certain sweetness and reminds us of a different life speed… Apart from that, we can see ANIMALS on the streets!!! – otherwise except for dogs and doves, you can not see any other animal here, onyl in the zoo!! (cats are also hiding at home, and the homeless animals are not aloud in Austria).
@nexi, if you mean the first one with golden leaves – that is my personal favourit too!
@swaps, such a ride const about 100 Euro 🙂 Assuming I know Vienna already by heart, there is nothing new they can show me… However my princesses and me, we are thinking of a cariiage ride one day to some festive occasion 🙂
@ Sakhi – as Swaps said, I knew u wud come here and wanted to ask you to actually 🙂 I am happy that its thru my blog 😀 afterall its this blog that made me a blogger 😀
It’s good to know that the horses are treated well and that there are no homeless animals in Austria, Axinia, but I still don’t like the idea of making horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, etc. bear heavy loads and draw wagons, carts and carriages. Humans are merely evolved animals and they should stop exploiting animals that cannot stand up for their rights. It’s great to have cats, dogs and other animals, including horses as pets, but it is not fair to enslave them and make them toil for us. What are two-wheeled horses and four-wheeled carriages made of metal and powered by a different kind of Pferdestärke(horsepower) for? 😉
All the princesses on a carriage….I am sure Vienna will stop and watch 🙂 Don’t forget to photograph your troupe.
Hi Axinia, Beautiful colors!!! All of them Look like paintings made by GOD himself. Of course it’s HIS CREATION!!!!
Lovely pictures. though we have autumn in India, we do not have these colors, only the fall of leaves that are brown. but the spring is so beautiful and melodious with the singing cuckoos which reply to our koo.. cuckoos sitting on the mango branches with the nascent reddish leaves, i like that very much.
Raj, i agree with you in exploiting the animals for transport now a days. i am sad stricken when i see the bullock carts in India which run on those wooden wheels which add to the burden of these animals and i always think- why don’t they replace these atleast with the rubber tyres so that the animal is not troubled so much. A real pity. I have gone through your blog, not all, but the article on the torturing of Srilankans really brought tears to my eyes. How can people be so cruel. No other creature in the whole God’s creation is so selfish, cruel and exploiting.
i think people like you should come to politics in order to set this country (India) right and curb the corruption. Though you have thinking on similar lines of the so called Maoists, i feel from the way you react, you are more compassionate and deserve to be a better saviour.
Sailaja, thanks dear!
I really like your idea of political career for Raj (hi, Raj!! hope you will consider it) – in Russia we have a nice sayin: “When you criticize – suggest an improvement, when you suggest something – do it yourself!” 🙂
Since Raj likes to critisize the exisitng ways in politics and society -it is the best just to start working on it directly!
I was once considering the idea of going to politics because I have a certain power of bringing about the changes in a society (had some amazing experiences even in childhood) but then I found Sahaja Yoga which gives me much more possibilities to work on the improvement of this word!
🙂
Sailaja,
Thank you for your kind words! But I’m neither a saint nor a saviour 😐 I just recognise that collectively, humans are the most evil, 👿 most disgusting creatures 😡 on Earth. I’ve been hated, despised and called names for stating this plain truth. I can only welcome it as it shows that I have atleast stood up for something. It is indeed shameful that people cry foul if their rights are violated but the very same people would not think twice about brutally oppressing other people and then boasting about it. What lowly, filthy hypocrisy! 😡
I do think like a rebel 🙂 Though I don’t like the person after whom the naxalites have named themselves (he turns out to be another mass murderer), I do understand that the Maoists are fighting for the rights of the most severely oppressed people through violent means. Let’s face it, non-violence does not work against those who have no conscience. People take to violence only after exhausting all peaceful, non-violent means. It’s outrageous to see people condemn violence by those who have been oppressed but support brutal violence to silence the oppressed and keep them oppressed.
I’ve hated the idea of animal drawn carriages ever since I saw a bull being whipped as it was struggling to pull an overloaded cart when I was a child. Now, I’m delighted that bullock carts have almost completely disappeared from my city though it was not due to any law. I’m also delighted that cycle-rickshaws have completely disappeared. In a society like South Asia where many people still have a sick, backward, feudal and mediæval mindset, it’s just too much to expect people to recognise the rights of animals because savage, uncivilised and barbaric minds don’t recognise the rights of other humans, let alone animals.
Axinia,
Thanks but I don’t know. Politics may not suit me. But why shouldn’t I criticise? What is wrong in criticising the backward, feudal, barbaric and criminal practices in this world? Creating an awareness about these filthy, backward, barbaric and uncivilised practices itself is a way to put an end to these shameful concepts. Didn’t so many social critics do the same? Opposing and criticising these filthy practices and concepts itself is a way to put an end to them.
I don’t know how I can change society if I take to Sahaja Yoga 😕 Sure, it can bring about a sense of peace and calm within an individual but how is it going to change the world? I think it would be very difficult to believe Sahaja Yoga or any other spiritual practice is going to make the world a better place 😦
Raj,
there is nothing wrong with the critics, as far as something will be done about it. Nothing will ever change if we will be only moan and groan around 🙂
As for Sahaja Yoga – while practicing it, one develops certain skills and learn techniques how to dissolve problems and “manage “matter. it simply works. But we are not that many yet, so the impact is not seen everywhere.
But at least in the surrounding of a Sahaja Yogi things change steadily to the better (people around improve, life conditions improve, social processes get more intense, etc. It is like the water and the sponge – you remember that metaphor?). I will not give examples here, but just believe me that my own very successful and happy life is the best illustration for it.
Hi Raj,
Actually i am impressed by your obsession to speak truth. this quality is lacking in majority and that’s why this world is like this. you need not like these dirty politics but if people like you (i insist) in large numbers are into politics definitely there is going to be a good change. but again there is oppression of such people by the evil politicians and they are not only suppressed but sometimes finished to death.
Everyone should be fearless in accepting the truth, fighting the atrocities instead of just looking stoically at such practices. I do not understand what the Human rights organizations are doing about this.
for that matter, even the animal rights organizations. none of them have taken to a big way to condemn the animal pulled carriages!!!
i read your comment on what is happiness. you described it as “the state of the soul”. This is exactly the essence of Sahaj Yoga and you are very close to this. Just as people like you who are needed in the politics, cannot bring about change if in few number, similarly SY if accepted by all the people can transform even beasts into humans with values and this world can become an abode of peace. That is the power of meditation and the power of GOD.
Sailaja,
Thanks, but I don’t claim that I speak the truth, as I only try to speak the truth, that’s all 😐 The truth is very inconvenient and people don’t like to acknowledge the truth, and this leads to complete decay. How can one expect improvement, when people want to deny and cover up things? Sure, the state of politics has gone down to an all time low and it is going down even further. Criminals, thugs and goons have had a mafia-like hold on Parliament and now, it looks like terrorists who have a hand in bomb blasts have joined their ranks 😡
Axinia and Sailaja,
Sure, I think Sahaja Yoga would bring about peace of mind and inner happiness and I have no doubt it has brought happiness into your life, Axinia. But how can it change the world? Even if more people practise SY, how is it going to bring about reform? How is SY going to end the suffering in this world and bring about a tranformation that will enable humans to ascend to a higher level collectively? It may just remain another self-improvement practise and may not make a change to the world as humans will continue to be guided by greed, cruelty, exploitation and barbarism 😡
Raj, as I mentioned before, SY is not about self improvement! – I mean, also about it, sure, but not only.
There are means and ways, techniques and tricks how to work on all these issues you mention. And the work is being done! And will be done. But you may never find out by whom and how if you only see a mere “self-improvement” in it.
Hmmm . . . Axinia, isn’t it necessary as a part of SY to recognise the self as being a part of the whole and realising the oneness of the whole? 😐 My doubt is, if one were to recognise this oneness of the whole and accept things as they are, then how can one identify the disgusting things that need to be wiped out 😕 If one were to just observe the beauty in things, then how can one identify the rot? One can look at a basket of apples and say that they look beautiful and delicious, but there will be some rotten apples that need to be thrown away and if they are not, all the apples will rot 😡 If all the rotten practices of society are not identified and thrown into the garbage bin where they belong, then everything will rot 😦 How can rebels and reformists fit into SY as it involves accepting the oneness and beauty of the cosmos and human nature 😕
Wow.. I didn’t seen this much of strong, constructive comments on any of the posts. Thanks to Axinia, Raj, Sailaja. and I agree with Raj most of the aspects. Quality of politics here is degrading day by day that no one will be able to save.
@Raj
But people like you must enter into politics. Even I am interested in entering into politics. Without power we can’t bring a change in this society. Our people were looking for this change. As Axinia mentioned.
“When you criticize – suggest an improvement, when you suggest something – do it yourself!” – there is no pinpointing others.. for our welfare we must stand up and deliver the needs.
@Axinia
I am also not able to get how Sahaja Yoga will bring the change. Else people willing to come there to do the meditation how they will bring peace and harmony in this society.
@kanagu,
thanks for this notice on the comments quality, but there have been other very good threads to older posts as well 🙂 I am glad to have got such great commenter as you!
I like the way you support the idea of Raj going into politics – may be, after reading the third person to recommend him that, he will consider it seriously??
@Raj and Kangu, back to your question of SY bringing change into society…
Raj, you have touched a good point of meditation giving the feeling of oneness, but that is not all.
The thing is, through vibratory awareness (which is PHYSICALLY perceptible, Raj knows that!) one can direct the attention to certain matters and solve things that can not be solved mentally.
That is the actual problem of mankind, that people try to solve problems mentally – it is the “old” way which obviously does not work, otherwise we would have far less problems than now.
There is a kind of forth dimension in which one operates and has an impact on the matter. Although the matter is always trying to overpower the spirit, the Spirit is much stronger, when activated.
I keep experiencing amazing changes in dramatic situations, only while keeping the attention there… hard to explain…
It is like the INTERNET – if you have the access, you can surf and blog. If no, no amount of hardware and software will help you. Sahaja Yoga is that Access, if you want.
The only thing is that it is a practical stuff, not a theory. If you try it out, it is stunning and simple, then you know how it works 🙂
It is the meta-science.
well, very interesting discussion over here. So I dont know if I should write down something about the majestic autumn, and that beautiful pictures, and poem, Axinia posted over here, or get into the discussion that sounds veery well. So, I do both 🙂
Axinia, the post is really beautiful, and I like autumn very much. Some feel to be depressed, by that dawning life-feeling during this season, but not me. This season can bring people at least to introspect a little – the atmosphere is very positive for that kind of movement. And I like the morning fogs, and how they dissolve by sun 😉 Thanks again.
Regarding the discussion I would stop by the questionmarks, given specialy by An alien Earthling. You are posting right questions mate, honestly. I pick up the two, for me the most important ones:
@An alien Earthling #28
– you are asking that if it is “a necessary part of SY to recognise the self as being a part of the whole and realising the oneness of the whole”…
Tes, trully it is, as a part of Sahaja Joga, that process that started after the awakening. It is but not possible to make it happen mentaly – “I am part of the whole”. It happens spontaneously, same as many other things, I could experience myself, by time, when time comes to be right. You wake up in the morning, and suddenly find out that something changed, or it can happen in the buss, or sitting with the friends – no space of time limitations whatsoever. Than you just need to enjoy it 😉 If you plant the seed, you can see that process live. The tree starts to spread its fragrance only after blosom of its flowers, not before. And it happens by time, itself…
– recognition of the rotten fruit….beautifull question, thanks a ton for it!! Answer is easy: to sort it out, you must have a light to see it propperly, isnt it? You need to be aware of the status to do so. At the beginning, you can sort it out for yourself mostly, with light for yourself. But if you get the point mentioned above, you can start to sort it out everywhere, where the fragrance of that tree penetrated. The power that is working behind is so waste and all-encompassing….
@Umm, have you ever seen any change in a human history provided by someone else, than by rebels?
@We believe into the beauty of humans nature and cosmos, because we saw that nature uncovered and naked – thats why, and trust me, it is more than beautiful 😉
@An alien Earthling #26 (Axinia and Sailaja part)
…..by these questions you are comming to the essence, my friend, thank you so much for asking them. How is it going to change the world, the suffering…..
It is going to happen by that power that influence things. The power that is active now, after self-realisation. Not only matter, not only thoughts, not only values, but influences the very basics of existence.
Remember please, we have got the power of desire, and free will, and milions of energies waiting for us, when we use it, consciously, being one with the whole, having the clear and complete vision. And it will hapen, finaly. This is what will change the Universe 😉
Lets enjoy the process, and may that joy spreads fast, this is what I really desire. Really beautiful post and comments, thank you all a lot for a nice start of the day!!
Hi Raj and Kanagu, thanks for showing the curiosity. Of course one is full of doubts when you just hear about SY or when you have just taken self-realization. so many questions and doubts!! This was my experience too. but eventually all of them are answered rationally as you grow deeper and deeper.
As Vinayaka rightly said it’s spontaneous and all things will be placed in order in their place and you may not know how it happened… beyond any explanation … you may call it a miracle even. This can only be experienced but cannot be explained.
The change is not going to be miraculous just in a day or two, but only gradual but the collective consciousness can make wonders.
Of course corruption, goondaism associated with power is the basis of egoism and such people can never sustain in SY or embrace it. It is difficult really to change them and it may take few more births for such individuals to be self-realized. or as proclaimed in the ancient scriptures a pralay has to come in order to destroy the evil and save the good.
A transformation of consciousness can not take place from the outside. World peace is only possible if human beings themselves are peaceful inside i.e. they are not aggressive, are forgiving and compassionate and see the spirit in every human being. These are qualities that manifest when the Kundalini energy rises up the spine. Since a’ realised soul’ sees the spirit in others and has compassion for other human beings then he cannot knowingly harm other human beings since it goes against his own consciousness, in fact he will feel it on his own chakra system. Also kundalini awakening brings with it an awareness that ego is an illusion and so is race and nationalism i.e. that we are all the spirit (Atma in Sanskrit) and that fanatical identification with country/creed/clique/wordly position/religious dogma is an illusion. This awareness can only take place through the EXPERIENCE of self-realisation so nobody can convince someone else about Sahaja Yoga through lectures or arguments. You simply have to try it, meditate over a period of time and then you can imagine what it would be like if your own personal transformation was multiplied by billions.
i am writing this comment only because i ve practicing SY for several years and feel fine and blessed in this life. but if you ask me what SY is i dont have the answer because as Sailaja as said above here it is to be experienced and one cannot talk long things about it. It is too subtle and too spiritual at the core. But since this whole world is now in danger and thirst for truth then you may give it a try. but something has to do “click” in your mind, if there is no click it doesnt matter, maybe it is just not good for you. and God made other plans for you 🙂
vinayakah, Sailaja, steve and radha,
many thanks for your wonderful explanations of something what can not be explained but only experienced 🙂
I hope Raj and kanagu will be satisfied with these answers!
🙂
I know that if somebody practices yoga or meditation means he will have peace within himself and act wise. But the numbers are the worrying thing. We can’t change this whole world. But how the people will understand that there is something good about Sahaja Yoga and practise it? so this whole world become a place to live for everbody if not heaven.
I think I have no rights to comment on SY…..but I have something to say in general….
@ Kanagu….Its not about changing world ….Its about realising ourselves…Its knowing us….if each one of us realises the simple truths of life…..if one who knows selflessly preaches to his friends..and practices it……if one can control the adrenaline gush and overcome and handle it correctly….and in time…..
world changes…..because world is nothing but groups of us!!
The paths are different, destination is the same…
Sahaja, “world changes…..because world is nothing but groups of us!!” – is the gem of the whole thing, you put it so well!
Wow!!! So many answers! Thanks, Axinia, Kanagu, Vinayakah, Sailaja, Radha, Steve and Sahaja!
Kanagu,
I’ll vote for you if you choose to enter politics and stand in elections! 🙂 But I don’t know about myself. I don’t want to jump into something that I’m not very keen on doing.
Vinayakah,
You gave beautiful answers, my friend. I’ve have no doubt that Sahaja Yoga is beneficial personally, is spontaneous and can act as a light. But there are so many ways to achieve that, and there have been ways in different cultures. But unfortunately, none of them made much of a difference to the world and they slowly died out 😦 While I certainly hope the world changes, through mass self-realisation or any other means, unfortunately this may just remain a hope 😦
Sailaja,
Collective consciousness is very nice to hear and imagine, but the problem is that things are not just slow, but they almost never change. I don’t think anything is going to occur to destroy the evil and save the good 😦 Mankind will keep going from one evil to another . . . it is a bottomless pit 😡
Axinia,
I have not gone beyond feeling the cool air over my head 🙂 But isn’t the spirit just a part of the imagination of the mind – I mean isn’t the spirit just something that we can think of because of the mind? Our somewhat better mental faculties enable us to think of things that animals may not be able to think of. But in every aspect, humans are animals and will continue to remain animals 😐
Dear An alien Earthling,
Thank you for taking time to see my comment, even a little longer 😉
You anwered very wisely, and honestly, I would say same things, if I didnt experience what I did, and if I didnt see what I saw – on myself, and on others too. The process that Mother came to start, is not unique, in its base. It exists as long as the universe exists, as you said, and in many religions and cultures, as the process doesnt belong to no one. What happened but today is that whole that amazing process became completely evolved, and made en-mass available. And all the powers of transformation, to change the world, and more, are given to everyone in one single moment, we call today Selfrealisation….
Try to think about this, for a short: If you were able to transform yourself, you would learn to do so in others. First with one person, second, fifth….. And once, maybe you get to a point, where you understand that there is no space or time, you need to cross, to do so, with many more people…. And maybe you get much much deaper than that. There is many people in this point, and many more come. Some are there, even not aware 😉
Do you really think, it is necessary today, to sit down, and make the whole excersise, to get Realisation? Hmm? 😉
I remember, in the 90ties when Mother was in Prague, and lead the public programm there, after She left the programm, some yogi asked Her:
– “Mother, how many people got their Selfrealisation here today?” She said:
– “about 15 thousand”.
– “but Mother, there was only about 1 thousand people in the hall today!”
Mother looked at him, smiled nicely, and said – “yes, there, was only 1 thousand….”
And I was very very happy, to hear that 🙂
Trust me, the world is changing so wastly, and in such a speed and intensity, even it looks oposite. If a pacient is brought to the hospital for the operation, it looks horrible, but the doctor, and the nurses smile, cause they see the direction, and the process 😉
We need just to rise up, thats all, my friend…
Hi everybody,
here is a video clip that shows the speech given by none other than our beloved HH Shri Mataji, where She explains sooo beautifully all aspects about self realization and the change in the world which is related to the evolution of one’s self and altogether.
Raj and Kanagu, hope you will be convinced and i feel all your questions are answered in this video By Shri Mataji herself. GOD Bless You.
@ Sahaja
Thanks for that nice explanation: “world changes.. because world is nothing but the group of us” true.. we must spread the happiness and what we realised..
@Raj
Thanks for your support 🙂
@Sailaja
Thanks for the video.. I never doubted the yoga will surely bring about the self-realisation within oneself.. and I wanted to learn and practice it everyday. All my worry is that how it is going to reach the broader section of people who doesn’t have access to this kind of information..
Here I doesn’t have flash players 😦 so will watch it soon.