Peace

A real peace is free from ones own conflicts. In other words, it is free from war between emotions and intellect. When we lead our life by buddhi or intellect, only then contentment is possible. Contentment or peace is the real happiness and only then, love is possible. I mean unconditional love which gives safety and security to others. Love always comes with feeling of giving (not taking). I love you means I’m willing to give or sacrifice for you with full happiness.

Pleasures are just pleasures and nothing wrong with it but they are very limited. We do need them sometimes to keep life juicy. If we stuck with ever changing emotions or conflicting desires, only confusion prevails. Especially as we grow older, we should learn to keep distance from emotions. Else family, society or world will not tolerate us. I see that everywhere.

Clarity is something beyond emotions. Some examples of the day to day emotions which handicap us are morning laziness to wake up very late, procrastination, emotional expectations from others, attachment, being afraid of what others think about us, don’t feel like eating, don’t feel like sleeping etc. we are human beings and we do have emotions. But
if we are not aware of our feelings that trap us, we might lose ourselves and it will affect our health.

How to be aware?
 1. Everyday spend some time for ourselves
2. Being in the company of people who are clear and balanced.
3. Makes choices based on clarity.

Beautiful enlightening song from Thevaram by Thirugnanasambandar

I happened to listen to this song today from Thevaram. The moment I listened to it, it went deep into my heart.
What a profound song for all the people who does spiritual practices everyday!!!!. Forever in-debt to Thirugnanasambandar. Sometimes even when you practice and given all your best efforts, some things might cloud our spirit and create confusion due to past karma(or habits). But the moment you listen to Namashivaya, the self illuminates(I don’t know how)and deep sense of clarity and peace prevails.. I witnessed many a times and when I try to understand, it’s probably because of the surrender to HIM and the instant relaxation of myself from my own ego. When I experience the space beyond or bigger than my ego, what else can I say? Other than sit in silence with love and gratitude ❤️.

ஊனில் உயிர்ப்பை ஒடுக்கி, ஒண் சுடர்
ஞானவிளக்கினை ஏற்றி, நன் புலத்து
ஏனை வழி திறந்து, ஏத்துவார்க்கு இடர்
ஆன கெடுப்பன அஞ்சு எழுத்துமே.


பொ-ரை: உடம்பில் பிராணாயாமத்தால் உயிர்ப்புச்
சக்தியை ஒடுக்கி, ஞானவிளக்கம் பெறச் செய்து, அறிவைப் பெறும்
வாயில்களால் நல்ல மெய்யறிவை நாடி இறைவனைப்
போற்றுவார்கட்கு அறியாமையால் வரும் துன்பங்களைக் கெடுப்பன
திருவைந்தெழுத்தேயாகும்.

Master Ceremony

Martial arts remains as a myth to most of the people in the world. People see that as all about developing fighting skills and getting stronger physically-mentally. Most of the schools promote the same. Martial arts is a way of life. Getting a black belt shouldn’t be just an accomplishment. Rather it signifies the personal growth. I started learning karate in Aug-1999 and got my first black belt in May-2003. I strengthened my body and mind. I learnt several techniques and attended many tournaments. I had a very rich experience which I cherish always but I didn’t have clear purpose and connection between life and art.

After training with Master Bell, I learned about myself through the art. The art helps me to explore profound purpose of my being. The art is strategically in tuned to life. After 19 years of training in marital arts, I learned the tools to elevate myself to very balanced place within myself, a way to deal with day-to-day challenges, in a nutshell a way to live gracefully and teach the same to the people. August-05-2018 is very important day in my life. I’ve been granted 4^th dan Black belt by Grand Master Bell. In traditional Tang Soo Do, 4^th degree black belt is called as Sa Buh Nim (Master) which symbolizes many aspects of human growth. 

If I’ve to put it in simple terms, what a Master level would mean:-

Trained, Disciplined, Keen on listening and paying attention, Peaceful, Well Balanced, Strong & Humble, Loving & Caring, Very Patient & Tolerant, Truthful & Honest, Responsible, Help people to bring them out of their Darkness and never accompany them in their weakness.

Today I’m more humble than ever, more loving & caring than ever, more patient & tolerant than ever and I understand where I came from and where I’m now in my life. I understand that one lifetime will not be enough to truly master an art which makes art/life always fresh and interesting. I see there is nothing more precious than oneself in this world. Realizing oneself and valuing that, will completely change the quality of our life. One will experience the real freedom when one is ready to lose everything except oneself. 

Way to live..

I try to remember when I did get boredom last time, I couldn’t remember. What makes my life interesting to myself? Staying conscious of myself and paying attention to the simple things  makes life very interesting everyday. Every single day, after taking shower, I sit down, close my eyes and just watch myself. These days I’m enquiring “who am I?”. I learn a lot about myself. Self study is very fulfilling.

In this process, I disidentify myself from emotions, thoughts, intellect, body etc and develop a deeper appreciation for my life. It’s such a joy from self which can’t be expressed in words. There are no inner conflicts. Very very peaceful. No complaints about life. When I do a physical stretch, there is a beautiful sense of balance between mind, body and spirit. It feels like I’m enough into myself.

There are one million things going wrong in society. What can I do to change that? Nothing is in my control. I don’t have power to change any of that. At least I can bring order within myself and eliminate any problem from my side to this world. Life order brings peace and confidence. I feel this world needs lots of peaceful people. Kids need strong examples to live life passionately.

Having said that, I feel disheartening sometimes when I see parents irresponsibly inflicting their weakness to kids. Very very few parents look at themselves and ask how well they are doing as parents? Many of them has inner conflicts, anxiety, ego, fear, emotional imbalance but none of them consider that as problem but expect their kids to do well somehow. It’s insanely crazy. Kids will learn a lot from their parents both good and bad. They can feel the energy of the parents. As a society, we put a lot of focus on accomplishments but very little focus on inner wellbeing.

I think any accomplishment with lots of stress is a failure. There is a systematic way to live and deal with things. I think it’s essential to teach this way in home and school. Just taking time to look at oneself is simple and essential but it becomes a rare thing.

Balance

நமக்குள்ள நம் மனசு தாண்டி உணர்ச்சிகள் தாண்டி புத்தியை தாண்டி ஒரு அமைதியான நடுநிலைமையான ஒரு இடம் இருக்கு. அந்த இடத்தில நம்ம மனசு நம் வசம் இருக்கும், புத்தி பிரகாசமா வேலை செய்யும், உணர்ச்சிகள் ஆழமான உணர்வுகளாக இருக்கும். வாழ்க்கை ரம்மியமா இருக்கும்.

சரி, இந்த இடத்திற்கு உள்ளுக்குள் போவதற்கும் அதிலே லயித்து இருப்பதற்கும், என்ன பண்ணணும்?
1. சத்தியமா இருக்கனும்(Stay Truthful). வெறும் பேச்சில இருந்தா பத்தாது. வாழ்க்கையில இருக்கனும்.  If we have any inch of respect for ourselves, that's being true to ourselves. This directly leads to the path of high self esteem .
2. அடக்கமா இருக்கனும்(Stay Humble). இது இல்லாம மன அமைதி எண்பது வெறும் பகல் கனவு தான். Sooner we understand that we are our biggest challenge in our life, things will be easier. But it's very rare to see the people who accepts responsibility for themselves. People who have lots of complaints about life are highly egoistic.
3. ஒழுக்கமா இருக்கனும்(Stay Disciplined). வாழ்க்கை சிக்கல் இல்லாம போகனும்ன ஒழுக்கம் மிக மிக அவசியம்.
Without structure and discipline, every turn in life will become an obstacle. It will give lots of room for emotions to clutter it up.

I observed people attain this very consistently in our karate class and it is very rewarding to watch that.

Touching Thiruvasagam poems

மாய வாழ்க்கையை, மெய் என்று எண்ணி, மதித்திடா வகை நல்கினான்;
வேய தோள் உமை பங்கன், எங்கள் திருப்பெருந்துறை மேவினான்;
காயத்துள் அமுது ஊற ஊற, `நீ கண்டுகொள்' என்று காட்டிய
சேய மா மலர்ச் சேவடிக்கண், நம் சென்னி மன்னி, திகழுமே!

This world/society can trap us in many ways. There are lots of deals, pleasures, comforts etc out there in our world. There is nothing wrong in enjoying them but the moment we get lost into it, we suffer. So in order to prevent it, our head need to be right. Emotions/wants are tricky and can lead into troubles and confusion. In this song, Manickavasagar says that Lord Shiva blessed him with right head to avoid being trapped and also Lord Shiva made him access to everlasting bliss/ectasy within himself to show the real God. 

நானேயோ தவம் செய்தேன்? `சிவாய நம' எனப் பெற்றேன்?
தேன் ஆய், இன் அமுதமும் ஆய், தித்திக்கும் சிவபெருமான் 
தானே வந்து, எனது உள்ளம் புகுந்து, அடியேற்கு அருள் செய்தான்
ஊன் ஆரும் உயிர் வாழ்க்கை ஒறுத்து அன்றே, வெறுத்திடவே!

This song is the epitome of humility. Manickavasagar is not taking any credit for his efforts or penance towards his liberation and he gives all the credit to Lord. With my limited exposure to world literature, I've never seen anyone coming to this level of humility. Apparently, this maturity melted Lord Shiva and he came down as a Master and gave enlightenment to Manickavasagar. What a character he is !!! I wish I have atleast one lifetime at the feet of Manickavasagar to gain even the fraction of that humility. 

`இருந்து என்னை ஆண்டுகொள்; விற்றுக்கொள்; ஒற்றி வை;' என்னின் அல்லால்,
விருந்தினனேனை, விடுதி கண்டாய்? மிக்க நஞ்சு அமுதா
அருந்தினனே, மன்னும் உத்தரகோசமங்கைக்கு அரசே,
மருந்தினனே, பிறவிப் பிணிப்பட்டு மடங்கினர்க்கே.

In this song, Manickavasagar expresses complete surrender to Lord Shiva. In other words, he dis-identify himself from whatsoever happens to him. Though he express the surrender in almost every song of Thiruvasagam, one got to love the beauty of this expression. He says to Lord to do anything with him and there is unimaginable amount of love behind it. He is giving permission to Lord to either rule him, sell him or lease him and he doesn't care. Because Manickavasagar knows Lord Shiva is the only medicine for his liberation and what else he strives for?

Tools and Life

Nearly 15 years ago, around 6am in the morning, my first karate Master Devaraj told me and my friend told that we are gifted to learn this martial art. He also told us that we might come across different life situations, people might come and go, money might come and go, but this art will always be there with you to keep you strong. It's still fresh in my mind. When he said it, it went straight into my heart. What a true and profound statement? I witnessed this in my life.

When I faced difficulties, nobody could do anything about it. Effect of Karma! Sometimes one has to go through what he/she has to go through because of the past choices and the way of thinking. There are days I felt deep emotional pain and felt like dying.  No matter how much philosophy we can speak, sometimes when the reality hits, it hits really. I was emotionally down for some days without getting noticed by anyone. But art helped me to endure it. Master Bell always tells us that anything that doesn't kill you will make you strong. He taught me how to shift the power from emotion to logic and life presented me real situations to test that. I developed a strong sense of resilience within me and I became quite sincere with life. Sometimes failures and learning lessons from them will make us very wise and will add beauty/stability to our character. I don't take anything for granted. I feel this very life is gifted.

I paid attention to people and world around me, I learnt to be real. Nobody has got time to listen to others, thanks to technology and innovation. I don't hesitate to help anyone if needed. Just asking someone sincerely "how are you?" and listening to them makes me feel humanly.  It's more beautiful to love someone than to be loved 😊. It's a freedom. I too had difficulty with my own expectations but at some point, I figured it out those are just expectations and nothing to do with reality. Whatever I expected someone to be for me, I decided to be that someone to anyone into my space.
As life unfolds, I'm learning to be more ease with life. Acceptance, patience and tolerance are key virtues 😊.

I would recommend any parent to offer their kids with profound tools than wealth. Life is to be lived, not just to be survived!