“The Hindu goddess Ganga personifies India's most important river, the holy Ganges, that begins high in the Himalayan mountains and flows south into the Bay of Bengal. Here she holds a vessel brimming with Ganges water while sitting atop an enormous fish — the humpback mahseer, a species of carp native to the Ganges.
Ganga also holds a lotus flower, a symbol of purity and abundance. Mythical creatures peek from the waves and waterbirds soar across dark monsoon clouds.”
“O Ganga ! You immediately destroy all sins and miseries. You bestow the ultimate happiness and the supreme liberation, for you are the ultimate shelter.”
In the sparse region that confines the largest mangrove forest on Earth is the Sundarbans. The delta of the mighty Ganga, Brahmaputra and the sisterly Meghna is the region of co-existence between man and the wild. Bonbibi is the protectress of the forest, the wild, the bees, the birds, and the people. She represents the bounty of the forest, and her foe the tiger king Dakhin Rai, the hazards of the same. Her fierce battle with the evil Dakhin Rai has been inspirations for many. She doesn't differentiate between who pray to her, the hindu, muslim, christian. Just as the forest doesn't differentiate between who it welcomes, or who it discards. The forest, and the rivers form the livelihood for the forest dwellers, who pray to the mistress of bees, tigers and the creatures of the forest before embarking of their daily hunt for bread. However, the goddess has one condition, for she is the mother of all of the forest,
"Take what you require, not more not less. Don't harm the forest, and no harm must come to you."
A simple norm by which those who enter the delta, must abide by. A simple norm, which we all must abide by.
you held me all night, my Lord
unseen to the eye,
your grace, a lover's touch, wrapped my skin
unheard to the ears,
your name, my japa, vibrated through my braincells
Monsoon One, do you long for me as fully as i long for you?
do you call on me as ardently as i call on you?
you do, don't you, my Lord?
i am not alone in this quest
for every step i take towards you,
you take two towards me
for every tear i spill in yearning for you,
you ignite vīrya in my skin tissue
for every test of yours that i fail,
you yank me freer of delusion
i see it now, Hari.
you have been pulling me
by my hair and hands to you.
it was all you. it was always all you.
if i run to you as fast as my legs can take me,
will you meet me halfway?
you will, won't you, my Lord?
🦚 Happy Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī! 🙏 poem from my upcoming collection "the Monsoon One and the pilgrim". 💛
“O Ganga ! You immediately destroy all sins and miseries. You bestow the ultimate happiness and the supreme liberation, for you are the ultimate shelter.”
In mindfulness meditation, we’re learning how to pay attention to the breath as it goes in and out, and notice when the mind wanders from this task. This practice of returning to the breath builds the muscles of attention and mindfulness.
When we pay attention to our breath, we are learning how to return to, and remain in, the present moment—to anchor ourselves in the here and now on purpose, without judgement.
The idea behind mindfulness seems simple—the practice takes patience. Indeed, renowned meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg recounts that her first experience with meditation showed her how quickly the mind gets caught up in other tasks. “I thought, okay, what will it be, like, 800 breaths before my mind starts to wander? And to my absolute amazement, it was one breath, and I’d be gone,” says Salzberg.
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