Being in the Himalayas.....being with God

I remember the time when I first became aware of the existence of the beauty of the Himalayas in the Uttaranchal state of India. It was through photographs which were a glimpse of the real thing. Since that moment, it had become a dream of mine to visit that part of India at some point in my life. Although, at the time it had seemed almost not possible.

Six years on, the circumstances shaped in a way that the dream came true. Thanks to a documentary on the BBC on River Ganga (mispronounced as Ganges) which acted as a trigger of inspiration for me to pursue my dream. I consider myself as the fortunate one who has witnessed, experienced and absorbed the beauty of the Himalaya mountains. Of course, the Himalayas are vast beyond imagination yet, to experience even a tenth of the ultimate mountains is of great significance in itself.

The scenery of snow covered mountain peaks, in line with luscious landscapes, with the pure white sand at their feet and with sparkling, clear River Ganga flowing down the mountains under the clear blue sky; has fixed in my memories so deeply that I miss them.

During my trip, I visited a place called Gangotri (the origins of River Ganga) where I felt a profound sense of spirituality with River Ganga. I would like to share that here with you.

Ganga Maeeya (i.e. Mother), I offer my deepest respects to you and I bow to you.

You are so beautiful that words cannot describe.

So white as snow, so pure, so clear.

When the golden rays of the Sun greet you, you shine so bright that a diamond would shy away from you.

You adorn Mother Earth as a delicate garment, enhancing her beauty of simplicity and purity.

I admire your strength, your independence, your generosity and your purity.

You are so forgiving.

As you flow down the Himalayas, even the rocks do not dare to stand in your way. Your simplicity and your character have taught them to bow down to you.

Since eternity, you continue to wash the sins of the millions of beings who come to take a dip in your holy waters. Yet, nothing ever has and ever will tarnish your purity.

Mother, as I stand before you, I seek your permission before I step in your holy waters. I hope that you find me worthy of dipping in your virtuous waters.

As I drench my soul with your water, I pray that I become like you, as strong as you, as forgiving as you and as generous as you.

I pray that I learn from you that the purity of a soul is never tainted by others. In fact, whoever comes in contact with you is set free. Teach me to never doubt myself.

I hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to come and see you again in the near future.

Love is not blind

You will find that many movies, songs and literature say that Love is blind. They further go on to say that when in love, you are meant to suffer, to remain in agony, to be walking on a path full of thorns and that there is no end to your pain.

Well, they are wrong.

Certainly, the path of Love is challenging, difficult and uphill. Nevertheless, it is the path leading to the joy of Life and to the ultimate freedom. The warrior that walks the path of Love is armed with modesty, courage and faith. During the journey, the warrior will not be suffering in agony of depression; will not be feeling low self-esteem or self hatred. If he/she feels those things then that is not Love. Those are the symptoms of one that is walking the path of Obsession.

Have you suffered agonies of low self-esteem in the name of Love? Have you put your soul through utmost sadness for the sake of love? When in love, you may have taken actions that were unlike you, that denied your logical thinking, that now seem unreasonable but you might answer to that as “I was in Love. I wasn’t thinking”. All of these things are wrongly associated with Love. What we fail to see is that these are the things you do when obsession takes over your mind and heart. You are unable to see the truth. Unfortunately, we all, at least once in our lifetime will experience obsession. The important thing during that period is that you be free from it. And learn from it so that that was the last time that you would be under obsession.

We all see the Truth of Life through a pair of lenses which now and again get dusty and need a clean. Obsession is the dirt that clouds your logical thinking and your emotions. Love, on the other hand, is a key ingredient of that cleaning fluid that you must use to clean your lenses so that you can see the Truth again. Therefore, stop saying that Love is blind.

Love is NOT blind.

Climbing The Ben Nevis

An abstract from Paulo Coelho’s Like the Flowing River seems apt as the beginning of this post:

How to climb mountains
· Choose the mountain you want to climb
· Find out how to reach the mountain
· Learn from someone who has been there before
· Dangers, seen from clost to, are controllable
· The landscape changes, so make the most of it
· Respect your body
· Respect your soul
· Be prepared to go the extra mile
· Be joyful when you reach the top
· Make a promise
· Tell your story………..

…….Here is my story.

Climbing mountains……the author may be speaking metaphorically. However, on this occasion, I take the above literally.




I climbed to the top of The Ben Nevis and the joy is indescribable!





The Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. As you ascend to the top of the mountain, you witness breathtaking Scottish landscapes. Being in the midst of nature and staring at the tranquil scenery is awe-inspiring. Reaching to the summit point of Britain’s highest mountain is gratifying.

For those who also desire to climb up the Ben Nevis, here are some tips;

For advice on kit and planning your trip, I highly recommend this website: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/bennevis.shtml

Invest in a pair of walking sticks. You will need them when you reach the peak zone of the mountain which is covered in snow almost all year round. I struggled without them as I braved the snow, the gales, the winds and rain. The winds were extremely gusty and visibility at the top was very poor. Hence, make sure you are geared up with warm clothes and reliable waterproof jacket and trousers.

If you are not an experienced walker/hiker, it would be best to go up the Ben Nevis on days when most visitors go. This is because, you will always find some friendly, helpful people to guide you to the top should you get lost. It is only at the peak you are likely to go off track because of poor visibility so it would be good to carry a map and compass with you.

When you reach the top, no matter how much exhaustion brings you down and the freezing cold bites your hands and feet, try to savor your moment of victory. For me the test of endurance began when I entered the snow zone. Reflecting on my journey, it was the last lap of the ascent and the first lap of the descent in the snow which made this climb truly challenging and fulfilling at the same time.

Generally, people say the ascent is the most difficult part of the journey. In my view, the descent is much harder because you have just utilised the remaining energy in getting to the top and descending down the same track poses a real test, especially when the rocks are wet and slippery due to rain. Therefore, concentrate on every step you take as you descend the mountain.

At the end of it all, celebrate your achievement. You have just climbed a (~)1400 meters high mountain.

As for me, I look forward to going up ‘the Ben’ again in the future.

Watchmen

Trailer

In a nutshell, this is a good movie. I liked it and I recommend it.

Even if you haven’t watched the movie, please read on :) only as I think it may still make sense….to some extent without giving away the plot of the movie!

The Watchmen is a fairly complicated, twisted movie so, even more the reason to keep this post succinct. Hence, forgive me for dipping into only a few things that I have found particularly thought provoking to share.

For the first half of the movie, my thoughts were along the lines of, “What a depressing movie, chooses to focus on the dark and sickening side of the human mind and that too in such explicit and graphic ways?!”

For the second half and in my view the best part of the movie, my thoughts changed to, “Wow, that’s different way of looking at human mind and life. Quite a complicated yet positive philosophy. One thing I specially liked was the character Ozymandias’ approach on bringing peace in the world by portraying another entity as the enemy. A situation where all the nations (which initially were fighting with one another) united to fight the enemy, which in this case was Doctor Manhattan. And Doctor Manhattan, of course, willingingly taking the position of the evil one, for that was a minimal price to pay for World Peace. A bit like the movie Dark Knight where Batman chooses to be seen as the bad guy just to keep the goodness, the hope and peace alive in the human minds. The only difference was, the Watchmen’s belief was “Sacrificing millions to save billions”.

As for the characters, the ones I liked were, Doctor Manhattan and Rorschach.

Rorschach – because he was just so simple and straightforward. I particularly liked the scene in the prison where he says that, the worry wasn’t so much that he was in the prison with those guys but much so that those guys were in the prison with him. The courage and honesty of this character was admirable and his arrogance was amusing.

Doctor Manhattan – my favourite and I don’t know why! Perhaps because he had an aura of tranquillity, wisdom and being in a state of equilibrium. I like Doctor Manhattan because, although he was seen as God like by others, he never associated himself with that. On the other hand, I can see why he may come across a hypocrite because he said he felt no emotion but then, he made confessions on few occasions which reflected his acceptance of feeling some emotion. Fellow human beings thought of him as a selfish being because, he had all God-ly powers through which he could have easily avoided the situation of the Nuclear war or stopped the Comedian from committing horrific acts and he chose to not act on those.

It was interesting to see how the people saw Doctor Manhattan as good for as long as he did good things, but, the views totally changed when accussations made of him doing wrong things.

This makes me wonder, how is God perceived? (I am not at all relating the two!)

Is God only great when good things happen in the world?!

This reminds me of a quote from Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain…..

“God is all-powerful. If He limited Himself to doing only that which we call good, we could not call Him the Almighty; he would command only one part of the universe, and there would exist someone more powerful than He, watching and judging His acts. In that case, I would worship that more powerful someone.” The Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho

On a more relevant note, ending the post with something what Rorschach said in the movie,

"God did not make the world as it is. It is us humans that have turned it into this".