Temple festival...

 Do you get this feeling? When you feel something is not correct, though you can not name it?

That is what I felt watching the temple festival at the temple I visit daily.

 

I saw the list of expenses for the festival. They have not mentioned some important expenses. And by seeing how it is conducted, I felt it would cost more than their estimate. And someone rich will be covering the extra expenses. And some rituals' timing is very flexible. Usually, it will be planned and followed correctly so that people can come to the temple at that time.

If someone is covering the expenses, why collect money from ordinary people?!

Temple festival - A disappointment.

 

Good and bad...

 Last week, during festival time, I bought some sweets and snacks from a shop. When I was ordering for it, a poor man came and asked for snacks. The shopkeeper was kind and gave some free snacks with real respect. It was a feel-good moment to witness it.

After I came home, I checked the sweets. They were not cooked properly.  I was disappointed. The next day, I got that same sweet at my Aunty's home, which I shared with their dog. You can read that post here.

Now, recollect when I bought the sweets. At the same time, the shopkeeper did a very good thing by giving free snacks to a poor person and gave me sweets which I can not eat. One bad and good thing at the same time. Is he good or bad?

 

Logically, the customer is important for the shopkeeper, and he has to provide quality snacks. If he has a lot of customers, then he can give free snacks to poor people. He can increase the price for the quality snacks.

The verdict is that the shopkeeper's action is bad(considering both actions)

Good + bad action = bad action.

lol  

A surprise visit...

 Don't think it's human. It is a CAT. lol.

A few months ago, I saw my cat fighting with another cat in front of my house. Since I know how aggressive my cat is, I chased that other cat away to save it from my cat. Let's call it the B&W cat. It has black and white spots on its body.

When I go for a walk daily, that cat will watch me sitting on a wall. I also go on the route where I can see it. It will look at my face, and sometimes I smile at it. It won't smile, but stare at me. Some days if that B&W is very close to me, walking on the road near me, it bows down. I have never seen a cat bow down. It may be because of my brave cat, I guess.

 

Today, I decided to walk after breakfast. I came out of my house, and I saw that B&W cat sitting on my house's wall, waiting for me. lol.  I was surprised to see it there, but then I realised I did not walk at my usual time, and it came to my home looking for me. That is a very nice gesture and I told, run away fast if my cat sees you, it will kill you.

Nowadays, I have a doubt. Am I a cat person or a dog person? Both cats and dogs like me.

But why should I think about it? That is a cat's or a dog's problem. Right?! Not mine!!

They only adopt me, so there's no need for me to think about it. 

 

Part 2 of Last visit...

 This is part 1.

When I wrote Part 1, I did not think that I would write a Part 2. Life is full of continuous events, and I visited my native place again.

I did not feel any nostalgia or familiarity during the trip. One of the reasons for that is the cloudy climate. I saw green everywhere. When I was a kid, the trips would be during the hot summer, and the place would look entirely different.

The visit was to meet one of my cousins and my aunt. They have a cute dog in their house. They served snacks for us. And the dog came near, sat in front of me and looked at my face. I felt like it was bad manners if I did not share my snacks. I gave the dog a small portion. It ate it happily. Then again, it was looking at my face. lol. One piece for the dog, one bite for me - this is how we both had snacks together. During the last bite, it was very particular that I should share it with it. And I shared. Then it lay down near my feet and slept very happily. It had a content and happy feeling on its face. It was a good and different experience for me.

And I got an idea: if I had a dog at home, during the diet, it would be helpful if I had food like this. 😇

And we all talked. Again, the discussion about how people change came up. My cousin said, I decided I should be like this when I went abroad, and I am still the same. I said, if a person faces difficult problems in life alone or always faces problems alone in life, they change; hence I changed. This remark made everybody's faces turn, and nobody talked for a few minutes.

At that time, another guest showed up. Sometimes, guests visit without informing us earlier. I became a host at once(I am not shy any more), though it is not my house.

Change is the only permanent thing in my life. The next visit will be with my next version. 😊

How to train God...

 Just a different heading...

Recently, I was losing motivation to visit the temple daily. It was boring to walk the same route, going to the same place.  So I told God, since my willpower is low, don't test me by sending people to tell their sad stories during the working days. If you still send them to me, then I will show my unfiltered shadow to them. 😇

Nobody disturbed me during my temple visit.

Still, it was boring. So I asked God to give some follow-up calls. I did not get any.

I changed the technique. When I woke up in the morning I send the message from my mind to him. "I am coming there. Clear the space; I don't like any negative vibration" 

And I went to temple. I saw a person cleaning the grass inside the temple. I was surprised. Then I smiled. Since I said, clear the space, God has arranged a person in short notice to remove the weeds. lol.

The 1st thought I got is, Oh my God, now I have to train God to understand what I am saying. Then I understood. It is an expression of acknowledgement.

Since he is very mischievous, I also expressed in a similar way. I prayed by singing a love song(in mind) from a movie. lol.

This incident was very interesting, and I got motivation to visit the temple.

I will get another interesting incident when my motivation loses momentum.

The life unlived...

 It is about the Unicorn old lady. 

I saw her today, and she talked a lot. I don't want to tell her the whole truth, but wanted to say which can help her to survive.

And also there are lessons to learn from it.

I told her to forget about joining an old-age home. It won't be like a school hostel where students are young, and they won't be that bad. And you cannot return to your home if you don't like it at the old-age home. The reason for me to explain is if you live with a false hope about old age home, you won't think about how to take efforts to live peacefully at your home.

Her mind is programmed by her parents to join an old age home if things get worse at home. Even in their 70s and 80s, people behave as per their parents' wishes!!! Or, since she is a unicorn, she did not grow up fully in childhood.

Her grief is about these things...

1. She has sacrificed her life for her family and brother, but her brother does not respect her. He doesn't talk with her.

2. The whole world knows her sacrifice, but he does not!!!???

3. She has struggled a lot and did her duties like a mother to her brother.

4. He is having a good life and still sad. 

5. I have faced lot of difficulties in finding bride for him and found as per his wish.

Whatever she said was the grief that came from a person who did not live their life for themselves.

As a 3rd person, my understanding is that she is an extra fitting in her brother's home. Brother-sister relationship will become secondary when a person gets married.

When her brother is not having a steady income, she should not have arranged for marriage. That marriage spoiled the life of a woman. Now her brother's wife is earning and taking care of the family.

I can not say all these things to her and write them here. 

Human beings show their hate in subtle ways. A wife who hates her husband won't wear all the ornaments that show the world that she is married. Parents who hate their female child won't remember that child's birthday. Females who cook, when they hate their family, will cook simple food that can be digested easily, and everybody at home will stay hungry.

At this rate, Unicorn lady will understand the truth that she is a slave, and not a person who sacrificed for the family her life after 2 more birth cycles. lol.

I am planning to apply to Chithira gupta's department 😇(Chitragupta is the Hindu deity tasked with keeping complete records of human actions (Karma) on Earth.)

New religion = Old region with new approach...

 From childhood, I had a belief that if I am good and pray to God, then God will give me everything I ask. Most people have this belief. It is how their parents trained them. Also, society tries to mould a person like that.

This belief has few consequences. Giving your life's responsibility to God will make you take less responsibility towards your own life. People who have this kind of belief go to the temple, give something to God and expect something in return. 

You pray to God asking for something; God gives it along with some challenges, and you feel God has done something wrong to you.

I understood all these after a midlife change. 

Now, when I go to temple, I offer flowers to play the colour game 😇, practise respect, gratitude, contentment, and happiness through my actions.

Since I don't ask for anything, I don't get disappointed. This gives peace of mind. I love this approach. The habit I am creating by visiting the temple nowadays can make me a better person.

It does not mean that old habits won't surface in my mind. Sometimes I feel like asking, but I remind myself we are practising contentment, and a content mind won't ask anything.  After all, God know what is good for me; does he expect me to ask for it? lol, no. 

My new approach gives me peace of mind.