Emptiness is something always follows us a shadow in our life. Soonya of Buddha or Maya of AdiSankara has some representations of this emptiness. We feel the emptiness lots of times in lots of ways. When we think so much deep about life we can see how hollow and empty it is. A hopeless situation or a thought about death or a depressing news or just thinking about past or future can bring the feeling of instability or emptiness to mind. Normally we all don't want to get in to the philosophical or so called worrying mood. Whenever something concerns us we escape from that. We call the escape as relaxation or beating the boredom. If we don't do that everybody will become an enlightened like Buddha! (Nobody is ready to take that risk!) I also used to do lot of stuff to beat the boredom in India. Lot of them are quality stuff away from the spoilers like TV & Cinema. I like all religious places, especially old ones. In my native place, I used to go to old temples and sit in the Prahara watching the birds from nandhavana chirping. I like sitting in the theppakulam looking at the fishes and insects. If there is no company I used to study books and write poems sitting there. I used to go to relatives houses and spend time with them chatting and playing. I like visiting places & temples that has historical background like Kumbakonam, Madurai, Tanjore, Trichy. (Actually I belong that area...!) Although biased I like the morning newspaper "The Hindu" very much. I used to study lots of small circulatory literature magazines and chat about them with literary friends. I have a lots of things that filled me positively in India with quality time. Other than my family and few other things there is nothing here to fill my mind positively. Now I can beat the boredom with all negative things like watching movies, browsing, shopping etc., arbitrarily. After knowing and tasting everything that is best in TamilNadu, It is too difficult to miss them altogether. The Indian way of living does not match up here. Whatever quality things I miss, there is no reach for me to go and fill that vacuum in America. A popular zen saying is "An empty vessel has more value, because it can be filled". Only after coming here I realise how many good and quality things I miss in India. In terms of tourist places India has many & many... the only problem is they are not well maintained or promoted. There are lot of wonderful places to visit in India.... 108 Dhivya Desams in Tamilnadu, Dhawaraka, Agra, Poori, Ajanta & Ellora, Badrinath, Gaya, Pandaripuram, Moonaru, Kumaragam, Hyderabad and lots more. America made me empty so that I can fill myself when I go back to India.
Before I bless you with Envy and Jealousy. I will give their definitions first. "E nvy" is an emotion that occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. "Jealousy" is the fear of losing something that one possesses to another person. We are in a period of transition culturally, economically and socially. Effect of privatization in India led to culmination of service sectors like software field. Growth is yet one sided like richer getting richer while poorer still poorer. But there is plenty of opportunities to everybody today than 1970's. More people are getting in to middle and upper middle class now. A lot is getting richer. But If we measure the happiness they have we can find how poorer they are. In this modern city based life and life-style which is wholly materialistic the thing that is lagging behind is the spiritual aspect. Envy and jealousy is b...
Comments