Oh, dear mind!

Oh, dear mind,

are you not tired?!

Always lamenting,

always complaining,

always fault-finding!

I know that’s how you’re wired!

But, hey dear mind,

are you not tired!?-

Of singing the same old song,

of playing the same old tune,

of repeating the same old lyrics!?-

‘She is too much!

he is too much!

they are too much!’

I know that’s how you’re wired!

Oh, dear mind,

Are you not tired!?

Hey dear friend,

rise up above all dualities,

let go of all anxieties,

jump in serving all of humanity!

Hey brother,

let me teach you a song,

that will take you along,

the journey of your soul!

It goes like… ‘Hare, Krishna, and Rama

Rama, Krishna, and Hare!’

You won’t wait long

for the nectar to flow.

That same nectar that we’re all anxious to know.

Oh, dear mind,

the time has come

for you to dance,

for you to sing,

for you to Love!

Hey brother,

the time has come,

for you to serve,

the eternal servants of the Great Dance!

For they gave you a gift,

 that cannot be matched!

For they offered you a loving hand,

that cannot be ignored!

Oh, dear mind,

now is the time

for you to risk,

to risk being fearless

of giving this gift

that cannot be matched!

Hey brother,

go on the streets,

chant, sing and dance!

Go on the streets,

and serve the greats!

Go on the streets,

and ignite the spark,

in the hearts of others,

that will start a revolution-

so they may also know the flow of nectar,

so they may also receive the gift,

so they may also serve the greats!

Oh, dear mind,

I know you’re tired,

but hey, this is how you got rewired!

Misgivings of the Loving Heart

Oh, dear friend,

tell me – how can I stand the absence of Love?

How can I reside within this lump of blood and bones?

How can I conform to social norms?

Oh, dear friend,

tell me – how can I stand this burning fire in the chest?

How can I control myself?

How can I live a normal life –

without His loving eyes,

without His playful smile,

without His delightful embrace,

how can I exist?

Oh, dear friend,

tell me!

What’s my purpose –

without Her soothing glance,

without Her beautiful and gentle hands,

without Her  warming presence?

Oh, dear friend,

tell me!

Oh, dear friend,

I wake up at night,

to have an internal fight,

after which,

the mind always wins,

and makes me cry!

‘Oh, damn you Mind!

You are always ruthless

in telling me

what should I do and not do.’

‘You better be quiet, if

it wasn’t for me,

you won’t be alive!’

Oh, dear friend!

Every moment

passes in unbearable agony,

without the Beloved.

Oh, dear friend,

‘I wish he was closer,

I wish she was here,

I wish they were loving me more!’

I wish, I wish, I wish…

Oh, dear friend,

only a jar full of wishes,

that’s what I have become.

There is nothing else,

but wish and hope,

for that is the nature

of one’s misgiving and loving heart!

Oh, dear friend!

Monk Undercover.

Everybody wants to be a superhero or superheroine while growing up. Everybody wants to be able to fly like superman and have inhumane strength, saving innocent people from falling skyscrapers. Everybody dreams of being Batman, so they could distribute justice in their own versions of Gotham. Yet, others dream of being Wonder Woman and preserving peace amongst humanity by stopping wars from occurring. Everybody wants to be a Luke Skywalker and save the galaxy from the oppressive regimes. And the list goes on and on.

If nobody did not want to become a hero/heroine, then these stories of superheroes that we go to see in the cinema, or read in comics, would have not been so popular. The point is everybody wants to become a hero/heroine in their own movies i.e. their lives. But then, as everybody grows ups, they start realising that reality is rather different. They realise that one cannot stop people from dying in accidents, one cannot prevent injustices occurring, one cannot stop wars from occurring, and one cannot save countries from oppressive regimes. ‘Grow up!’ they all say to you. ‘Get a job, take responsibility!’ the chant goes. Sure, all these are legitimate and real claims. However, REALITY should not stop one from becoming the hero/heroine of their lives. One can be an ACTUAL hero. And yes, ACTUAL heroes do not have fictional or defying physics like powers. ACTUAL heroes have powers, human powers. ACTUAL heroes follow principles, just like fictional heroes. ACTUAL heroes get inspired from fictional heroes, but yet they act in a human way. What I am suggesting here, is an archetype of an ACTUAL hero. I call it a Monk Undercover.

Everybody can become and act like a Monk Undercover. One does not need any special qualifications. One does not need to be rich like Bruce Wayne. But one could make sacrifices for the greater good of the community. One does not need to fly like Clark Kent. But one could always find an alternative way of helping others. One does not need to carry a sword and shield to stop conflicts like Diana. But one can be peaceful themselves. One does not need a lightsabre and be a Jedi like Luke. But one can see the good in the worst of people. In other words, you can be a Monk in every moment of your existence. However, being a Monk requires cultivation of internal attributes like honesty, non-violence, tolerance, self-disciple etc., rather than external. Therefore, an ACTUAL hero is always Undercover. So get your job, take your responsibilities, buy a house, settle in, educate yourself, build up a family, have a laugh with friends, have dance with friends, read, sing, pray, live!

BUT NEVER FORGET TO BE A MONK UNDERCOVER!

 

 

Grey, but authentic.

To all Bulgarian (and not only) people .

‘-Everybody looks so grey.’- whispered a voice in my head when I was in the local supermarket.

‘-Grey clothes, Grey expressions, grey predominates the whole atmosphere around me’- the internal voice kept on ranting.

This internal realization happened when I was back home in Bulgaria. I spent a whole month in my home country, as I usually do, at end of each academic year. I went to the big cities and smaller ones. I also went to some villages. However, this greyness predominated the whole atmosphere. Do not get me wrong, this phenomenon is something that I have noticed before, while growing up in Bulgaria. However, this time I made the correlation between the colour and the general mood of the people around me. Greyness emanates depressive mood. A hopeless situation. An endless cycle of negative emotions. The ridiculousness of the whole story is that if you ask anyone on the street, they will know what causes this greyness, or rather they will list a few reasons what puts them in this grey mood. For a starter, ‘everybody is corrupt, politicians are crooked, the judiciary is a complete parody’ etc. These are the top most complains. Oh, and of course my favourite the ‘we’ll never get better’ chant. I am not saying that these claims are not legitimate or not real. They are! However, organizing our entire lives around them is rather problematic. This predominating grey mood puts everybody, even the more positive inclined people, in a pathological path of pandemic depression. In addition, as most sociological studies suggest, negative emotions only lead to divisions and conflict, whereas positive emotions, lead to more cooperative patterns of social behaviour. Think about it- if I hate going to the cinema, would I be more willing to go with you to watch a movie or not? In sum, Greyness predominates the scenery.

However, no matter how pathological Bulgarian people might be at times, we are generally authentic people, when it comes to expressing our emotions. We are going to shout at your face, when we are angry. We are going to lough loudly, when we are happy. We are going to cry loudly, when we suffer some pain. We are going to stand our ground strongly, when we are passionate about something. We are going to say things directly as they are. We are not going to be passive-aggressive; we simply will be aggressive when we mean it.

Therefore, greyness is not productive, but authenticity is what keeps us sane. I would rather be grey, but speak my truth, than be bright, but fake and sugarcoat everything I say to others. Authenticity is what makes relationships work, be they family, friends, or business. Authenticity prevents future conflicts occurring. Authenticity is the mother of progress of any kind. Of course, the perfect scenario would be if we could cultivate this authenticity more often, so we can become brighter, rather than grey. Unfortunately, we are not perfect. Or as the song goes… ‘I am only human after all…’

PS: Be grey, but keep on speaking your truth.