I am my own Prince

Akira: Independence. Such an intriguing word. I wonder what its like to be independent. Surely its a thing for only the brave ones. 

Guru: That bravery is within every soul. Remember, you are your own Prince. You just need to realise it. 

____

I am my own Prince, as you are your own. Don't limit your abilities to the perceptions of your society, friends, parents and/or significant others. Break down the walls you have built for yourself, as you were born and destined to fly. This sounds like wishful thinking, but really it's the truth, awaiting to be realised. So start today, be your own Prince. Don't wait around for a nudge from someone else, be it whoever. You yourself are good enough to go out there and achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.

You are a beautiful person, drowned in self-defeat and judgments. You are tangled in words and gossip. But it's not too late. Break free. Explore yourself and bring out the best within you. Relieve your happiness from the suffocation of taunts and disbeliefs. The power is in you, realise it, release it.

Who else will come to your rescue, if you yourself don't? You are your own Knight in shining armour. You are your own Prince. 👑

#LaughingAnanas

I'm An Extremist

In a conversation...

Akira expresses, "I'm an extremist, you know? Everything I do, is to the extreme. If I like something, I like it to the extreme. If I hate something, I hate it to the extreme. My happiness is extreme, and so is my sadness. If I set my mind onto something, I will spend sleepless nights to achieve it. And if my heart isn't into something, I will spend days sleeping instead of doing it. And not just mentally, materialistically as well. I like everything that I do to be different. And this can cause grave stress." 

"Dear Akira", the sage responds compassionately, "Extremity is good. It is for strong people. A great mass of population is stuck in average mentality."

"But isn't extremity bad? I have always heard that one should develop and practice a neutral attitude, and remain in the middle ground of situations, neither happy nor sad. How can I ever achieve this state with such an extreme personality?"

The sage smiles as he reveals, "Having neutrality towards everything is spiritual extremity. It is not an average achievement."

Akira left stunned at such a difference in perspective...

____

Extremity is a confusing phenomenon. It has an immediate and reflexive connotation of destructivity. Extreme reactions to situations are definitely destructive to mankind. However, there is a fine line distinction between extreme reactions and extreme personality. 

Extreme reactions are obviously a by-product of an extreme personality. However, an extremist, who who trains their mind and incorporates a regular check on these reactions, can do wonders! And this is why, extremity can either be destructive or constructive. Let yourself enslaved to your feelings and reactions, turning your life into a living hell – destructive! Freeing yourself from the clutches of your instinctual reactions, and directing the energy to create heaven on Earth – constructive!

Practice liberating yourself from the negative, to find the creative person in your extremist personality! Risk and achievement are companions. There is no gain without risk. Only the people who take risks in their lives, live a life that's unique. They live a life beyond normal, engulfed in wonders of extremity.

#LaughingAnanas

You Don't Need To Be Happy...

"Akira, my beloved, I see sweat beads on your forehead. Is there something that bothers you?", asked the wise old sage.

"I guess... I'm unsure. I don't feel like myself anymore.", said the concerned Akira.

"This 'myself' that you mention, what is that self like?", the sage enquired.

"Well I guess, I used to be crazy, full of life and always happy. My friends say I used to exude happiness anywhere and everywhere I went, you know, like a bundle of joy. But, now they tell me I have changed. They tell me I have lost my spark. I wonder if this is real, you know? Have I really forgotten how to be happy?", said Akira as he poured his heart out.

A faint smile subtly painted itself on the sage's face as he looked at Akira and disclosed, "Akira, you don't need to be happy. Just be content."

_____

Happiness is extremely overrated. The word happiness, with its simplistic connotation of pleasure, has gotten the whole world chasing and running behind an illusion of a perfect, happy life. People are inescapably judged based on their degree of happiness, and the amount of pleasure they derive from life. But really, one should watch out for this vicious circle of societal judgments and the need to acquire happiness as a measure of one's well-being. In this society, we are all just blind, leading blind. 

In the above interaction of Akira with the sage, those few wise words reveal how happiness is not what one's end goal should be. It should rather be contentment. One should work towards deriving satisfaction from their walk of life, rather than blindly running behind what society proclaims as happiness. Learning the skill of contentment is generally neglected as we have been taught to focus on attaining what we don't have instead of finding fulfilment in the realisation of what we do have. Contentment leaves you feeling fulfilled, satisfied and grateful, whereas happiness is fleeting, temporary and always accompanied by sadness. Hence, don't run after happiness, but rather work towards a well-balanced and well-prioritised life comprising of both materialistic and spiritual goals. 

People's perception of your well-being is not important, yours is. Don't worry about forgetting how to be happy, as long as you remember how to be content. 

#LaughingAnanas

Perspective; To Each Their Own

In a conversation...

Akira conveys, "You know what the problem with my life is? I never have anything I want. I've been dreaming to become the richest villager so I can finally afford to buy cattle and maybe a bullock cart and–"

"Dear Akira, look at this tiny snail gliding away on his path. Do you know the purpose of his life? He travels all day in the search of juicy leaves, and reverts back into his shell at the sight of predators. That is all he needs to survive. So Akira, do you have everything you need to survive?", the sage questions leaving Akira speechless. 

_ _ _ _

Perspective. When I think about this word, I remember a beautiful scene from the movie Ratatouille. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, well, see below. 

Perspective is the most individualistic and personal something. Everyone we know is half a glass of water, and the remaining glass is their perspective. It's your perspective that determines whether you see yourself as half a glass full of water, or half a glass short of water, whether you focus on what you have or what you're missing. Either way, it plays a very important role in our lives. 

More often than not, we outlook the role of this important aspect. We forget that it exists and we forget that it varies for every different person. For instance, an hour long workout may be a blessing to someone, and yet dreadful to someone else. Let's think of the caring husband who always remembers to bring red roses every Valentine's. If ever, he misses out on conducting the ritual, the wife is sure to conclude that with the forgone roses, the husband's love too is forgone. However, does this wife stop to think about the husband's day and probable stresses that may have been a factor behind his slip of mind? Maybe, maybe not. If she does, she's engaging herself in widening her own perspective to reach out to and see through that of her husband's, in which case she weaves a happy home. Contrariwise, if she doesn't, she's allowed dominance for her own perspective in disregarding his, leading to nothing but negativity and resentment, gradually weaving a discontent home. But, what's the point?

   

Is there really much point in feeling the need to change everyone's perspective to match your own? Where one can never have control or dominance over other people's thoughts and perspective, such feelings will only cause pain and suffering in the long run. In that case, isn't it much better to rather work on widening our own horizons, and so, our own perspective? 

Ask yourself, do you go about your life like Akira, counting only your misfortunes and losses? Or do you step away from that every now and again, and grasp the snail's attitude of counting your blessings and achieving a sense of fulfilment in your bare necessities? 

#LaughingAnanas

A Sunflower's Ego

"Akira, my beloved, why do you look so frustrated?", asked the wise, old sage. 

"Because I am! I'm extremely frustrated and angry!" exclaims the furious Akira. 

"Oh dear" says the wise, old sage as he comforts Akira. "What is it that makes you feel like that?"

"It's my friend, Habiki!", exclaims Akira. "He tires me, makes my head hurt. Whenever I tell him something, he resorts to an argument and we always end up fighting rather than resolving my problem. I do so much for him and I'm always being the bigger person. And Habiki? He only thinks about himself. He's selfish!" 

"Akira dear, come sit next to me," said the sage welcoming Akira into his space, "I would like to tell you the story of a sunflower.

"Once upon a time, there lived a sunflower who was the King of his kind back in the day. He was as bright as the Sun above us, and his charm had every flower in the field blush at his mere sight. He attracted the bees like no other, and flaunted his beautiful yellow petals all day long. His tall, sturdy stalk supported his large flower head, just as it also supported the cucumber vines that grew alongside. 

"The sunflower's pride was larger than his head, and he despised the cucumber vines growing on his stem. He would always complain that the cucumber is good for nothing, and all it can do is using his sturdy stalk to provide himself with a natural trellis. 'I am the mightiest of all,' he would say, 'without my shade and support, this cucumber would never be able to grow. I am done being used by him for his own selfish reasons, I want my freedom!' 

"With this thought, the sunflower decided to kill the cucumber plant by moving his petals to an angle and withdrawing his shade on the plant. The cucumber slowly starts to shrivel and burn in heat, while the sunflower is overjoyed with his victory. 


"As the weeks passed after cucumber's demise, the sunflower lost his charm and colour. Bees lost their attraction towards it and weeds took over all its soil, along with the nutrients in it. More so, the farmer's continuous over-watering loosened the soil in which its roots were engrained. The sunflower fell feeble. One day, his stalk wasn't able to sustain his weight anymore, and as it let loose, the sunflower clobbered down forgoing his life and his pride."

As the sage finished reciting his story, he looked at Akira fondly and said:

"Being a bigger person is not about validating our position, but rather forgoing the need to be right in every instance."

____

The sage's story depicts a powerful sunflower who saw nothing beyond himself. He felt mightier than the cucumber, and this feeling translated into his perception of being bigger and better than everyone else. The doom of the sunflower is a metaphorical representation of people who are deluded into believing they're always right and virtuous, failing to see the value of the person they're in conflict with. In the story above, the sunflower failed to realise that it was the cucumber plant that reduced the growth of weeds and assured the soil doesn't remain over-watered. All he could see was the support it provided the cucumber, and not the value of cucumber vines on its existence. 

The story portrays that strength, power and believing one is always right does not make them a bigger person. All this can achieve is the validation of one's own position, in victimising others with their own bitterness and insecurities. 

Thereafter, a person who aims to resolve a conflict and comes out of the battle feeling empowered as he confirmed to himself and to others that he was a bigger person by taking the charge of solving a conflict even though he was victimised, is still not a bigger person. 

On the contrary, a bigger person is someone who doesn't see himself as bigger or mightier than others, whether it's in their power or their action. For instance, if someone forgives the other and comes out as feeling like a bigger person because they let go of the issue, in reality hasn't let go of the issue. All they're doing is identifying with their ego of, in this case, being a bigger person and empowering it by conducting the action of forgiveness and directly or indirectly letting the other person feel indebted to them. Hence, a bigger person is someone like the cucumber plant, who goes on performing his duty without seeking any attention or having the need to feel superior than others.  

A bigger person is someone who forgoes the opportunity to be right and lets go of his attachment to the conflict situation. It's the one who understands that being right will not translate into peace of mind or any sort of fulfilment, and knows that in setting off to prove ourselves right, all we can ever end up doing is prolonging our own suffering. 

To end this type of suffering, one needs to train themselves into disidentifying from their ego and practice ceasing the need to always be right. 

#LaughingAnanas

The snake and the peacock

"O knower of all things born, I come to you with great despair in search of answers. I feel... I feel like I might die soon!", says the panting Akira.

"Akira dear, I haven't seen you in a while", says the wise, old sage as he greets Akira while peeling his apple. "Would you like an apple?"

"Apple?!", exclaims Akira. "I'm telling you I feel like I'm going to die and you're offering me an apple? How does that help?"

"Akira, my beloved, come sit next to me and have some of this apple. It's juicy, you know?", the sage emanates a comforting smile. 

Akira manages to calm down a little, grabs a piece of the apple and questions the sage, "How are people able to live so long? I feel like I might die soon. With each new emotional trauma, I feel that the poison of my negative emotions continues to spread through my body, slowly squeezing the soul out of it. I feel so weak, and I am certain I will not be able to take another blow of poison disguised in my negative emotions. And there's nothing I can do because one's emotions are obviously out of one's control, just like the weather, and obviously even if I try I-"

"Dear Akira, look at that beautiful peacock flaunting his feathers", the sage interrupts Akira. 

Akira looks at the peacock and remarks, "I'm surprised to see him so calm despite the deadly, venomous snake slithering his way towards him."

As the two indulge themselves in seeing the exchange between the snake and the peacock, they notice that the snake rises up to infiltrate his venom into the peacock's body and steal his life methodically. But just before the snake can fulfil his destiny, the peacock promptly grabs the reptile by his beak and gobbles him down like he never existed. In devouring the snake's venom, the peacock shudders and quivers, but then miraculously exudes colours all the more vibrant and plumage all the more beautiful.

"Whoa!", exclaims Akira. "I've never seen something like that!"

"Yes, quite fascinating indeed.", the sage agrees. "Poisonous snakes are the truth of life. But to die with poisonous bites is certainly not our destiny. The choice is ultimately ours, to be bitten by poison or to bite the poison."

_____

We are swarmed by, what we perceive as negative emotions, in our daily lives. And to be honest, these feelings of anger, anxiety and pain will never cease to exist as they're a part of our existence. They only get stronger with each blow as we allow them to feed on us. So, do we have a choice?

The peacock in this story sets a great example. Instead of being bitten by venom, he chooses to accept the venom. He recognizes the venom, ingests it, digests it and transforms it into beautiful colours. Just like the peacock, our challenge is to recognize our negative emotions, gulp them down and accept them, and use them to empower our minds rather than being empowered by them. 

Read a book, feed a dog, go for a walk. There are countless means of harmonizing selves with universe again, despite the blow of negative emotions. Take the initiative and transform, just like the peacock.

#LaughingAnanas

Mind your own business Akira!

One afternoon, a wealthy rancher decided to hold a competition amongst the the village's young cowherds to find the most hardworking and able cowherd for his ranch. "The winner of this competition has to be the one to graze the largest group of cattle within the shortest amount of time", said the rancher. The young boys of the village were extremely excited to enter this competition and work as the rancher's cowboys for a living. Akira was also extremely excited to partake in the competition. 

As the competition began, Akira looked at his fellow competitor Kabira from a distance and yelled, "Hey Kabira! You are not allowed to graze the cattle that side of the hill! It's against the rules!"

Just then, he glanced at another competitor Akiko and remarked, "Yo-ho Akiko! The rancher specifically said we are not allowed to take on more animals till the one at hand is completely full. Looks like the calf you are feeding is still hungry. Maybe you should feed him properly before you move on to the next one!"

Before long, he noticed another competitor Habiki and screamed, "Hey there Habiki! You are not allowed to feed them fruits to cease their hunger. That's unfair! According to the rules, we can only feed them fresh grass. Stop cheating!"

Shortly afterwards, as the competition came to an end, the rancher set off to search for his winner. 

"Kabira, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher enquired.

"I have grazed 8 animals today master", said the calm Kabira.

"Interesting. Akiko, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher questioned.

"I have grazed 10 animals today master", said the excited Akiko.

"Well done! Habiki, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher queried.

"I have grazed 15 animals today master", said the overjoyed Habiki.

"That's brilliant! Akira, how many animals have you grazed today?", the rancher interrogated. 

"Master, I have still to graze the only animal I took out to graze", said the disappointed Akira. 

On hearing this, the rancher walked towards Akira and said, "Next time my boy, mind your own business".

_ _ _ _

How often do we engulf ourselves in what other people are thinking or doing? "Are people judging me?", "Does he care about me?", "Do people think I'm ugly?", "Are they lying to me?", "Does she like me?" are only a few questions of the many that we have probably asked ourselves a number of times in our lifetime. Do these thoughts make you happy? Does finding the answers to these questions give you peace? Probably not. Satisfaction is a tough thing to achieve, especially if one's mind is involved in someone else. Even if you find satisfaction in the answers of these questions, it might be a fleeting feeling. Answers to these questions will only develop more questions, and in turn, restlessness. And so, mistaking this satisfaction for permanent solace is a faulty ideology created by our unawareness.

Human mind is a constant battlefield, and always feeling the need to know everything does not cease the battle, but rather instigates war. The war of emotions, that fuels and empowers our ego in controlling our minds. Jealousy, envy, insecurity and anger are nothing but the offsprings of not minding our own business. 

So let the world turn upside down, but continue focussing your energy internally within yourself. Remain calm, and you will remain content. Bring yourself out of constantly thinking and remind yourself that you can't change anyone or anything, but yourself. So help yourself towards peace of mind, and don't forget, mind your own business!

#LaughingAnanas

Akira and the Sun

"Akira, my beloved, why do you look so restless?", asked the wise old sage. 

"I feel all over the place... unsure, unsatisfied.", said the worried Akira.

"Is that so? And what is it that you feel unsure about?", prompted the sage gently. 

"It's just... I've been searching for the purpose of my life for the longest time. Sometimes I feel like I'm almost there, but then I realize I'm far off. I pray to God day and night to give me the answers of my questions. I almost feel obsessed looking so deeply into things to find the smallest of signs that can possibly explain my existence. But I fail, I fail every time. It makes me sad, you know?", confessed Akira. 

"I know. Tell me Akira, what else do you do in your day? How do you feed yourself?", interrogated the sage further.

"I don't. I don't do anything else. I spend my whole day thinking and wondering when I will find the meaning of my life.", said Akira.

"Very well," said the sage, "let me help you. Look at the Sun for a minute."

Akira complied.

As the minute was up, the sage asked Akira to look away from the Sun and point to where he was standing.

"I don't know where to point," Akira exclaimed, "I can't see you! The Sun's brightness seems to have blinded me!"

To this, the sage finally revealed: 

"My dear Akira, the man who looks at the Sun all day long, will only end up being blind. Looking at the Sun all day will not gift you its light. To earn its light, you must fulfill your daily responsibilities. Living every moment fully is the only way you can get closer to your goal each day!"

_ _ _ _

The sage is so right. In looking at the Sun all day, we blind ourselves and lose our own light. Thinking all day about our endless desires, be they love, money or fame, we end up losing ourselves only to realize that we are going further and further away from our goals each day. As they say, "a watched phone never rings".

So what should we do? Stop dreaming, stop desiring? Not at all. We are bound to dream and desire, but it's the losing of self that we should learn to keep away from in dreaming and desiring. We can only reach our destination if our journey is well planned and fully lived. Else we'd be stuck in our journey, losing our way at every crossroad and possibly running behind mirages that never existed...

Akira And His Best Friend

Akira: I have a new friend. He knows everything.

Kabira: Everything?

Akira: Yes. He knows how the world was created and he knows how it will end. He knows the future and he is aware of the past. He knows who my best friend is and my worst enemy. And most importantly, he says he knows what decisions will be best for me!

Kabira: That's great! I hope you find your happiness...

A few days later...

Kabira: Hi Akira. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you? 

Akira: Confused, and maybe a bit upset.

Kabira: Why? What's wrong?

Akira: I'm not sure.

Kabira: What about your new best friend? Does he know?

Akira: I talk to him all day and night. He told me that everyone else in the world is conspiring against me. He's my only friend and he's always by my side. But, for some reason, I still feel very lonely. I feel sad and hostile.

Kabira: He said the whole world is conspiring against you?

Akira: Yes. In fact, he told me I shouldn't be speaking to you either because you secretly wish for my unhappiness. I'm speaking to you only because he's fast asleep right now. If he wakes up to learn that we interacted, he will be very disappointed in me. I better go...

Kabira: Wait a minute Akira... This best friend of yours, what's his name? And where does he live?

Akira: His name is Ego, and he lives in my mind. 

#LaughingAnanas 

A Wishing Well

 

One afternoon, Akira was marching through the forest, carrying a sack of his many troubles on his weary shoulders. He stopped to rest by a well, that according to a famous myth, was magical by nature. The well was known to grant the wishes of all those who sat by it.

Akira looked into the bountiful water of the magical well, as he reflected upon his troubles. He started to feel thirsty and wished for some water. Suddenly, a glass of cold water appeared before him. A shocked Akira inspected the water and downed every last sip of it. 

He then started to feel hungry and wished for a hearty meal. He suddenly had in his hands, a plate full of delicious food items. Perplexed, he examined the food and ate up every last crumb of it. 

Seeing his wishes being granted, he thought he'd test the magic by wishing for a grand house, all for himself. To his disbelief, a mansion-like house appeared right in front of him. Amazed, he thought to himself that maybe he's being tricked and maybe he should seek something more real, more life-like. 

He shot another arrow in the dark and wished for a beautiful maiden to get settled with. And voila! Standing right before him, was an attractive young lady with a big smile on her face. By this time, Akira was almost certain that it was all unreal. To prove it, he touched the girl saying, "There is no way you are real. Someone is just playing a big, fat joke on me. I can't be this lucky!" At the very instant, everything he wished for disappeared in front of his eyes. 

Akira shook his head in pride, picked up his sack of many troubles and said, "I knew it..." 

-----

There is no beauty in the world till you have the eyes to see it. The flowers will bloom, but you will fail to see them. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Likewise, there is no Master till there is a Disciple. And likewise, there can be no gift for you till you know how to receive it. 

So many of us go on searching for something without developing a corresponding receptivity in ourselves. We try to see beauty in the world, not knowing that our eyes are shut. We try to seek for a Master, not knowing that the Disciple in us is absent. We expect to be gifted, not knowing we don't know how to receive the present. 

That's what poor Akira was completely unaware of. How could he possibly sustain any of the wishes he was granted, if he didn't believe them to be true, and was unable to be grateful and accept them? A mind in complete disbelief is capable of driving away the most real of things; just as, a mind in hope is able to attract the most unrealistic...

#LaughingAnanas

A conversation between two friends...

Akira: Anthropophobia. That's it. That's what I think I have. I'm scared of people. So scared.

Kabira: What type of people are you scared of?

Akira: I'm scared of them all. I'm scared of Masters and I'm scared of Minions. I'm scared of the Fair and the Foul. I'm scared of the Smarties and the Dummies. I'm scared of those who appear to be my Friends and those who I've known to be my Foes. 

Kabira: Really? That many?

Akira: Yeah, sometimes I'm even scared of you! And it's fine, you know. Isn't everyone scared of each other anyway?

Kabira: Possibly.

Akira: Who is it that you're scared of the most? 

Kabira: The fine man I see in the mirror everyday. Myself.

_ _ _ _

Don't we all feel like Akira time and again? Sometimes we're afraid of people, other times we're afraid of heights. Either way, fear is a major part of our lives that we externalize onto people, things and events. 

But on reflecting upon oneself, we realize that fear is within us. It's all in the mind. It's like our own personal demon based on accumulation of our insecurities, failures, traumatic experiences and ego, along with many other factors. This demon within us drives our day-to-day lives, affects our decisions and of course, determines our behaviours. Consequently, the demon in our minds paints our outer reality. 

In that case, should we find threat and be scared of what's outside of us? Or should we let go of and recognize the threat that lies within us? 

#LaughingAnanas

The Life of Akira

"My dear Akira, I see worry lines on your forehead. What is it that brings you here today?", asked the wise old sage.

"I... I don't know", said the hesitant Akira.

"Is that so? And what is it that you don't know", prompted the sage gently. 

"It's just... nothing makes me feel happy. I don't look forward to anything. I don't even feel like I'm entirely here in front of you", confessed Akira.

"I see. Tell me Akira, is there anything you did to overcome this feeling?", interrogated the sage further.

"Of course I did. I did it all to realize my dreams. I've been there all to find my happiness. I wandered in the deserts and I voyaged in the seas. I flew over the moons and I dug under the soil. I saw my tomorrow and I relived my yesterday. No luck. Tell me, o knower of all, am I dying?"

To this, the sage finally revealed:

"My dear Akira, you have been there all. You wandered in the deserts and you voyaged in the seas. You flew over the moons and dug under the soil. You have seen your Tomorrow and relived your Yesterday. But the only place you haven't been to, is Today."

#LaughingAnanas #CarpeDiem