Another one of my favourite piece of writings ever..Just had to share it..
The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
Excerpted with permission from THE INVITATION by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (published May 1999). Copyright © 1999 by Mountain Dreaming Productions. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Our Deepest Fear...
I have always been asked what my most inspirational quote is and I thought since I get inspired everyday,reading or reciting it,loudly or in silence,I should share it with all of you.
This widely acclaimed poem is actually not a poem at all, but an excerpt from A Return To Love, a book by motivational speaker Marianne Williamson.
"Our Deepest Fear" (is often mistakenly cited as a Nelson Mandela quote).
The passage has such inspirational power that it is now a stand-alone mantra for a generation of exceptional individuals who wish to motivate themselves and others to live up to their fullest potential.
The words "deepest" is often replaced with "greatest" in reprints of the passage, although the original uses "deepest", as seen below. "Our Deepest Fear", as it is best known, is a cultural phenomenon as it is quickly becoming one of today's most well known sagacious quotes from an author who lives amongst us.
Make your dreams come true,stay inspired,remain honest to your purpose,love unconditionnally ..and celebrate each day like it is your last..
Love
Vaidya Priyanka
This widely acclaimed poem is actually not a poem at all, but an excerpt from A Return To Love, a book by motivational speaker Marianne Williamson.
"Our Deepest Fear" (is often mistakenly cited as a Nelson Mandela quote).
The passage has such inspirational power that it is now a stand-alone mantra for a generation of exceptional individuals who wish to motivate themselves and others to live up to their fullest potential.
The words "deepest" is often replaced with "greatest" in reprints of the passage, although the original uses "deepest", as seen below. "Our Deepest Fear", as it is best known, is a cultural phenomenon as it is quickly becoming one of today's most well known sagacious quotes from an author who lives amongst us.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Make your dreams come true,stay inspired,remain honest to your purpose,love unconditionnally ..and celebrate each day like it is your last..
Love
Vaidya Priyanka
From God's own country..
It has been a long time since I blogged..I write to you from the land of Ayurveda,spices,music,culture,tradition and good home style cooking..or should I say "aum" style cooking..
This afternoon was a meal extrordinaire.
Ela Sadya
A Sadya is a big feast associated with a special occasion, such as a marriage, birthday, childbirth but there was no such special occasion today except to celebrate the day,the present moment,the culinary experiments that I am more than happy to be part of..always..
The meal is traditionally a vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf and can have upto 24 dishes served as part of it.
We eat the meal sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The dishes are plain boiled rice, many curries, papadum, plain yogurt and or buttermilk, banana,cassava or plantain chips, and two or more sweet dishes. The curries are made of different vegetables and have different flavours,textures,colours. They can be made of yogurt, bitter gourd, mango, jaggery and several other local vegetables.
It is often said that we should never allow a guest to leave our homes without them enjoying at least 3 dishes.With such a wide array of gastronomic delights,guests would be very satisfied.
Coconut, being abundant in Kerala, is used in almost all dishes. Coconut milk and yoghurt are also part of the culinary fare as star ingredients.
There is a specific place for each item on the plantain leaf. For example, the pickles are served on the top left corner and banana on the bottom left corner. We can this determine what is missing on each guests' leaf just by glancing at an empty space on the leaf.
There are variations in the menu according to the place and the religion. Some communities include non-vegetarian dishes in the sadya. Although custom was to use traditional and seasonal vegetables, it has become common practice to include vegetables such as carrots, pineapples, beans in the dishes. Onion and garlic are not typically used in the sadya.
The sadya is usually served as lunch. Preparations begin the night before, and the dishes are prepared before ten o' clock in the morning on the day of the celebration.
All the dishes are served on the plantain leaf; it requires a special skill to eat the food. The whole palm and fingers of the hand have to be used in the form of a ladle to lift the food from the leaf and eat it without spilling it.
Traditionally, the people of the neighbourhood spent the night helping the cooks in preparation viz., scraping coconut and cutting vegetables.
I really wish that you were here to share this wonderful meal with me.To take in the flavours of the food,the fragrances of the little town,its very hospitable people,the therapeutic recipes and the divine ambience.
Maybe,we will make a trip back to my "aum" land together very soon..
Until then,eat well
chOrruNDO? is a combination of the words chOrr(u) "cooked rice" and uNDO? "did you eat?" and literally means "Have you eaten your rice?" In Asia, it's very common to ask whether you've eaten or bathed. Such a greeting doesn't mean anything; it's just a way of saying hi. (The reason why it asks whether you've eaten rice specifically is simply because in Kerala, rice is considered essential for any good meal)
This afternoon was a meal extrordinaire.
Ela Sadya
A Sadya is a big feast associated with a special occasion, such as a marriage, birthday, childbirth but there was no such special occasion today except to celebrate the day,the present moment,the culinary experiments that I am more than happy to be part of..always..
The meal is traditionally a vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf and can have upto 24 dishes served as part of it.
We eat the meal sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The dishes are plain boiled rice, many curries, papadum, plain yogurt and or buttermilk, banana,cassava or plantain chips, and two or more sweet dishes. The curries are made of different vegetables and have different flavours,textures,colours. They can be made of yogurt, bitter gourd, mango, jaggery and several other local vegetables.
It is often said that we should never allow a guest to leave our homes without them enjoying at least 3 dishes.With such a wide array of gastronomic delights,guests would be very satisfied.
Coconut, being abundant in Kerala, is used in almost all dishes. Coconut milk and yoghurt are also part of the culinary fare as star ingredients.
There is a specific place for each item on the plantain leaf. For example, the pickles are served on the top left corner and banana on the bottom left corner. We can this determine what is missing on each guests' leaf just by glancing at an empty space on the leaf.
There are variations in the menu according to the place and the religion. Some communities include non-vegetarian dishes in the sadya. Although custom was to use traditional and seasonal vegetables, it has become common practice to include vegetables such as carrots, pineapples, beans in the dishes. Onion and garlic are not typically used in the sadya.
The sadya is usually served as lunch. Preparations begin the night before, and the dishes are prepared before ten o' clock in the morning on the day of the celebration.
All the dishes are served on the plantain leaf; it requires a special skill to eat the food. The whole palm and fingers of the hand have to be used in the form of a ladle to lift the food from the leaf and eat it without spilling it.
Traditionally, the people of the neighbourhood spent the night helping the cooks in preparation viz., scraping coconut and cutting vegetables.
I really wish that you were here to share this wonderful meal with me.To take in the flavours of the food,the fragrances of the little town,its very hospitable people,the therapeutic recipes and the divine ambience.
Maybe,we will make a trip back to my "aum" land together very soon..
Until then,eat well
chOrruNDO? is a combination of the words chOrr(u) "cooked rice" and uNDO? "did you eat?" and literally means "Have you eaten your rice?" In Asia, it's very common to ask whether you've eaten or bathed. Such a greeting doesn't mean anything; it's just a way of saying hi. (The reason why it asks whether you've eaten rice specifically is simply because in Kerala, rice is considered essential for any good meal)
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