Saturday, February 16, 2013

Chandralekha-sharira

Chandralekha was an acclaimed bharata natyam dancer in India in the 1950s and early 1960s, Chandralekha left the dance world for two decades before emerging as an acclaimed new choreographer in 1984. Based in Madras until her death in 2007, she was dedicated to reinvigorating traditional forms with contemporary energy. This is a fraction of Sharira, her last piece, with dancer and writer Tishani Doshi. 


Thursday, February 14, 2013

SUFI

The Sufic way of thinking is particularly appropriate in a world of mass communication, when every effort is directed toward making people believe certain things; that they should as a consequence do certain things that their manipulator a want them to do.
The Sufis often start from a nonreligious point of view. The answer, they say, is within the mind of mankind. It has to be liberated, so that by self-knowledge the intuition becomes the guide to human fulfillment. The other way, the way of training suppresses and stills the intuition. Humanity is turned into a conditioned animal by non-Sufi systems, while being told that it is free and creative, has a choice of thought and action.
The Sufi is an individual who believes that by practicing alternate detachment and identification with life, he becomes free. He is a mystic because he believes that he can become attuned to the purpose of all life. He is a practical man because he believes that this process must take place within normal society. And he must serve humanity because he is part of it.
The exercises of the Sufis have been developed through the interaction of two things, intuition and the changing aspects of human life. Different methods will suggest themselves intuitively in different societies and at various times. This is not inconsistent, because real intuition is itself always consistent.
The Sufi life can be lived at any time, in any place. It does not require withdrawal from the world, or organized movements, or dogma. It is coterminous with existence of humanity. It cannot, therefore, accurately be termed an Eastern system. It has profoundly influenced both the East and the very bases of the Western civilization in which many of us live- the mixture of Christian, Jewish, Moslem, and Near Eastern or Mediterranean heritage commonly called "Western."
Mankind, according to the Sufis, is infinitely perfectable. The perfection comes about through attunement with the whole of existence. Physical and spiritual life meet, but only when there is a complete balance between them. Systems which teach withdrawal from the world are regarded as unbalanced.

Expert from "The Sufis" by Idries Shah

Monday, February 11, 2013

Insomnia

I'm in a warm bed, inside the outside cold of Istanbul.
Something is not cozy inside me, and it might be the uncertainty
unclear of what doubts down on me... I project towards the security of the first sun rays
A breakfast with citrus, almonds and warm milk with honey,
and a few hours later a plate full of olives.
If the morning goes as expected,
the night will turn familiar.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

MARLEY-2012 Documentary

The true meaning and power of art is to transform the soul and unite people in love. It does not matter in which form it comes, it could be Buddhist chanting or Reggae; as long as the carrier of the message stays true to heart and always non-violent. This documentary was revealing and beautiful, surely the whole world has heard the songs and here are the true reasons why it has touched us all.