Friday, August 2, 2019

Igatpuri experience

#135
Before I forget, as an aside: I filed my IT returns thanks to my auditor Manimaran.  He was resourceful and gave me total satisfaction with his concept of “fair market value in 2001” rather than the “guideline value in 2001”. That way my capital gains were next to nothing and so this is one huge worry that resolved itself to a sigh of relief.
            I came from Igapuri on 29th July almost a changed person. First, I learnt to do the body scan from 10 min to 30 min and suddenly my mind was able to perceive more subtlety in body sensations. Which means I have been amiss a long while, a simple change from sitting on the floor to chair got me to go real slow and efficient. Now I can even stretch myself to a Adhisttan (not change my sitting posture for an hour). I believe I have grown as a person from 10% to 20% in this week, which is doubling myself quality wise. I came home and did the blog series on THINKSATHYA, 3-part series aggregating to 4,500 words within 24 hours which is breakneck speed even to me.
            I am not going to repeat the insights I wrote there here on dauntless. Except add contents that I could not fit there, like “a virtuous mind must feel sorrow when it hurts others” as I experienced in the Dhamma hall. I was seated on the third row, there was one meditator on the fourth row who would be invariably late for group sittings and each time he went past my back his trouser would scrap my behind. It happened couple of times and then on the fourth day I turned around and said, “Ooch” and a stare. We are in the vow of silence and this is technically breaking it. I felt so sad at my boorishness, the waves of regret and contrition lasted almost half a day. On the final day, I made it a point to apologize to him.
            That drove my mind into this area: Each time my mind is going downhill the first symptoms is  it starts beating itself for a self-flagellation ruminating either on my sisters or the Sindhi. This is watering a dead plant or feeding dead fishes, there is nothing to be gained except collect misery for a high degree of masochism. I also thought that I had become shameless; I was taking a malicious pleasure hurting them with my blogs. For a Vipassana meditator nothing can be more self-damaging. Buddha would have died of shock if he knew any of his disciples inflicting hurts and deriving pleasure. This is one territory I resolve to shut shop, the first thing I did on coming back to Chennai was delete a blog titled “Remembering Pushpa”.
            Another insight was “I TALK HUGE” and at times almost NON-STOP. There is no excuse to say “since I hardly get an opportunity to speak, let me not squander any opportunities.” The truth is “people respect LISTENING and CARING and not an INTELLIGENT VOCIFEROUS MOUTH.” As Goenka G sums it perfectly: Knowledge always gives rise to debates and confusion, it is experience that removes doubt. Intelligence is no more than information available on Google search, wisdom is LISTENING AND CARING which I must learn some day.  Already this realization has gotten me to “speak haltingly rather than a Rajdhani kind of speed” earlier. We all desire to be understood but that doesn't give me the right to drill a hole on other people’s heads.
            Finally, this thought kept shouting in my head; The birds and animals work for the day while my days are filled with IDLENESS. I must engage in an activity, have some earnings. I will ask some friends, there is a visit to Mumbai in the middle of AUG where I will request my instructors or anyone who can assist me there. I have to find an earning source in 2019 or else I cannot afford Besant nagar with the bourses crashing; my height of optimism now is to recover my capital which I expect in the festival season. With YES BANK still on life-support I am staring at a huge loss as of now. I have half a mind to wind up Besant nagar and take up lodgings near Igatpuri. I like the Mumbai/Maharashtra crowd – they will not crib admitting me to a critical care on necessity or cremate me when I am gone something which is highly doubtful in a tambrahm filled Chennai.
            My meditations have improved but there is no letup in my nightmares. In sleep my mind goes back to school where I am failing in Physics and Chemistry, I see all my school mates in adult version. Everyone is a success and I am shrinking myself in shame having nothing to show. All the family desertion, failure in jobs and romance adds up to failing in exams in nightmare. It is for this reason alone I want a couple of years in a job, maybe a romance would help too. But these are things not in my hands.
            As for me I must get the focus back to stock trading; I must get the JUNE discipline of spending an hour on charts. I must get back to the CONTROLLED trades. I am still looking for a spark for the engine to start. This 20% is still “FAILED” status, I need some daily supply of life moments for a pass at 40%. I am trying as ever, what else can I do differently?

No comments:

Post a Comment