Arjuna and the Fish Eye: the fallacy of being over-informed, hyper-busy and multi-tasking

Focusing on what matters, The Redwoods, 2006

Here’s a little story from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, about the renowned archery master Dronacharya training the Pandava brothers in the art and skill of archery. Once, when the five Pandava brothers and Karna were assembled for an archery instruction session with Guru Drona, he tied a wooden fish high on a tree above a pool of water, and asked each student, one by one, to take the archer’s stance. He instructed them to aim their bow and arrow at the fish’s eye, while looking only at its reflection in the water below. As each student came along and took his turn, Guru Drona made them pause in the stance and asked, “Son, what all do you see?” The oldest, Yudhisthira, answered, “The sky, the tree, the …,” and before he could finish, Drona

Tourist or Traveler?

Machu Pichu, Peru, Jan 2008

After a significant hiatus from writing, perhaps the best excuse I can offer is that … “I was traveling.” Some literally, some metaphorically, for what is life but a journey?

On that note, I have observed that most people, whether on a holiday journey or life journey, adopt one of two roles: tourist or traveler. I don’t, of course, mean to suggest that only these binary states exist with nothing in-between, but for the sake of exposition and discourse, let’s move with that assumption for a moment.

As a tourist, one is primarily focused on the destination, on “getting somewhere.” Milestones are mapped out: the Major Museum, the Ancient Monument, the Best Restaurant, the Famous Lake, the Tallest Mountain.

The cost of being right

Nearly three years ago, when I still worked at a large global design firm, a new employee was assigned to the desk next to me in the open-office system. She was an interior designer with “several years of experience,” had come from another well-known, large, local firm, was an inscrutable 60 years of age, pranced around in shimmery ponchos, and held her head cocked at an angle. I hadn’t made up my mind yet about whether I liked her or not; she seemed a bit strange. But she took to chatting with me with alacrity. One day she caught me by surprise by making an astute observation about one of the senior principals in the office, alluding to his not-so-fair behavior in a rather ambiguous and reserved way, leaving her quite inculpable of being judgmental. The comment promptly ignited a bristling righteousness in me, however.

Creating a life beyond migraines

Having experienced debilitating migraines for 19 years, the journey from surviving with them to thriving inspite of them has been long, arduous, insightful and ultimately, joyful. I have accessed science, art and spirituality to first understand my migraines, then find acceptance for them, and finally, move towards transcending them.

To share my discoveries, I have created a “lens” on the website Squidoo**. If this topic interests you, please see http://www.squidoo.com/lifebeyondmigraines

**Squidoo is a venture in which it is believed that everyone is an expert on something. Squidoo allows you to create a “lens” – a focused piece of writing along with references and resources, on a subject of your expertise. I follow the old adage – write what you know about.

How the mind interferes with Consciousness

In a previous post – Future becomes Past without being Present - I shared how the only way to move through a time of intense suffering had been to live two hours at a time – that is, be fully and uncompromisingly present.

This eventually led to an insight that my suffering was rooted in my concept of linear, sequential time – represented by the past or the future – in the form of memories and projections, which I turned into stories about myself, identified with myself, and then suffered from them. These memories, projections and stories, if unguarded and unobserved eventually add up to so much noise that it can become impossible to be present, to access the power of now.  So, once I was given this insight, the question arose: If I have observed this incessant noise-making tendency in myself, which am I? Am I the observer or the generator of noise? Who is the observer, who is conscious of, and present to my incessant identification with past memories and future projections? And who is then, the generator of this noise, these identifications, these attachments? Which is me?

The Power of Now

Early this year, I wrote a post titled Future becomes Past without being Present.

Well, I am currently reading Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now. I had already read his more advanced work A New Earth , and I’m finding that The Power of Now is a wonderful prequel to better understand the foundation of Tolle’s message in an accessible way. Reading it is functioning as a great reminder of the concepts I am living, experiencing, and seeking to write about … it is a continuous practice!  My posts In pursuit of being (something) and Cruising on the road of life demonstrate the the power of now in practice.

Reaction, Response, or Initiation

Last week I wrote about distinguishing between decision and choice.  It was while working in a fast-paced, aggressive environment that I had an experience fully illustrating how recognizing and exercising choice could immensely benefit actions and outcomes.

In the summer of 2007, I had been instrumental in helping the global design firm I worked for, win a prestigious contract for a sport and entertainment (and philanthropic) organization in Hong Kong. This client was looking to revitalize their sport and their product offerings, and rejuvenate their entire customer base; I was to be the brain and talent behind completing a process of engagement and customer discovery that would eventually translate into a design vision for a new master plan. The experts in sports-and-entertainment within my firm were located in our Los Angeles office, so I was working closely with them on this project. This collaboration ended up being one of the most delightful experiences of my entire 8-year career with the firm, as the leaders of

Decision or Choice?

Even as an insatiable language enthusiast who revels in the nuances of words, for most of my life, I had used the words choice and decision interchangeably. “Come on, hurry up and decide!” or, “Come on, hurry up and make a choice!” sound quite the same to most ears and minds, don’t they?

In the summer of 2005, at the urging of a colleague, I enrolled myself in the Landmark Forum. There were many, many transformative things I learned in that intense 3-day weekend, but one of my biggest takeaways was an awareness of the significant difference between a decision and a choice. This distinction was only introduced to me that weekend; it has taken years of iterations to really understand it, and continues to take more time to actually practice it.

Cruising on the road of life

Exactly three years ago, in late June 2006, my childhood best friend Amrita came to visit me in Seattle from New Delhi. It was her first visit to the United States, and we had talked about it for years and years, ever since the inseparable two were separated with my move to America in 1997, but it had never happened. Of course that’s because it was meant to happen right then – my childhood friend, coming out to share in my re-birth, and spend time with me in my new home and new post-divorce life!

As you might imagine, there was much excitement about what all we might do in her 20-day stay. I wanted of course, that she spend enough time in glorious, summertime Seattle, and then I also wanted her to get a taste of the spirit of America. Being architects and design-lovers, it was tempting to zip around to international design hubs like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles … or, as I finally proposed to her: we could experience one of America’s biggest assets – her natural wonders. And we could do this using her biggest symbol of freedom – the great big automobile!

So, off we went, renting a huge SUV (one-way) for a weeklong road trip along Pacific Highway 101, starting in Seattle and ending in Los Angeles, with various stops in coast-towns of Washington, Oregon and California, including Portland

A Mix of Both: The Middle Path

There is a lot is going on in the world these days. The economic meltdown isn’t showing any big signs of recovery. There is anxiety over Iran and North Korea. Pakistan is falling to the Taliban, or so it seems anyway. Iraq has ongoing and unrelenting violence. The problem of Israel and Palestine persists, bigger than ever. America’s new President is stuck between his own ideology (and promises) and the reality of implementation – often falling short of the expectations he raised.

Living in Seattle is an interesting experience. It is the liberal’s haven – people here do all the “right” things – they build sustainably, they recycle and compost, they drive around cars with NO WAR stickers, they celebrate Pride enmass. What many don’t realize is that there is an underlying simmering backlash from those who find themselves in the minority – on the conservative end of the political spectrum – who feel engulfed with this political righteousness. And that it makes someone like me, who wants to adopt the Middle Path, stuck quite in the … well … middle.