The Law of Attraction - Esther and Jerry Hicks

 One of the main thing the book talks about is to get in touch with our Non-Physical Source Energy or our 'Inner Being'. When we are in touch with our Inner Being we can intentionally create. Meditation is one way to get in touch with the Inner Being.

Can we create the life we want? Yes, say the authors. In our lack of self-appreciation we deny ourselves the natural inheritance of continuous joy. We can find this continuous joy through the processes they give in the book 1) Law of Attraction 2) Science of Deliberate Creation 3) Art of Allowing.

Law of Attraction

It is a powerful law. That which is like, draws unto itself more of that. We attract all our experiences without exception.  Like a magnet we attract the essence of what we are thinking and feeling. Our feelings and thoughts create vibrations and when we pay attention to them, we affect our vibration and create our experience.

The Inner Being communicates through emotion. When the emotion is positive there is harmony, when the emotion is negative, there is disharmony. The better you feel the better you attract. So pay attention to how you feel, to your emotional guidance system. The better you feel, the faster you manifest because your attention and the feeling are right. The key is that you focus attention on what you want while experiencing a positive emotion.

Interestingly the authors say - disregard everything and focus on how you prefer things to be. Your state of being is how you feel about yourself at any point in life.

The authors ask us to enter a Creative Workshop Process every day either at the beginning or at the end of the day (maybe both also). First, be happy. Then, look for things and experiences you liked through the day. Prepare a picture in your mind. Create the world you want. Disappointment is communication from your Inner Being letting you know that what you are focused upon is not what you want.  

Another method to create something which is beyond your belief is to 'Bridge the Belief' - i.e. start with the belief and slowly work through your own fears and doubts and arrive at a place where you are OK with expecting that. Cognitively tell yourself that maybe you are feeling this way but maybe it could happen also etc.

When we resist certain ideas and say 'I don't want' -  what you are doing is giving it more power and attracting it into your life. So you end up getting  what you really really want and what you really really don't want.

The best way is to seek joy because in seeking joy we find alignment with our Inner Being. When joy is really important to you, you do not allow yourself to focus on things that do not feel good. The result of thinking only thoughts that feel good would cause you to create a wonderful life filled with all you desire. 

The greatest gift we can give another is the gift of your expectation of your success. 

People in pain are creating their own agony by focusing on things they do not want. To help them, turn your undivided attention to their successful resolution of their painful situation and inspire an actual solution for them.

The achievement of anything you desire most is the mark of success.

Science of Deliberate Creation

In the physical world we first launch thought (desire) and then there is an expectation from the thought (creation). In the non-physical world, they happen simultaneously. Since we are in the physical world, the way to create is to joyfully create in thought what you have launched. To be inspired in the action of joy.

There are only two emotions - good or bad (choose good). When you're feeling good, you don't have to monitor your thoughts. So be guided by the best-feeling-thoughts. Trust your inner guidance system. Most times when we want something, we block it immediately with a 'but'. Don't. Create. Allow it to come.

Exercise - take three strips of paper and at the top write what you want. Beneath it write all the reasons why you want it 2) at the back write all reason why you will have this  

Again we have a Workshop for Deliberate Creation. Thoughts with great emotion have greater potential.Giving thought on one hand and expecting or believing on the other is the balance that brings to you that which you receive. Negative emotions, miscreate. To create use your thoughts, eyes, words from what is to what you want.

Be specific enough that you feel positive emotion but not so specific that you feel negative. Give your thought direction, details until you feel good. To reverse a downward spiral - do something that will change your thought.

Art of Allowing

The essence is this - I am that which I am and am pleased with it. You are that which you are and though different, we're good. I am willing to allow all others to be that which they are, just as I allow myself to be who I am.

Allowing is a positive emotion. Tolerating is a negative emotion. When we are solution oriented, we are positive. When our focus is on the problem, we have a negative mindset.

When we are clear about what we want, its easy. That which you give your emotional attention to is what you draw into your experience.

Not allowing of self is where not allowing of others comes from.

Exercise: Every morning for 3 days say 'I intend to see, I want to see, I expect to see..'

Segment Intending

All our creative power is in the moment. But we are projecting it not only into this moment but also to the future . Segment Intending is the power of deliberate creation for what is specifically created for those moments in time. If there are too many things there is confusion. Pause many times during the day and do segment intending.

All physical beings have communication from their Inner Being in the form of emotion - so whenever your emotion is positive, you are in harmony with your intention. When we meditate we withdraw focus from the physical world and focus on our inner world. In the workshop we give deliberate thought to what we want. In segment intending we identify what we want in each segment.

The authors insist that there is great value in being happy, because only from the point of being happy can you attract that which you want.

Usually there is much more time spent in the thought of the negative thing that happened than in what actually happens.

When in conflicting situations - simply take your eye off what is conflicting anf put it on the essence of what you want.

...

I liked the book and its ideas of creative workshop, of creating things we wan by imagining them and by making them happen by being in a happy emotion while imagining those. I liked the idea of segment intending too - intentions and emotions for each segment of the day. Continuously create your life they say. I am sure with practice we an.               

Amar Akbar Anthony - Movie Review

 AAA came in theatres and A spotted it somehow. She wanted to watch it and booked the tickets and off we went for a 4 pm show at Inorbit. Now Inorbit has a new system of parking where we park in another building behind it and hitch a ride on a bus they provided. Only thing with all this is that we have to plan for an extra 15 minutes which we did, fearful souls that we are, and landed up right in time to buy the most expensive stale popcorn ever and super cold Pepsi  (some 500 bucks).

The movie started off in a hurry with Pran coming out of jail, finding his wife has TB, his children are hungry, finding Robert has not paid the family as promised, losing his kids, wife going blind in addition to TB...its a litany of woes. Very soon he confronts Robert and escapes in his car - and fortuitously his gold. Now the tables are turned - Pran becomes a rich smuggler and Robert starts working for him. The three kids AAA grow up in three different backgrounds and find three different girl friends. For some reason Vinod Khanna's story and girl friend are rather insipid and left loose, but all's well and ends well. The most adventurous of the lot is certainly Nirupa Roy who goes through many hassles but happily goes about selling flowers (even sopping a surgery to sell her flowers once - so persistent is she) and is richly rewarded by getting her eyesight back. 

The film has some amazing continuity issues and leaves many strands open but who cares - its full on entertainment with Amitabh leading the way with his fabulous role as Anthony Gonsalves, maker of hooch who is in a 50:50 partnership with God. His drunk scene stands out just as Vinod Khanna stands out when he takes his short off and Rishi Kapoor kills the quawwali.

Lovely!

 

Dasara - Movie

 Watched 'Dasara' on OTT the other day. It's a story of a village in the middle of coal mines. The people of the village are addicted to alcohol and the people who run the bar 'Silk Bar' (named after Silk Smitha) seem to control the local politics. Enter lower caste Nani with his upper caste friend Suri and they and their gang seem to have a good life stealing coal from trains and drinking it away. Suri is in love with upper caste girl (though Nani is secretly in love with her but does not claim her thanks to his caste issues). Things transpire and it boils down to a cricket match which if they win, Suri gets to marry the girl (and also get a job as cashier at the bar). Match won, girl won, they upset the powers that be and that begins a carnage. Chaps with gunny bags over their heads and sickles come and kill. Nani has to take revenge on Dasara day where he kills a couple of dozen people and all is well in the end. Would I watch it again - no. 

 

Arts Management 2023 - 'Let's Meet' - Meeting our Professors

 One of the initiatives we did in the early years was to invite the experts from within the department - the wealth of knowledge we have in the department itself - and meet them as experts and not as faculty restricted to their subject. The students were to invite the Professors as artists and experts in their areas and have a freewheeling chat about their experiences etc. Harideeptha said she would take the responsibility for organising these sessions and Aiswarya, Ketharani, Sreelakshmi and others joined her.

Standing L to R: Nayana, Sreelakshmi, Abhirami, Poojitha, Harideeptha, Sharmila, Srividya, Vaishnavi, Devamanohari, Sreelakshmi, Aishwarya
Sitting: Dr Sivaraju and yours truly

We started off with  Professor Sivaraju who shared his lifestory. How he was fascinated by dance, how he went to Chennai as a young boy all by himself, roamed around and finally found his way back home. How his desire to not be satisfied led him to pursue dance, pursue his PhD and land up in the field of academics. Multi faceted and highly talented, Professor Sivaraju spoke of how he would question everything and worked hard to understand every aspect. It was an inspirational talk and showed the students the way forward was to question, to work hard and to never settle for the easy option.

Lto R: Srividya, Shresta, Sannidha, Poojitha, Nayana, Vaishnavi, Sharmila, Prof Aruna Bhikshu, me, Aishwarya, Ketharani, Harideeptha, Sofia, Sreelakshmi, Devamanohari

Sannidha, Srividya, Shreshta, Poojitha, Vaishnavi, Abhirami, Nayana, Sharmila, Prof. Aruna Bhikshu, me, Aishwarya, Ketharani, Harideeptha, Sofia, Sreelakshmi, Devamanohari 

Next we had Professor Aruna Bhikshu who spoke of her journey in the field of dance. How she started dancing at a young age, how she studied at the Department of Dance and did her PhD. She spoke of the techniques and certain insights and lessons she had learned and held the audience captivated with her informal, easy, humorous way of speaking. It was again an inspirational and knowledgeable session with several takeaways for the students.

Sannidha, Sridevi, Ketharani, Nayana, Sreelakshmi, Prof. Anuradha, me, Shrestha, Vaishnavi, Harideeptha

Last week we had Professor Anuradha Jonnalagadda who spoke of her journey, the passion, the joy of dancing. She spoke of the effort that was required, the patience one must have to succeed. I asked her to share any of her personal insights and she said something very interesting - she said that there was a key to each movement which made it beautiful and added grace. She demonstrated one movement and said how it was not about the hands or the torso but about the core. Again an inspirational talk with lots of insights and takeaways for the audience.

I liked the way Harideeptha kept adding new elements - a flower arrangements with bougainvilleas, the session heading on the board, coffee and water for the guests, introduction and a vote of thanks. She even asked me each time if there were any suggestions and she implemented every suggestion I gave. Good work Harideeptha and class. It is when we have these conversations that we realise how much knowledge and wisdom there is around us and how we do not tap into it.       

Thought for the Day - Don't React, Wait Until You're In a Space of Love

 Something happened the other day. I was hoping to do something which I believed was good for my client but I was rather upset at the way they decided to do something else. I was upset and shot off a message that I would like to relook at the whole engagement. In fact my thought process went as far off as wanting to end it.

After a while I realised it was a very reactive action. I guess my ego got in the way, or even the idea that my method was right. Even though it probably was, it is quite alright for others to think or behave differently. Since the decision was already made, there was no need for me to react. I could have looked at how to take it forward from the current situation instead of blaming them. 

Instead of reacting if I had responded from a place of love my response would have been very different. I would have looked at the longer, greater good and thought of all the ways I could help the client instead of hinging everything on one action.

It was then that I decided - never react from this place of ego. Don't message, don't say anything, don't reply. Wait for the ego to settle. Look instead for the place of love. What would you do from a place of love. Then we see so many wonderful possibilities.

Love offers possibilities. Ego closes them.

Always wait until you are in a place of love.     

Annie Hall - Movie

 And then we watched Annie Hall where Woody Allen just lets go and shows us a film on a relationship of a neurotic man that breaks eventually - obviously everyone on the planet will identify with it. Brilliant, witty and intelligent, it breaks so many paradigms. 'The funniest ever screenplay'

Dr Strangelove - Movie

 Next in our classics was Dr Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's 1953 film with Peter Sellers in three roles. Once again I was awestruck by how they made this crazy film about the people who seem to control our lives - all shown in a span of a few hours when a commie-hating army man issues a command to warplanes to attack Russia which unknown to them had built a Doomsday machine!