Landmine of Deceptions, Gardens of Integrity

So we think we can get away with deception. Well, don't deceive.
Remember, the truth behind your words can be FELT by another.
Do not misunderstand their compassion in listening to your spoken lies to mean your smartness at convincing them, at deceiving them. Don't buy time, earn the trust.
That's how nature is, isn't it? Trees don't lie, animals do not deceive. Earth doesn't fake. In their being we have a strong bonding with it, a connection and a trust. Nature is proof that life exists on it's basis. The basis of authenticity.

As we invest, so we get returns
It is how you treat another that you are treating yourself. There is always a payback time. At that time you get back what you have invested. And this process is in action at all moment.
Your actual intent is translated as your karma not your smart words, which is pure excreta.
Deceiving others and worse still deceiving yourself, is such a destructive way of being. What appears to be a safe zone of existence, what we are doing is actually setting up landmines all around us. And landmines are landmines. Destructive!
Deceiving is an indication of lack of trust. Deep rooted and habitual way of being. So much so that we no longer are aware that we are being harmful to ourself to all around.

Relationships
Relations can never be built on a war field, where there is only death,  cruelty and stench. Deception is violent. Violence is destructive.
To build a relation, even with one's own self, a womb that nurtures needs to be created. We eternally exist in a womb. The womb has to be a healthy,  nourishing,  kind and compassionate culture. Where there is spiritual strength of honesty, integrity, trust,  strong sense of oneness, faith in power of divine and a belief in one's own self. A womb that's poisoned can only cause death or warped life.
The womb is where we are in relationship with nature. The womb is pure truth and a very spiritually charged place endowed with life forming energy. Our external relationships are formed and nurtured in the womb of our spirit. Our body is the womb, our families are, our environment is, The earth is, the cosmos is. When we realise this, then we realise that all that we have is meant to support life in it's pristinity. That life is nurturing and giving. When we go against it life is an aberration to nature, getting diseased.
In connectivity relationships are formed. In disconnection, negative tendencies like deception sprouts.
Life can no longer flourish. It becomes a diseased being. A disease only destroys. Destroys self and others.

No amount of cosmetics or clothing can conceal it. Even if you veil it from other's eye, you still know within that you are no longer at ease. You are disconnected, aloof and lack courage or confidence to connect with yourself and your environment. You are unrelated with yourself, leave alone forming a relation. No conversations, no connection. You are only talking to yourself and convincing yourself. Even when you talk to others, you are un related. No relations at all.

Deceiving yourself with fake sense of achievements
Life's worth and success if were measured by material possession, then the spirit would never have been a need of humanity. We would all be alone. It is the spirit that connects us.
If the spirit was not important, humanity would never evolve anyways. What is the human quest?
When you are not at peace, you fight, lack trust, see devils, get cheated. You feel comfortable only with the weak minded fake-sters. Even here you are constantly suspicious and struggling. You neither grow, nor prosper. Infact you try to pull others in this cesspool. You try fake jubilance over "achievements".
Is this the human quest? Unrelated, unreal... devastated and lacking courage to stand tall.

 Beauty of Spirit
Where there is Compassion, Integrity and power of the Spirit, there is confidence, there is courage and the strength to move mountains. They who count little coins don't own the world. The world belongs to the bold and compassionate personality. A bold and compassionate being does not rely on deception. They live in the womb of Divinity. They inspire, they lead, they have conquered the base spirit and have no fear. They are so rich that material wealth is just a by the way, The richness of their spirit far out weighs the metals and stones and such notions of prosperity and achievements. Their relationship with themselves is very refined. In their garden exists relations of all beings who feel the strength of their aura and persona. There is a sense of security, peace, warmth, compassion and plenty in their domain. Many seek to bask in it, beings of all kind. No they are NOT greater than anyone else, they are the same matter as others and may appear to be "poor". However the moment you are with them they uplift your spirit and fill you with hope and joy and you leave feeling Prosperous. They have such poise, grace and dignity about them that relating with them is effortless. Internally they are at ease with themselves so they radiate outwards. They are often misunderstood. But that which emanates glory of being cannot be ignored. Even out of jealousy you avoid, you are still attracted to their gravitating personality. So was Ravana to Rama. Kamsa to Krishna. Life is so beautiful, that it is waste to spend it warring over material.
No one visits a gutter, we all love gardens. That's nature. Nature is too vast. Embrace the vastness of being, than clinging on to the mini-me and mine-mine.

Make a garden of bountiful spirit and  not a bed of landmines.

Being 50 in a 71 year old home

This is a pure rambling done on my 50th birthday. I got emotional. And why not.  I am 50, and both in July. It's majestic!
I am publishing it into the 6th month of completing my 50.
I have a lot to say about this life.
However i shall leave it for then.
I was born in this majestic country Bharat, which was reinvented after 300 years of dominance. She was about to step into her adulthood in her new avatar. My parents, the nouveau adults, were a little older than her. They were the all same generation, my nation and my parents. For a nation she was a feisty 21 year old, a teenager. Lead by our first and so far the last woman Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi. I grew up watching our nation transition threw the perils of maturing. With my nation, i got to the see the seasons of this evolution reflecting in my lifestyle and choices. I believe anyone born in in the 60s arrived into a field of magical charm. Look at it globally some really remarkable things happened. I shall pick Pt. Ravi Shanker and U. Allah Rakha, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Hippies, Psychedelic drugs, and R.D. Burman and the Woodstock, S&G's "the sound of silence". Vietnam war, JFK, Martin Luther King, Che Guevara, assasination. Yuri Gagarin in space, Woman in space, Man on Moon. Fashion was revolutionary with slacks, bell bottoms, polka dots, puffed sleeves, Phillip Sleeves, Tercosa fabric, Terylene, Nylon. Global political scene getting vocal (past the WWs) and pretty engaging and classy, so were the politicians they were bigger than film stars. Movies Aradhana, Padosan, Ray classics like Charulata, Kanchenjunga, Nayak, Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne. The sound of music, the pink panther, Spaghetti westerns.. Sports had it's own victories, Abebe Bikila, Cassius Clay and some good Cricket and Hockey matches happened for Indians. The pride of being born in that period and in this country in my family is heady. Of the many things this period gave me was some profound cultural grounding. 1968 was also the year when Shri Swamiji toured the world. Indian spirituality was gaining prominence. Growing up in the golden era of music and media. Anything new is always rich. The analogous world of less but quality was heady. Vinyls held at most 12 songs. Cassettes recorded at most 20. Movies in 35mm. The big screen was cinema scope 70 mm. Film rolls could shoot at most 36 photographs. Stocks were available in different speeds depending on light condition. Less was more. Food tasted great. Eating at hotels and restaurants were special. We "dressed up" to go out. Nuclear family meant getting to visit be visited by lots of cousins and having fun vacations. There were ribbons and outdoor games. Dirt, injuries, fights and friendships. Secret crushes, fantasies and secrecy. Well into our terms we still felt bashful and ecstatic talking to the opposite gender. There was purity and innocence into our 20s. Marriages could be between virgins. And i cannot miss the most remarkable aspect of my times, woman power. They were getting more expressed, educated and smart. My mother a stark example, one of the few women who was ahead of time. So ahead, that our times couldn't cope with her speed of modernity. She was the live hippy i experienced. There was no woman like her i have known. Man she was a super woman. She went out at super speed. I was 8. This event brought a new friend in my life books and love for information and spirituality. Those were the timber of books, novels, newspaper, magazines, newsmags. I had even spied upon a playboy and was enamored by the photography. Vogue was the ultimate sensory pleasure, since TV was black and white. Color was best enjoyed in novels or cinema halls. News reels played before movies. Choco bar was the ultimate treat during intervals. My frock was always spoiled with the melting chocolate. Those were the days of Silk sarees and heavy jewelries. My mom loved the Georgettes and chiffons. Those were the days of embroideries. My grandmother loved crocheting and doing any kind of needle work. She was another remarkable woman in my life. She traveled to her children's houses across the country. Those were the train travel times for the great Indian middle class.
My country is as old as my parents and it went through the growing up too.