Indifference Will Kill Your Soul: The Revival of Care

Never!

JL

[Shivani Devi]

So yeah, I realise I am on sabbatical, however this story now has an addendum...A closure...call it a "moral" if you will.

For the past four days, I have been staying with my brother and my mother at their house... before my brother and his wife holiday in Tasmania and I will be house sitting for two weeks.

The first night I arrived here, I decided to share my future plans with my family....about how I am going to do a few courses at the local Buddhist Institute, how I am planning to get my Yoga Teachers Accreditation again, how I want to save up to visit Angkor...

Their response? "How much money will you be able to make after you have finished your courses? How successful and famous will you be after you have got your yoga certificate? and why the hell do you want to go to Cambodia? I hear Phuket is a lot nicer..."

Then I said; "for me, it is not about how much money I can make or how famous I could be doing what others think I SHOULD be doing...I want to do this for ME!

I just want to be myself and be allowed to express myself without judgment, criticism and persecution...A bit of encouragement or even just an "I am happy FOR you" would be nice ONCE in my life...Just once...."

Then I got; "but if you don't do what others want and expect you to do and follow your own heart and dreams, that is the epitome of selfishness" and then they went on to say how much they were suffering at the hands of their neighbour and all of the latest things the neighbour has done to inconvenience them and wrongly implicate them....and then the penny dropped..

So I said; "what if I were to tell you that the way to get your neighbour to stop with all of this nonsense is for you to stop judging and criticizing those near and dear to you for having the audacity to just "be themselves"?..what if saying; " I am happy FOR you, Di" would make the neighbour tear down the wall...would you say it"?

Then, they just went on about how crazy I sounded for even suggesting it, so in other words; "no".

My mother has even written the name of the neighbour on a piece of paper and put it in the freezer to "bind" her..

Today, while she was out in the garden, replacing her dead plants with store bought ones of the same variety (only so she can fuel her anger and hatred towards her neighbour when they die TOO), I was inside the house cooking a pasta bake and salad for lunch..As I did so, I was listening to a Nisargadatta Maharaj lecture on my Smartphone...mum comes in..

"Jesus Christ!!! are you actually listening to that cr*p?"

Me: "Yes mum, I enjoy listening to it...it makes me happy".

Mum: "How can non dual philosophy make you happy? Why do you allow yourself to get sucked in by all of this "spiritual bulls***"? I thought you were more intelligent than that".

Me: "I also thought you were more intelligent than freezing your neighbour's name on a piece of paper...it seems that we were BOTH mistaken".

Then she had a meltdown and flew off at me... apparently, my family cannot take what they dish out...they are "allowed" to do it to me, but I am not "allowed" to do it to them, so their neighbour is doing it all FOR me and yes, they ask for every little thing they get.

They are well-off, successful, have a beautiful house, the latest gadgetry, new cars etc but are they happy? NO!

So how can they assume that success is what others want and it will make others happy if it has made them miserable?

All I know is that many centuries of "work ethic conditioning" cannot be broken by a "wayward daughter" out to do her own thing because she wants to and not because she HAS to and I would rather be selfish and happy than putting others first and being miserable...whose life is going to be full of the most regrets on their deathbed because they "listened to others?" and this is all that matters to me.

[Emm]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

So yeah, I realise I am on sabbatical, however this story now has an addendum...A closure...call it a "moral" if you will.

For the past four days, I have been staying with my brother and my mother at their house... before my brother and his wife holiday in Tasmania and I will be house sitting for two weeks.

The first night I arrived here, I decided to share my future plans with my family....about how I am going to do a few courses at the local Buddhist Institute, how I am planning to get my Yoga Teachers Accreditation again, how I want to save up to visit Angkor...

Their response? "How much money will you be able to make after you have finished your courses? How successful and famous will you be after you have got your yoga certificate? and why the hell do you want to go to Cambodia? I hear Phuket is a lot nicer..."

Then I said; "for me, it is not about how much money I can make or how famous I could be doing what others think I SHOULD be doing...I want to do this for ME!

I just want to be myself and be allowed to express myself without judgment, criticism and persecution...A bit of encouragement or even just an "I am happy FOR you" would be nice ONCE in my life...Just once...."

Then I got; "but if you don't do what others want and expect you to do and follow your own heart and dreams, that is the epitome of selfishness" and then they went on to say how much they were suffering at the hands of their neighbour and all of the latest things the neighbour has done to inconvenience them and wrongly implicate them....and then the penny dropped..

So I said; "what if I were to tell you that the way to get your neighbour to stop with all of this nonsense is for you to stop judging and criticizing those near and dear to you for having the audacity to just "be themselves"?..what if saying; " I am happy FOR you, Di" would make the neighbour tear down the wall...would you say it"?

Then, they just went on about how crazy I sounded for even suggesting it, so in other words; "no".

My mother has even written the name of the neighbour on a piece of paper and put it in the freezer to "bind" her..

Today, while she was out in the garden, replacing her dead plants with store bought ones of the same variety (only so she can fuel her anger and hatred towards her neighbour when they die TOO), I was inside the house cooking a pasta bake and salad for lunch..As I did so, I was listening to a Nisargadatta Maharaj lecture on my Smartphone...mum comes in..

"Jesus Christ!!! are you actually listening to that cr*p?"

Me: "Yes mum, I enjoy listening to it...it makes me happy".

Mum: "How can non dual philosophy make you happy? Why do you allow yourself to get sucked in by all of this "spiritual bulls***"? I thought you were more intelligent than that".

Me: "I also thought you were more intelligent than freezing your neighbour's name on a piece of paper...it seems that we were BOTH mistaken".

Then she had a meltdown and flew off at me... apparently, my family cannot take what they dish out...they are "allowed" to do it to me, but I am not "allowed" to do it to them, so their neighbour is doing it all FOR me and yes, they ask for every little thing they get.

They are well-off, successful, have a beautiful house, the latest gadgetry, new cars etc but are they happy? NO!

So how can they assume that success is what others want and it will make others happy if it has made them miserable?

All I know is that many centuries of "work ethic conditioning" cannot be broken by a "wayward daughter" out to do her own thing because she wants to and not because she HAS to and I would rather be selfish and happy than putting others first and being miserable...whose life is going to be full of the most regrets on their deathbed because they "listened to others?" and this is all that matters to me.

Good for you

[Altair]

Wishing you all the best luck Shivani on achieving these dreams..
Yoga's not about fame and worldly success.. best just smile and laugh at those ideas.

[Sapphirez]

if I may chime in, caring is human nature and a prime expression of consciousness.. the reason there is too little caring going on is because humans, and things, are too far deviated and deprived of their true nature.. this has to do with knowledge and wisdom not circulating as they are supposed to, which is generally a direct result of the abovementioned. people too often don't eat what they're supposed to, use what they're supposed to on their bodies or around them, or fill their minds and souls with what they're supposed to or use them properly to express and create what they are supposed to.. The primary things we consist of, or are supposed to, are nature and love.. We are part of the Earth yet most people incorporate so little of it into their daily lives and beings.. so many artificial flavors and cooking/destroying food and products that are so far from nature.. it's sickening and makes people sick and unable to exist and express themselves as embodiments of pure love and nature that they're supposed to. that's all.. deep down we can see most humans and life on Earth is still a source of light and love. but most have been deprived and neglected and consuming and creating that which is not natural or normal here.. what can we expect?

All we can do is spread the important knowledge and awareness and love that is supposed to be commonplace, share our unique creativity and artistry and appreciate that which already is, and is possible from each other. Respect nature and remember we are part of it and when you mess with nature, well if you've read or heard about any of that nasty smoting stuff from the bible, it's sort of like that.. I'm not religious but if we want to interpret the message wisely basically it's "God" saying to honor nature and your own loving nature and order, or else calamity will ensue and you'll die a horrid death sooner than later.. with unnecessary suffering and nonsense of course. so yeah.. many people don't care cuz they aren't enough of themselves anymore, but that can be reversed with loyalty to nature, love, and life as we know it.. We're all here to share precious art painted from our parcel of soul connected to the greater spirit of divinity, and to coexist with the Earth and each other benevolently.. most just have no idea how important it is or how to do it considering the cultures and popular b s that is considered the norm.. it's really easy and lovely when you get to the bones and blood of it though

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

All I know is that many centuries of "work ethic conditioning" cannot be broken by a "wayward daughter" out to do her own thing because she wants to and not because she HAS to and I would rather be selfish and happy than putting others first and being miserable...whose life is going to be full of the most regrets on their deathbed because they "listened to others?" and this is all that matters to me.

It's all about what you want to Live with in your heart, and accepting and Loving your mother as she is with no conditions. If you'd Love your mother better because she was as Spiritual as you? And when she's on her deathbed, and all you have left is regret for not loving her anyway, for spending so much time being at odds with her because you couldn't let go of what really mattered between you?

[Taking a Break]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

My mother has even written the name of the neighbour on a piece of paper and put it in the freezer to "bind" her..

I did the same with an "unjust" bill I had to pay, 3years ago I put it in a non operational refrigerator.