Sumangali.org: In The Spirit Of Serendipity

An interesting article called A Commute To Inner Peace by Trushar Barot caught my eye earlier this month at BBC.co.uk. It’s about meditating while commuting to work; making the most of time seemingly wasted, waiting for the bus, or even sitting at the wheel in a traffic jam. Tim Malnick, founder of Meditation at Work says:

“A lot of people think it’s all about sitting down cross-legged and closing your eyes. But if you look at the meditation traditions from the East, they clearly demonstrate the importance of transferring this state of mind into all your daily activity. It’s about becoming more aware of the environment around you and feeling comfortable with it.”

Trushar Barot tries it out while getting the bus, and notes:

“My heart-rate drops almost instantly, but jolts on hearing the dulcet tones of 50 Cent, which a kindly school boy at the back is treating his fellow travellers to. Too much of a coward to ask him to lower the volume, I realise this is the perfect test of my meditation techniques.”

This typically British response to outer irritation made me laugh, as I have responded in exactly that way (i.e. avoided responding outwardly) so many times on public transport, and have instead turned to my 21-year history of regular meditation practice in order to deal with it.

Perhaps the greatest test, and one of my most valuable meditation experiences, came to me when I was a teen living in a very crowded house. The guy in the room next door listened to a particular kind of music (that brings me out in cold sweat now if I ever hear it) struggling through distorted speakers, sometimes 24 hours a day. It was not just my British reserve that stopped me from saying anything; he was actually very dangerous. I had no choice but to deal with it. After 2 days and nights of no sleep with this rasping and pounding rattling my nerves and brain, I had to meditate my way to sanity. Were it not for my desperate necessity I may not have realised firsthand how powerful meditation can be. For about three hours I practised, and finally the peace came. Nothing could disturb me then. I was not less aware, but more aware in a wider sense where that sound was as insignificant as an ant. I slept like a baby.

There are lots of ways to meditate. As Tim Malnick so rightly said, we can bring meditation into our daily lives. I try to do that when I’m doing simple tasks, as well as… well yes just sitting cross-legged a couple of times a day purely for meditation. For the last ten years I’ve been following the teachings of Sri Chinmoy. In his own words:

“If we are practical in the inner life, if we are doing the right thing in the inner world, we will not be bound by anything, because we will have inner awareness. One who has inner awareness has free access to infinite Truth and everlasting Joy, and he will be able to control his outer life.”
—Sri Chinmoy
from SriChinmoyLibrary.com

Image: Kedar Misani at Sri Chinmoy Centre Gallery

A recent post on SensitivityToThings.com, entitled Serendipity, prompted more in-depth pondering about the word and its meaning. Serendipity can be defined as pure luck in discovering unsought things, or yet more simply as good fortune. This might be a good time to explain the link between the name chosen for this site and its chosen motto.

Firstly, you might wonder how come this English girl has an Indian name. My first name, Sumangali, is a spiritual name, given to me by my meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy. A spiritual name is like a mantra, reflecting the essence and purpose of its bearer at a very deep level. It was given to me after I had been studying and practising meditation for a few years.

The root of the word Sumangali (mangal) means auspicious. Sometimes two people may have the same word as a name, but the interpretation or aspect of it may be different. The main part of the meaning for me is auspicious good-fortune, so this is at once my essence and my primary purpose, and that’s what I hope to try and offer through this site, in any small way I can.

As for the word serendipity, there’s no way I would have guessed its progenitor: Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford. It seems there was a gap in our language, and so the word was born, inspired by a Persian fairy tale called The Three Princes Of Serendip (Serendip being Sri Lanka).

So the princes were fortunate on their travels? Well it’s not so simple. It seems they were very wise as well. Perhaps Horace won’t mind me quoting the letter in which the word was first written:

“I once read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity? “
Source: Wikipedia

Well no, Horace, in fact your definition has sparked numerous debates on its meaning. Looking up The Three Princes Of Serendip we find a little more clarity:

“In the camel story, the Three Princes use trace clues to precisely identify a camel they have never seen (lame; blind in one eye; missing a tooth; carrying a pregnant maiden; bearing honey on one side and butter on the other). This result of abductive reasoning is not what is meant by serendipity (the discovery of something not sought). Because of their cleverness and sagacity, they are accused of stealing the camel and are about to be put to death by Bahram Gur. Suddenly and without anyone seeking him out, a traveler steps forward to say that he has just seen the missing camel wandering in the desert. Bahram spares the lives of the Three Princes, lavishes them with rich rewards and appoints them as advisors. These rewards are the unsought (serendipitous) results of their sagacious insights.”

So, Horace, what you mean is that wisdom is often rewarded, and if we do not seek to receive a specific reward, but receive it nonetheless, then we are serendipitous? Ergo: wisdom - expectation + reward = serendipity.

Back to SensitivityToThings.com, John Gillespie cited a quote from Sri Chinmoy about rainbows. Sri Chinmoy says that a rainbow siginifies success and progress, but we must be looking towards the sky in order to see it. In this case wisdom is looking at the sky. Rainbows are rare so we can hardly dare expect them. The reward for looking upwards anyway is the rainbow, so that’s serendipity. The rainbow is already there, we just have to be looking up in order to appreciate it: an analogy which could stretch to any corner of life.

These days employers are starting to realise a fact already well-known in the field of research and development (an industry heavily dependent on serendipity): that employees need a certain amount of time in order to be creative. One caveat is that that the optimum pressure–freedom ratio is different for each individual. There’s an interesting post on the subject entitled Time For Innovation at SlowLeadership.org. In this case wisdom is taking enough time out.

In other cases it might mean breaking out of routine. Have you noticed how problems you’ve been brooding over often resolve themselves if you have a break from ‘solving them’ and go for a run or walk? Ever taken a wrong turning and found something interesting that you otherwise never would have known was there? I wrote a little something along those lines in My Day finds A Motto.

Meditation is certainly conducive to serendipity, and it’s one reason I meditate every day. Even a few minutes can bring a fresh perspective, often bringing forward solutions to things I would not have thought of while facing them head on. Rather than shutting me away from the world it makes me more aware of my surroundings, and reminds me of what’s good in the world around me.

I could go on… Wikipedia has much to say on the subject of serendipity—much more than a blog-post-worth. One section says simply “See also Synchronicity“. Don’t get me started…

Image: The Horace Walpole at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Consciously focusing on the heart rather than the mind can help unlock ever-new writing potential, keeping your creativity flowing ever more consistently, bringing forward from within your own unique writing capacity. Writing from the heart is allowing our true inner self speak about the world around us.

Prolific writer Sri Chinmoy once said:

“There is a vast difference between what you can get from the mind and what you can get from the heart. The mind is limited; the heart is unlimited.”

10 steps towards writing from the heart:

1. Meditate regularly every day, at least for 5 minutes first thing in the morning, and again before you write. Simply focus your attention on your spiritual heart in the centre of your chest. If you like you can try to listen to your own heartbeat, or imagine that you have become the heart itself. If any thoughts enter the mind, just return your attention to the heart.
2. Keep an area pure and clean in which to meditate. It’s a good idea to have a bath or shower first, and to keep the room well aired. You can bring in fragrances such as incense, something from nature that inspires you such as a fresh flower, and perhaps a picture of something meaningful to you. Keep a separate area for writing, and introduce similar sources of purity and inspiration there.
3. Writing is not just something that happens while you are typing or putting pen to paper. Writing from the heart means being constantly aware of one’s surroundings. This is what Buddhists call “mindfulness”. It will not only bring you a fuller experience of life, but also lead to deeper and more authentic writing. Get into the habit of simply observing the world - people, nature, each of your own senses, and your own feelings.
4. When you are used to observing your surroundings, you will naturally start to accept things as they are. You may see the same scenes day in and day out. The mind may tire of them, but if you observe from the heart, you will find new beauty and inspiration.
5. Observation and acceptance naturally engender love, gratitude and joy. These are invaluable keys to meaningful writing. Conveying these experiences through words will help others to see beauty and inspiration in their own lives.
6. Protect that effort you have made to see and feel things in a positive way. Unconstructive criticism, anger, and jealousy can thwart our inspiration and prevent us writing from the heart, whether they come from ourselves or from other people. Try to avoid encountering these negative forces. If you cannot avoid them, try not to pay attention to them.
7. When you are in the habit of observing your surroundings, allow words to come to you, even without the intention of writing them down. When words are not written down, they have more freedom. Practise describing to yourself the things you see.
8. Carry a notebook with you everywhere. Only when a sequence of words comes to you and thrills your heart, write it down, and let more words grow around it.
9. Do not let the mind plan a finished product. Let the writing blossom and become what it wants to be. That way it will have its own authenticity and integrity, and the result will be more valuable.
10. Trust the creative process that comes from the heart, but also use the mind to polish and revise your writing. Sometimes that which comes from the heart can benefit from a little clarification.