You are Therefore I am: A Declaration of Dependence

I enjoy the work, too. For me it is meditation. Meditation is not just chanting mantras or sitting quietly in the lotus position and counting the breath. Sewing, cooking, washing, cleaning, every activity done with a sense of the sacred is meditation. Do you want to take away my meditation? When I am busy with my needle I am peaceful, everything is

Every year a snake leaves its old skin behind and moves swiftly away from it. In the same way, the nature of life is such that we develop a skin of attachments, expectations, ambitions, so we need to do what a snake does, keep leaving this skin behind so that our soul can touch the ground of joy, ananda. As long as we are in this body, in this worl

‘this is true and that is also true’.

We can make the sorrow and suffering into a compost out of which the roses of joy can grow. This is a continuous quest, and we have to keep sowing the rose seeds and not just get overwhelmed by compost.

Karma causes success or disappointment. Action performed without desire is dharma. Dharma is appreciation of what is. Dharma is to be at rest, at peace, contented and natural.

For every Jain devotee it is an essential practice to begin the day with the darshan of a holy person or sacred image in a temple. It must be done before breakfast, before work, before any form of activity, so that the spirit of the encounter can permeate the day and every activity.

“Should I pay attention to my feet touching the earth or to my breathing? I can’t do them both at once, can I?” I remember asking Mother. “Yes, you can. Don’t think about breathing, nor think about walking. Meditation is not about thinking on these things. Just let it happen.” Only much later did I understand what she was saying: that meditation is

“Uma is also mother Saraswati, the benevolent and beautiful. She is gloriously riding a swan and playing music on the vina. Saraswati gives birth to imagination, poetry, music, arts, crafts, and the creativity of people and nature.

“In the same way we human beings have to let go of our pride, our separateness, and not bother about our individual identity. If we immerse ourselves in the process of life, and trust the process of the universe, and identify ourselves with others, we can become the tree of a thousand branches and a million plums.”