We spend a lot of time worrying about the future,
not realizing that it is just the farther reaches of the present.
Nagna says:
The future is here, and we can change it now.
हम भविष्य के बारे में चिंता करने में बहुत समय बिताते हैं,
यह एहसास नहीं है कि यह सिर्फ वर्तमान की पहुंच है।
नग्न कहते हैं:
भविष्य यहां है, और हम इसे अभी बदल सकते हैं।
Text and image Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
The above photo was shot in a hotel bathroom in Brazil on Nov. 28 2017. I ran across it recently, and my reaction was, "I want that lean body again!" How, when, and where was it lost? And why?
When the picture was taken, we had been living in Uruguay for almost five years. That's a clue. When we first moved to Uruguay, in early 2013, people told us stories about the significant amounts of weight they had lost after moving there, without dieting. People there eat less prepared food, and Uruguayan grass-fed beef, which contains no growth hormones, is world-famous. In the US, Sandy and I had been afraid to eat red meat, and ate mostly chicken and fish instead. God only knows what additives were in the food in the US. When we lived there, in comparison to this picture, I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
Sandy and I moved back to the US in late April, 2019. We've been back here for approximately a year and a half. I don't look like the Dough Boy yet, but I have a roll of fat around my waist that I don't like (not only due to vanity, but because excess fat is not consistent with optimum health). When, and why, did the change take place? The photo below provides a clue.
This shot dates from May 15 2019. Considering that I was a year and a half older than in the Brazil picture, I'd say that my body was still just about as lean. At the time, we were living in a rental house right next to a canal on the Gulf, here in Florida. We had been back in the US for less than a month. Life on the canal was very nice, especially in May. At around 4:00 in the afternoon, we would sit under the ramada as the breeze from the Gulf was coming up, and have wine, cheese, and crackers. We no longer have a ramada, but snacking at around 4 p.m. became a habit.
Another factor, of course, is exercise. In Uruguay, my main exercise was walking our dog, Betty. At the time of the Brazil picture, Betty was four years old and liked to take really long walks. Betty is now seven, and her walks are quite a bit shorter, especially in the Florida heat. In Uruguay we had a swimming pool, so I had the exercise of swimming and cleaning the pool. We don't have that here. I also had a pull-up exercise bar, which I don't have here. The result of more food additives, more between-meals snacks, and less exercise can be seen in the photo below.
This photo, taken on Oct. 25 2020, shows what a year and a half of life in the US has done. I can't do anything about the lack of a pool (and wouldn't want to have to clean it, anyway), or make Betty take longer walks. Maybe I can get her to take two walks, one in the morning and one in the evening. I think she'd like that. I'm going to cut down on the beer and crackers in the afternoon. And I'm going to get myself a new exercise bar.
Text and images Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler.
The future is already here,
the result of our actions today,
but many don't want to see it.
Nagna says:
I'm not sure that I want to see the future, either.
भविष्य पहले से ही यहाँ है,
यह आज हमारे कार्यों का परिणाम है,
लेकिन कई इसे देखना नहीं चाहते हैं।
नग्न कहते हैं:
मुझे यकीन नहीं है कि मैं भविष्य देखना चाहता हूं।
Text and image Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
Well, we went from 95,000 visits to this blog to 96,000 so quickly (thirteen days) that I didn't even notice. Now we are halfway to 97,000. How it happened is no great mystery: the pirates are still hard at work, day and night. At the same time, it's gratifying to see the many countries from which the visits are coming. The graphic below shows the main sources of visits in the last twenty-four hours.
In the last couple of weeks, the Upanishad poem-series has grown to fifty-three parts. I do not think it is finished.
Today I completed the work of publishing and translating the six stanzas of Shankara's Nirvana Shatakam (also known as Atma Shatakam). It well summarizes the teaching of Advaita Vedanta.
I am continuing to do a lot of photography, as well. The illustration below shows me as I am every day. Would my nudity be more acceptable if I drew tilak markings on my forehead and body and hung rudraksha beads around my neck? I don't think so. My nudity is not religious, it's just natural.
As always, I would like to thank you all for your continued interest and enthusiasm.
Text and image Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपो
विभुर्व्याप्य सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणि ।
सदा मे समत्वं न मुक्तिर्न बन्धः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥ ६ ॥
ahaM nirvikalpo nirAkArarUpo
vibhurvyApya sarvatra sarvEndriyANi.
sadA mE samatvaM na muktirna bandhaH
chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 6
I am without change, I am without form.
Permeating the basis of all, I am everywhere and behind all the senses.
I am always in equilibrium, and have neither liberation nor attachment.
In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Translation Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
न मे मृत्युशङ्ग्का न मे जातिभेदः
पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्म ।
न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥ ५ ॥
na mE mrityushangkA na mE jAtibhEdaH
pitA naiva mE naiva mAtA na janma.
na bandhurna mitraM gururnaiva shiShyaH
chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 5
I have neither death nor its fear, neither caste nor its distinctions,
nor have I father or mother, or any birth.
I have neither relations nor friends, neither guru nor disciple.
In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Translation Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
न पुण्यं न पापं न सौख्यं न दुःखं
न मन्त्रो न तीर्थो न वेदो न यज्ञाः ।
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥ ४ ॥
na puNyaM na pApaM na saukhyaM na duHkhaM
na mantro na tIrtho na vEdo na yajñAH.
ahaM bhojanaM naiva bjojyaM na bhoktA
chidAnandarUpaH shivo'ham shivo'ham. 4
I am neither virtue nor vice, neither pleasure nor pain,
neither mantra nor holy shrine, neither scriptures nor sacrifices.
Neither am I enjoyment nor its object, nor the enjoyer.
In the form of blissful consciousness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Translation Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Nagna Chidaananda.
