When I turned 40, I realized I had spent most of the previous decade in the dogged pursuit of trying to have a child—despite it all—the grief, tragedy, and anxieties of the path of the uncertain.
Well, now I've had my introduction to Vedanta. Thanks, Anu. The thing that stands out for me is your appreciation for the fact that it encourages you to find out for yourself rather than taking anything on blind faith; exactly what I love about Buddhism and Buddhist-informed mindfulness practices. In fact, I write about that in my next essay!
Very inspiring article it’s wisely written and beautifully put together. I can relate to the title “ imperfectly perfect “ I think pursuing perfection and happiness in life is an endless process whenever we reach that goal we already aiming for the next and next and next …
Thank you Anu for your honesty and this really teaches you how important it should be to have a calm and mindful mindset towards your life and Goals .
Thank you, Youness! So true--we constantly pursue our next destination of happiness. Nothing wrong with that as long as you enjoy the process and acknowledge above all your current happiness. Your tour of the Atlas Mountains contributed so much to my happiness that I am getting ready to publish an article about it this Friday!:) You have such a wonderful gift for connecting with people, making them laugh and being happy, I hope you continue to inspire and make people fall in love with your native country of Morocco--you certainly made us love it!
Thank you, Steven! Sri Aurobindo is a great man and I look forward to delving into this book! I mainly try read verses from the Bhagavad Geeta (with commentary from
Swami Chinmayananda) on a regular basis. And then, based on my guru’s recommendations, I delve into the scriptures recommended for topics I am
interested in. For example, a startling power packed and tiny text I read not too far back was Drg Drsya Viveka by Sri Adi Shankaracharya (8th century AD) on the concept of Sakshi or the witnessing consciousness. See https://www.chinmayapublications.com/drig-drishya-viveka. See my blog at https://anuprabhala.substack.com/p/befriend-the-sakshi-in-you-and-live. These days I am reading the Kathupanishad to understand true spiritual cleansing. It’s a dialogue with Yama, the God of death, but my guru assures me it is the best thing I can read to understand true spiritual cleansing:)
Great article as expected by my BFF; It takes a lot of courage to put such a candid piece out there. It lays bare not just your strengths but also your vulnerabilities. Good luck with this venture, and wishing you all the success in the world as always!
Thank you, Bindi BFF. Our vulnerabilities become our strength, often, and talking about them becomes the source of our courage and somebody else's as well!
Beautifully written, Anu! I have always appreciated how honest and direct you are while sharing your experiences and opinions! I am in agreement with you with life being imperfectly perfect. I also strongly believe that the pursuit of that “perfection” that everyone aims to achieve is also so subjective and depends on what’s in one’s head at any particular time in their life, what they value and what brings them happiness! So I think calling anything perfect in my opinion is in some ways kinda a misnomer.
Thank you for your encouragement, Sunaina! Yes, agree wholeheartedly that the notion of perfection is subjective and while it cannot become an obsession, I like to recognize those perfect-for you-moments when they happen in life. It may not conform to anyone’s notion of perfection, but it’s important that we personally smell the roses along the way.
Thank you, Don. What got me through my rather tedious pregnancy journey was incidentally Buddhism, specifically The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thay and Zen meditation with our local teacher, Tom. The book, which was my first foray into mindfulness, still sits on my bedside table. Yes indeed, both traditions have cautionary advice on taming the mind and practicing mindfulness. The Geeta says the mind is like a river, requiring quantity control (karma yoga or work), quality control (bhakti yoga or prayer), direction control (gyana yoga or knowledge).
Chapter 6, verse 5 of the Geeta says:
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
“Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self.”
A very succinctly written poignant life journey. Beautiful read! Your words evoke emotions and make your story relatable to readers like me. Imperfectly perfect...striving to be, driving to be, chasing life, work, peace, health, relationships, sometimes in endless pursuit. Your article shares hope and a sense of calm in the midst of it all. Look forward to reading more! Congratulations and keep the inspiration flowing – SMD style!
Thank you, Neha! I am glad you find the message to be calming. That’s my goal—to feel centered in the constant and inevitable changes and stand optimistic. We after all have one life to live! SMD.
This is very deep! I really liked the connections between different religions, Candide, and how we push ourselves to be perfect.
Especially now, there is this constant pressure around us to measure up (can definitely attest to this having attended a toxic high school) that we lose the enjoyment of actually understanding texts. I read Candide through my school’s Humanities Program in 10th grade and I’m excited to reread it after reading this post!
I have always believed perfection is an illusion. How mundane and boring life/we would be if everything about life/us is perfect. What would we learn if we made no mistakes ? In my mind , spirituality is knowing we can and putting our best foot forward while remembering and acknowledging that there is always an opportunity to do it better..
Amazing !!! Beautifully written and so elegantly bringing to our eyes, your journey. Keep writing and keep inspiring.
Thank you for your encouragement, Madhu! Glad you liked it. Having strong friends like you is inspiration.
Well, now I've had my introduction to Vedanta. Thanks, Anu. The thing that stands out for me is your appreciation for the fact that it encourages you to find out for yourself rather than taking anything on blind faith; exactly what I love about Buddhism and Buddhist-informed mindfulness practices. In fact, I write about that in my next essay!
Very nice to meet you and read your stuff! 🩷
Very inspiring article it’s wisely written and beautifully put together. I can relate to the title “ imperfectly perfect “ I think pursuing perfection and happiness in life is an endless process whenever we reach that goal we already aiming for the next and next and next …
Thank you Anu for your honesty and this really teaches you how important it should be to have a calm and mindful mindset towards your life and Goals .
Looking forward to reading more of these .
Thank you
Thank you, Youness! So true--we constantly pursue our next destination of happiness. Nothing wrong with that as long as you enjoy the process and acknowledge above all your current happiness. Your tour of the Atlas Mountains contributed so much to my happiness that I am getting ready to publish an article about it this Friday!:) You have such a wonderful gift for connecting with people, making them laugh and being happy, I hope you continue to inspire and make people fall in love with your native country of Morocco--you certainly made us love it!
My favorite on Vedanta:
https://auro-ebooks.com/sri-aurobindo-or-the-adventure-of-consciousness/
Enjoy!
Thank you, Steven! Sri Aurobindo is a great man and I look forward to delving into this book! I mainly try read verses from the Bhagavad Geeta (with commentary from
Swami Chinmayananda) on a regular basis. And then, based on my guru’s recommendations, I delve into the scriptures recommended for topics I am
interested in. For example, a startling power packed and tiny text I read not too far back was Drg Drsya Viveka by Sri Adi Shankaracharya (8th century AD) on the concept of Sakshi or the witnessing consciousness. See https://www.chinmayapublications.com/drig-drishya-viveka. See my blog at https://anuprabhala.substack.com/p/befriend-the-sakshi-in-you-and-live. These days I am reading the Kathupanishad to understand true spiritual cleansing. It’s a dialogue with Yama, the God of death, but my guru assures me it is the best thing I can read to understand true spiritual cleansing:)
Probably, because I am at heart a 'Westerner' I can more easily relate to Aurobindo. I've been reading him since I was about 15 years old.
Always very helpful!
All the best to you on the Way!
Whatever works:) All the best to you too and I look forward to reading your posts!
Great article as expected by my BFF; It takes a lot of courage to put such a candid piece out there. It lays bare not just your strengths but also your vulnerabilities. Good luck with this venture, and wishing you all the success in the world as always!
Thank you, Bindi BFF. Our vulnerabilities become our strength, often, and talking about them becomes the source of our courage and somebody else's as well!
Totally agree!
Beautifully written! Love the title and agree with you life is the marriage of our own potentials and capabilities….looking forward to read many more.
Thank you, Shalini! I see you are on Substack too and I agree with your tagline—life is what we make of it.
Amazing 👏
Thank you, Roshni!
Beautifully written, Anu! I have always appreciated how honest and direct you are while sharing your experiences and opinions! I am in agreement with you with life being imperfectly perfect. I also strongly believe that the pursuit of that “perfection” that everyone aims to achieve is also so subjective and depends on what’s in one’s head at any particular time in their life, what they value and what brings them happiness! So I think calling anything perfect in my opinion is in some ways kinda a misnomer.
Thank you for your encouragement, Sunaina! Yes, agree wholeheartedly that the notion of perfection is subjective and while it cannot become an obsession, I like to recognize those perfect-for you-moments when they happen in life. It may not conform to anyone’s notion of perfection, but it’s important that we personally smell the roses along the way.
Thank you, Don. What got me through my rather tedious pregnancy journey was incidentally Buddhism, specifically The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thay and Zen meditation with our local teacher, Tom. The book, which was my first foray into mindfulness, still sits on my bedside table. Yes indeed, both traditions have cautionary advice on taming the mind and practicing mindfulness. The Geeta says the mind is like a river, requiring quantity control (karma yoga or work), quality control (bhakti yoga or prayer), direction control (gyana yoga or knowledge).
Chapter 6, verse 5 of the Geeta says:
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
“Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self.”
A very succinctly written poignant life journey. Beautiful read! Your words evoke emotions and make your story relatable to readers like me. Imperfectly perfect...striving to be, driving to be, chasing life, work, peace, health, relationships, sometimes in endless pursuit. Your article shares hope and a sense of calm in the midst of it all. Look forward to reading more! Congratulations and keep the inspiration flowing – SMD style!
Thank you, Neha! I am glad you find the message to be calming. That’s my goal—to feel centered in the constant and inevitable changes and stand optimistic. We after all have one life to live! SMD.
YOLO definitely need to be our mantra!
This is very deep! I really liked the connections between different religions, Candide, and how we push ourselves to be perfect.
Especially now, there is this constant pressure around us to measure up (can definitely attest to this having attended a toxic high school) that we lose the enjoyment of actually understanding texts. I read Candide through my school’s Humanities Program in 10th grade and I’m excited to reread it after reading this post!
Thank you for sharing :)
Beautifully written Anu.
I have always believed perfection is an illusion. How mundane and boring life/we would be if everything about life/us is perfect. What would we learn if we made no mistakes ? In my mind , spirituality is knowing we can and putting our best foot forward while remembering and acknowledging that there is always an opportunity to do it better..