wonderful niece teaches her aunt

hwubby says, agnes has an important question for you. so i turn to my fabulous and cool twelve-year-old niece and says, fire away. with a slight smile that carries a lot of thoughtfulness agnes says, what is meditating? picture this. we are having indian food. we and my chinese family. we are sipping chai, mango lassi,  gobbling up tandoori prawn, mutton curry, slow cooked spinach in homemade indian cheese, three-time baked pork ribs, chicken masala, dipping fresh naan and paratha into chutney and curry, and so on and so on. when it's time to leave, there's no leftover whatsoever. that's how great the food is. i say to tommy, my cousin, at one point, india and china, the countries of the twenty-first century, we sure have the best of all the worlds. okay, back to agnes. anyway before i utter a sound her mother answers my burning question, what brings her to ask me this? well, it is really sweet. agnes wants to get me a gift. she knows i like to meditate. so she wants to get me a gift about meditating. and thereby the question. i stop eating and gaze into her young, fresh and earnest face. i say, it's a form of focusing. and here comes the dialogue.

focusing, focusing on something you like. oh. what do you like to do, agnes? i like drawing. well, when you are drawing, you are paying attention, you are focusing on the drawing, that's a form of meditating, and for me i focus on my own true nature and divine presence. what do you do in meditating? i get up at four, have a hot drink, brush teeth, shower, do some stretches, then sit down and meditate for one and a half hour, i sit quietly, watch my breath. how do you watch your breath? well, it's actually more like paying attention to the breath moving in and out. we are always breathing, aren't we? yes, we are, agnes but we may not be paying attention to it.

her illuminating question sends me deeper than ever in meditation today. at some point as i revel in the quiet bliss of my own true nature this comes to me. since little i have always wanted to attain perfection. i tried on my own. didn't work. i looked here and there. couldn't find a satisfying answer. so i began to look for someone who can show me how to do that. it was not an easy search. eventually i found a teacher. she knows a lot about perfection. she teaches me this. perfection is something you already have inside you. it's who you really are. to know perfection, to experience perfection, to live in the state of perfection you have to meditate regularly. and so i meditate everyday.

really. i never know from whom i can learn something. a child with her pure heart can always teach me something important. keep an open mind, eye and ear. hey, thank you, my fabulous and cool niece.

nephew and niece. needs and wants.

my cousin says, we have to go to the outlets. i know my cousin. he is shopping for the kids. sure enough, it's my nephew who needs shirts and shoes. i say, yeah, he is growing like by the minute. my cousin says, no, the school has these events and they have to dress in a certain way. o, i see. i begin to digress with questions like, what's wrong with how they are dressing. anyhow, my cousin says to his daughter, do you want anything? guess what this ten-year-old says? without missing a beat she says clearly and calmly, no, i don't need anything. well, well, well, i am really impressed. this bright sparkle knows the difference between needs and wants. as a matter of fact, when we are in the outlets, the three females, my cousin's wife, niece and me, are all dizzed out after swirling through a couple of stores. turns out we are all into needs, not wants. i know exactly what i need. i acquire $19.99 levi skinny jeans to go with the armani and ferragamo jackets. i don't know how else i can wear them and look good. so, okay, i don't exactly need it. and it's another blog post to go into it. anyway my cousin's wife needs 'uniform' for her corporate job. her daughter plays the role of a portable rack holding her mother's selections. we hang out around the accessories while her mother is in the fitting room. she glosses her eyes over the pretty trinkets. half an hour is all we need and it just about maxes out our shopping tolerance.

now i really digress. anyhoo, of course everybody asks how hwubby is doing. by the way, the kids love, love uncle ben. i say, he is coming along, but he's still got ways to go, and changes in weather really bring on pain and discomforts. my niece asks, why does change in weather make uncle ben have pain? wowow. a mindstopper. right away i realize i am just on auto-play mode repeating what has been repeated generations, actually millenia. for a moment i have the urge to act like a knowledgeable aunt. but i feel a strong msg from within. be honest.  so i turn to my niece and say, this is a great question, and i don't know, i don't know the mechanism and biology involved.

i still don't know the answer to my niece's thoughtful and spot on question. but i do know this. i could not have asked such a question at her age. talk about not just taking things as they are but examining with a clear and strong mind. now, this is hope i can believe in. o, yes, to you parents, doing a great job, contributing big to humanity. without a doubt, my nephew and niece are big boons to humankind.