An Ashu Manifesto
The first Ashu Manifesto was written exactly four years ago. Independently, I thought to write one today, and only now as I write it, spotted the anniversary. Coincidence! Or divine ordinance, your pick.
Like the original, it is inspired prinipally from RV 7.103 (and Hinduism as a whole).
Also, the song of the post is another of Relaxed ASMR's rain sounds.
Without further ado:
An Ashu Manifesto
In no particular order...
Live and love in the present
There is no sense in working today for the benefits of tomorrow, only for tomorrow to become today again. In other words, enjoy your life as it passes. I am not saying that you shouldn't save money in case of emergencies, or you should not plan a date before it happens. Rather, do not suffer the present in the face of uncertainty. Let the future adapt around you, take precautions, and otherwise explore the present in its entirity. Do what you want, when you can. The future will sort itself out.
Water is clarifying
Drink a cold glass of water after a workout. Drink a warm glass after a rainy day. Sit with the window open in the rain. Dance in the rain. Make out in the rain. Go to the beach. Swim. Dive. Visit a creek. Visit a waterfall. Listen to the rain on the rooftop and in the garden. Spend time with it all.
God is real and it's found in the smallest and grandest of things concurrently
Love the ocean, and also the sand, and the messages one writes in the sand when in love, and the sand crabs, and all at once. Love your lover, and their eyes, and the shade of their irises in the sunlight. God is the depth of the meaning of things, and you can find it in nature and in its pebbles, and in one another, and in the things we do for one another. It is easier to find god in some things than others but it is everywhere and it is small and big at once.
Conflict is a dreary thing
I do not see honor in war, nor in a fighting spirit, nor even in the ability to argue well. There is some worth in being able to defend the people, places, and systems one cares for, and the resilience to move forward can be commendable. But the fight itself should not be glorified. To fight your way to the top is not brilliant, it is sad. Success as it is defined in this world of progress is a loss of love, and the battle for it, like all wars, is an unfortunate thing. Fight only when you must and take no pleasure in it.
There is only you
There is only you, and one of you, and no sense in becoming someone else. Be genuine, be yourself in your entirity and not only in part, and let others navigate that. Learn to be kind and thoughtful and intentional with yourself, but do not kill that person. There are people who will love you as you are, and they are rare. That being said, there is no greater relationship than loving and being loved without a mask.
The machine is the enemy of god
Self-explanatory. The machine - capitalism, orientalism, patriarchy - it is the enemy of god. It seeks to take the things of god and pull them from their course. It is a transformer of beauty and depth into power. It is fundamentally adharmic.
Impermanence / Anitya
Nothing lasts forever. The gods, as we know them, will not last forever. Your boots will not last forever. Enjoy them all while they are here, and move forward without regrets. Do not search for dreams, they cannot be kept. Aspire to them and keep moving.
Bhakti
Closeness with god is the ability to see beauty and depth in the world around you and to recognize that it is all one and the same thing. Love first the godly things that are easiest to you, then let that love run over and into its associations, and so on. I have loved the beach and the rain, and I see this same love in my lover and in my friends, and my love for them will run over and become a love for many more things, until I love and recognize everything.
This love for the world can be abstracted into gods to worship. Vague notions of divinity are difficult for our minds, but personhood is easier. First direct yourself to those gods that are easy to love, and then to their associations, and so on until you recognize that they are all facets of the same.