The Universe has Laws and Expectations from each one of us.

My foot print on the sands of Kipungani in Lamu.

Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.
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“Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.” Henry Longfellow.

When at peace you watch just about everything.

On arrival at the exclusive beaches of kipungani Explorer in Lamu –  Kamande the resident engineer at the resort told me “take the beach – it is all yours. Walk and walk and experience it.”

I seized the moment and little did I know I was re living an old experience that once happened in Diani beach some years ago.

At first – it was just a clean plain beach. Then it started becoming dramatic both at physical lever and the mind level. A wind off the Lamu bay blew, keeping the air fresh and when it subsided, the waves subsided into wavelets which spills on to the sand gently forming ripples. In serene sand patches are little crabs in such multitude that part of the beach seems agog with them all over. Where the wave spreads, they dart in gliding sideways like barrette dancers. They  wear their eyes on end of a long springy stalk attached on top of the head. They pop up and in, turns sideways as if in contemplation. When moving – they do it in different direction.

What a beautiful world I thought to myself. What is my role in it other than experience, observe and be observed? what does it mean to leave the food print in my journey of life?

It was my moment to reflect on yama niyama.

Yama- niyama – the do and don’ts - are foundation principles of all religious institutions. But it is   India’s great sage Pantanjali – 260 BCE - who outlined and classified as an eightfold path. The first two steps were of great interest in my walk. 1. Yama and 2. Niyama.  They require one to be aware and observer five proscriptive moralities and five positive prescriptions. The Philosophy of Patanjali is a guide to how people, through individual effort, can become fully human. It is about experiencing the True Self, the part of you that exists independently of mind and body, and learning to see things as they are without the distortion filters of the mind getting in the way. 

Patanjali is credited with composing the small Sanskrit volume of Yoga Sutras from which the modern practice of yoga is derived.

Yama means rules that are prohibitive, and refers to thoughts and actions from which one should abstain. The proscription of Yama is avoidance of injury to others, of untruthfulness, of stealing, of incontinence, or gift receiving (which brings obligations).

Niyama means that which one should do. Purity of body and mind, contentment, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to the creator.

All religions agree to these two phases or foundation of religious practices. To meditate a great deal without at the same time practicing Yama-niyama is to build a large superstructure on a loose foundation. 

 I resolved that I was not at first going to change the whole world, but I could change myself and feel free as birds. I will strive to be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by my  serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If I smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. I will endeavor to plague everyone with joy. Joy will be my watchword.