Religion, is about emotion, not knowledge.

As I sat there listening to Gurbani Kirtan, (hymns) being sung, I was transported to another inexplicable time and space. Overcome with emotion, tears rolled down my cheeks, I could not hold them back.  Tears have salt as do the oceans, that is why we shed tears when we connect with Creation.

The Guru's message carried on the waves of music, and melodious voice, piercing my entire being. A great calm engulfed me and simultaneously I felt awake and alive.

When the minstrels had finished, the priests took over and the emotions partly receded. When I emerged from the congregation and the chit chat of society was almost everywhere. Talk of business, society, family, politics and gossip brought me back to complete normality. 

The religious experience had lifted me an individual soul to a height, and society had dragged me back to the ground.

Why could I not achieve that high for a longer time, a high with out alcohol or drugs? Why not that freedom without wealth, position or power?
I could, but I had to do it alone. Society could not help me even if the government or the priests decreed. My family and friends could also not help, even though they loved and cherished me. My employees and associates cannot not no matter how much I cared and looked out for them. 

I alone, can birth tranquility within myself and that of my  being with the universe. Religion helps me, if I take its message to heart and not to the mind. 

Bhai Kuldeep Singh ji

Unfortunately we have become too literate and excessively intellectual.
We think we know a lot by reading, analysing and dissecting, but we know little unless we feel something. 
The mind which was to serve the being has become our master. Not only is the mind a master it is a terrible and fickle master.

Of course man cannot live by emotion alone, but it allows us to plumb and reach the deepest of ourselves and that is why religion is so essential. 
This is why the greater the religion the more it binds us humans to the universe through music, singing, poetry and dancing. Religion which touches our spirit makes us childlike, wondrous, loving, trusting, friendly and respectful.
This is the one and only true Religion as brought to us by countless Gurus and Masters called by thousands of names. This is the religion of the Divine and all are capable of experiencing.

When religion does not stir the soul it is not religion. 
When religion is of the mind it is an exertion, a duty, a utility, and a weapon. It makes us arrogant, suspicious, distant, hostile and destructive. None of these qualities can  create a better human nor a better humanity. This is the religion created by men which many know and practice.

Religion of the heart is spirituality, the religion of the mind is politics.

The choice is ours. To experience the wonder of creation or to know the cunning of man. 
Religion, know it less, experience it more

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You can listen to some of the hymns as sung by Bhai Kuldeep Singh ji (of Amritsar)
Tu Mero Pyaro
Gur Bahan Pakad, Prabh Seva laayen

Art is not an object

Art is an experience, not an object.

 - Robert Motherwell

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I spent almost a lifetime trying to understand art. I read many books and spoke to many experts and I still did not understand it. I eventually realised, that this was a good thing. 

If it is art, it will stimulate. Otherwise it is just some colours, noise, an assembly of inconsequential objects or just movements of the body.

When we look at something objectively we use the mind. The mind feels nothing for its a cold analytical thing. Art touches our being, and that is a matter of the heart. Matters of the heart cannot be understood, merely experienced.

What a dreary place our world would be without artists.

Perception lasts longer than fact.

Perception,
lasts longer than fact.

Life is defined by change. If it is alive, it will change.

People change, families, organisations and societies also change, even countries change.

Based on our 'education', social and familial conditioning, media and our own experiences we judge and categorise everything we get an input on. Thus layer by layer our individual reality is constructed.

These categorisations become what we call perceptions. These become our 'truths'. What is good, what is bad, what is dangerous what is beneficial? Who or what is to be followed or ignored? Etc. etc.

It is natures way of allowing us to cope with life by constructing for us 'our  reality'. The longer we live, the more rigid the edifice of our reality becomes.

Now when we encounter something which is overwhelmingly at odds with our perceptions, we grow uneasy, and become disoriented. This is why we refuse to see facts until they cannot be ignored anymore, and helps explain why perception always lags behind reality. 

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Wise people, like small children, have no preconceived perceptions, they are intensely curious, non judgemental and very open to change. 

It is the hallmark of a wise person to experience life and entertain thoughts without making judgments."

Expert

Some people wanted to make some quick money, and hit upon the idea to have a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest.

There were many entries, and on a lark, Charlie Chaplin himself entered the contest anonymously. 
Well, what do you know? The experts on the panel of judges placed Charlie Chaplin fourth.

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An expert is someone who is never in doubt but frequently in error.

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Do not always go blindly by what the '**experts**' tell you. Be courageous to make your own evaluation and then make an opinion or take action. You might sometimes be wrong, but remember wisdom grows, from learning from our experiences.