Blog | Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

On A Mindful Path (Cont.)

Posted on July 29, 2023
in Meditation, Online Mindful Writers Group
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On A Mindful Path (Cont.) Not until I was in my mid 50’s did I felt a need to ask myself, is this all there is? The question had taken a permanent seat at the back of my mind since my voyage around the world. The things that had excited me once no longer did.  With the practice of Writing Meditation, the braided practice of journaling, meditation, deep reading, nonverbal activities and, of course writing, I was on my way to integrating my fragmented self. In time, the practice helped me connect to the spiritual space within, my inner guide, my true Self.  Many of you already know that our true self is the inner compass that dwells within us. It points us toward the right direction only after we harness with it...

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With a Buddhist Monk, Kyoto, Japan

On a Mindful Path

Posted on July 27, 2023
in Travel
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On a Mindful Path (Cont.)I decided to add nonverbal activities to my braided practice of journalism, meditation and deep reading. The daily practice of the four disciplines, with a nonverbal activity such as a walk, strengthened my writer’s voice. I felt more grounded and in the process was more attentive to what was going on around me.  I was attentive to the things and people that enhanced my days. Gradually and carefully I stopped doing things that seemed unimportant and distanced myself from the people who I thought kept me away from making progress on my mindful journey.  In time, I realized that I had awakened a voice within that I did not know had always been there. It was similar to a personal consultant who knew me more than I knew...

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Looking at my Reflection

Self Contemplation

Posted on July 25, 2023
in Journaling, Meditation
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From Carefree to a Mindful Path (Cont.) Creating collage-drawings gave me some closure. A new chapter of my life began. Experiencing birth and death simultaneously had morphed my sensibility. I started to meditate when I was teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and began writing daily in a journal after my 50th birthday. I’ve described what, why and how of these two disciplines in my latest work, Unblock Your Creative Flow: 12 Months of Mindfulness for Writers and Artists. (Published April 2023).  In time, I was able to link what was going on outside me with what was going inside. The daily practice helped me integrate my body, heart and mind with the spirit which I called my Authentic Self. I was on my path to become whole. Curiosity about human condition of...

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My Path to Mindfulness

Posted on July 22, 2023
in Journaling
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My Path to Mindfulness (Cont.) After the first death anniversaries of my loved ones, I composed two collages as an obeisance to my parents and a homage to my brother. The drawing/collage of my brother was more about his short life—an individual who loved to travel by ship, by plane, on his scooter, who made everyone he met happy, and who himself was carefree. After his accident I felt as if a brilliant section of the sun was severed off to light up the world wherever he had gone. I depicted my parents juxtaposed on the façade of a shrine, a curtain veiling them from me. Their essence in a realm where human senses do not function. After they passed away, I felt their essence had merged with the elements. When I...

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Mourning with my Mother

My Path to Mindfulness

Posted on July 20, 2023
in Meditation
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From Carefree to Mindful (Cont.) Mindless I never was. I was happy-go-lucky and carefree. Last child of my parents, I was pampered by them and later pandered to by my husband. Even after I became a mother to our adorable firstborn, my attitude didn’t change much.  Most people function well in their daily life without being self-aware. But such individuals are unable to live their peak mental level. But so many others become mindful. Why and how that happens has many reasons. Something jolts them out of their slumber.  In my case, it was triggered by the deaths of my near and dear ones. First my brother was killed in an automobile accident shocking us all. Each grieved in different ways but before we could give our sorrow a closure my heartbroken mother...

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What Are You?

Posted on July 18, 2023
in Meditation, Writing
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"This is one of your best books, if not the best," said my husband about my recent publication, "Unblock Your Creative Flow: 12 Months of Mindfulness for Writers and Artists." Then he added, “You were not always mindful! Were you?” Good that he had complimented me before asking this question. Seriously, I was not. The seed of mindfulness was sown when I was in my early 30’s. Since then I have learned to be mindful in spurts.  What was I before I became mindful, self-aware and attentive? Before I was mindful I lived a fragmented life, similar to Dorothy in the book Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Carefree Madhu’s body skipping on the yellow brick road, her mind, heart and boldness skipping along her as the scarecrow, the tinman and the...

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Are You Mindful of Your Life?

Posted on July 3, 2023
in Journaling
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You do what you do but have you begun work on the most important project of you life? Your own life--the project without which none of the other projects would matter. The second half of your life is one of the greatest projects you will ever complete. Look at the photo in which you were half the age you are now. What has changed for the better, what has remained the same, what would you like to change? Photos: Pittsburgh's International Folk Festival (The booth constructed by my husband, Manoj and mural painted by me) ...

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Fearless Kumud

Posted on June 23, 2023
in Reading, Travel
4 Comments

Sometimes don't you want to scream, "Enough is enough?" And then something worse happens! How do you feel? What do you do? Read and find out how Kumud felt and what she did out of extreme desperation. Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/mr24djxyRakuten Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/2p8yt732Smashwords: https://tinyurl.com/2p8aj9td ...

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Genesis and Growth of a Novel

Posted on June 15, 2023
in Online Mindful Writers Group, Writing
6 Comments

I'd love you to join me today and the rest of the week to read my posts about a topic that fascinates me—the genesis and development of a work of fiction. What makes a writer devote months, if not years, filled with passion, purpose and one pointed attention to create a fictional dream? What drives us as we keep revising draft after draft until the final manuscript is completed?  I'm sharing the genesis and growth of my novel, THE LAST SUTTEE at Online Mindful Writers Group #mindfulness #meditation #journaling #reading#writing #visual arts #research #attention #Awareness #Authentic Self  #Dailywritingprompt #silence and solitude #Awe and Wonder #Transformation #Imagination #Creativity #Self-Contemplation #Self-Improvement #Motivation #Inspiration #Self-Help #Daily Guidebook #Fictionwriting #Suttee #Women’srights #Genderequality  Please follow my: Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/madhubazazwangu/Instagram: @Madhu.WanguBookbub: @Madhu-Bazaz-WanguFacebook: @MadhuBazazWangu Links for my paperback and eBooks:  Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/mr24djxyRakuten Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/2p8yt732Amazon Books: https://tinyurl.com/haayyacmSmashwords: https://tinyurl.com/2p8aj9td ...

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