Blog | Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

Online Meditation and Writing Begins!

Posted on December 26, 2017
in Being in Nature
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Hi All, Hope you are enjoying holidays with your family and friends. Here are the things you need to do at our first Online Mindful Writers Meeting next Tuesday: Check in a few minutes before 10:00 am Below is the link to CD, Meditations for Mindful Writers, Body, Heart, Mind: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pr1w5asvstfsl5d/AABE5ajUjmdgiMWBSnEeTSrIa?dl=0&preview=Body+Meditation.mp3   The CD has four meditations. We will begin with guided Body Meditation. (About sixteen minutes). Most of you are familiar with this meditation. If you are new to the Mindful Writers Group, listen to it at least once before you begin. After Body Meditation, at about 10:20 we will write in our journal for fifteen minutes. I'll provide you a prompt for day's journaling.   Following the journaling, we'll write--a story, an essay, first draft of a novel or, if you are already working on a draft,...

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Why Walk?

Posted on December 19, 2017
in Being in Nature
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Walking clears your mind. Just walk! But not to burn calories or count miles but to commune with the natural world, and behold the benefits of walking in nature. Let the thought of walking excite you— walk anywhere and anytime—at dawn, at dusk, in full moon. Walk mindfully—with attention on your breath and on your steps. Your mind relaxed and your heart gladdened. A solution to your problem is bound to emerge. At the Mindful Writers Retreats we begin our day with a walk. “People say that walking on water is a miracle but to me, walking peacefully on the earth is the real miracle. Earth is a miracle. Each step is a miracle,”      writes the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in his little book, The Long Road Turns to Joy. Kinhin, Zen...

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Why Meditate?

Posted on December 12, 2017
in Being in Nature
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Do you know our mind has similar needs as our body? Exercise and nutrition develop our muscles and keeps us healthy. But what mental activities can develop our mind? What can we do so that our minds are nourished and our dormant capabilities and potentialities are revealed? We know daily journaling is one such mental discipline that nourishes our whole self. The other, and more important, is the practice of meditation. Meditation integrates body, heart and mind, and releases tremendous inner resources. We all are familiar with times when we can’t stop thinking of something over and over again, when our thoughts run wild, when we hear constant jabbering that at times grows even louder. We long for quiet, we need silence. Somewhere to sit still, inhale and exhale in solitude. This...

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Why Journal?

Posted on December 5, 2017
in Being in Nature
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Significance of Daily Journaling Decades ago, like most people, I too had accumulated mental clutter that I could not share with anyone, neither with my husband nor with my daughters, people closest to me. Yet I felt I must get rid of it. But how? Then Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones taught me that mental junk must be dumped by penning it down, by writing freely about it in a journal. Journaling is an integral part of Writing Meditation Method (WMM) because like meditation it heals you inside out. It transforms you from masked individual to a genuine person. It enables you to express your authentic emotions. What you write may be deeply painful, embarrassing or guilt ridden but your notebook is for your...

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Online Mindful Writers Group

Posted on November 28, 2017
in Being in Nature
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There are four Mindful Writers Groups in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania. The members, mostly writers meet to meditate, journal longhand and work on their projects. Since 2011, regular weekly meetings have resulted in improved productivity, creativity and happier members. An increasing demand for such a group at distant places has persuaded me to start an Online Mindful Writers Group that is open nationally and internationally. If you would like to participate in Online Mindful Writers Group please add your name at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/706933849506291/?source=create_flow I look forward to meditating, journaling and writing with you. If you are not a writer, I encourage you to still join us as the Writing Meditation Method that we follow is beneficial for in any and all fields of work. Combined practice of meditation and journaling helps discover...

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FEATHERED QUILL BOOK REVIEW INTERVIEW

Posted on November 8, 2017
in Being in Nature
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Feathered Quill's Lynette Latzko Interviews Author Madhu Bazaz Wangu FQ: Most Westerners are not familiar with Indian culture and practices, especially ones that have been outlawed quite some time ago like suttee. What did you hope to accomplish when you began writing The Last Suttee? WANGU: I wanted to let people of India and the world know that rituals like suttee and similar social traditions, that suppress women, continue to persist in many cultures. I wanted to write socio-economic and cultural reasons of the ritual, put it within the context of modern India and give voice to the ritual murder of a widow. Even one such horror is one too many.FQ: I read a bit about the suttee of Roop Kanwar in 1987, and was surprised to discover that eleven people were...

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Tokyo, Japan

Posted on November 1, 2017
in Being in Nature
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“Travel is not about collecting passport stamps but keeping your eyes open.” Pico Iyer   Tokyo, Japan We had all these images about Tokyo. In reality, it turned out to be quite different and still the same. Our hotel, Mandarin Oriental, was in the heart of Tokyo. The view from our room was of a concrete jungle sprinkled with skyscrapers. It looked terribly crowded yet strangely quiet.   It was not one of the prettiest cities we had visited but has fabulous restaurants, unparalleled mass transit system, exquisite gardens, and it was impeccably clean. There were no trash bins on the roadside. People carried their trash with them to dispose it off at home or office. Two noteworthy features: first a sense of surprise when among the grey skyscrapers appeared stone lanterns, tori...

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Kyoto, Japan

Posted on October 28, 2017
in Being in Nature
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KYOTO   “Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old.” Rudyard Kipling   From the gold city of Kanazawa, we rode to Kyoto by Japan Railway Thunderbird Express. Kyoto was Japan’s capital for over 1,000 years before Tokyo took its place. Kyoto is the city of Zen temples and tea ceremony, of glorious imperial gardens, and also sprinkled with art museums and modern cafes. It’s the yin of the country.   Our first stop was the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji), the retirement villa of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After his death in 1408, the building was turned into a Zen temple according to his will. Constructed out of wood in the middle of a large pond, its top two floors are completely covered...

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Matsumoto, Takayama & Kanazawa: JAPAN

Posted on October 21, 2017
in Being in Nature
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“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” James A. Michener Matsumoto Castle Matsumoto Castle is one of the most complete and beautiful stone castles in Japan. First build in 1504, during Edo Period Shogunate (1600-1868) who established Matsumoto Domain. For 280 years, until the abolition of feudal system, the castle was ruled by 23 consecutive lords. From far the castle looks like a black bird spreading its wings. Climbing the sixth-floors was strenuous due to the irregular height of the steps. They were made in such a way so that the enemy, encumbered with their regalia, would find it hard to ascend. The interior was constructed with wood, stone and mud. Each floor had a display of weapons, pictures or...

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Hakone, Japan

Posted on September 30, 2017
in Being in Nature
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"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Mark Twain A month ago, I celebrated my birthday in Hakone, Japan. Thank you all for posting affectionate and loving birthday messages! They enhanced my stay in enchanting valley of Hakone that boasts of two dozen museums and numerous mineral springs. In magnificently beautiful Hakone National Park we walked along the shores of Lake Ashi. We sailed with a view of Mount Fuji (12,389 ft.) with its subtly slant snow peak. Mt. Fuji has inspired poets and painters through centuries and is one of the most visited pilgrimage centers in this island country. It played hide and seek with clouds and mist throughout our stay. We got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji the day we were to leave. We could also see it from the...

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