Lifestyle Pick (Hirameki)

Gain Enlightenment From Hirameki!

Embrace the Japanese ethos of Hirameki that teaches one to tap the inner halo of light, see through vision, keep ears and eyes open to the world outside and have a revelation that was hitherto brushed under the carpet.

By PRAMITA BOSE

Torch of light at the tunnel-end

Uncanny events happen when we grow perspicacious of our total existence, people and objects, our immediate environment, and every atom and particle that might impact us. We grow perceptive of little negligible things, which are otherwise ignored or overlooked at first glance. We then start drawing responses from insightful thinking. This is like gaining a foresight and staying one level up over others.

Occurrence of such an occasion gives us a feeling of great satisfaction by rendering a sudden moment of discovery. The tunnel of black chaos explodes into a burst of golden light at the end as clarity of thought trickles into our head. The door opens to knowledge and inspiration. It ushers in enlightenment with the finding of truth and this gratification is so blissful! We grab a key to turn and unlock the answers we have been so long groping for. The outcome is not in our grip. It may badly hit or affect us. Or it could be a boon, a blessing in disguise. Who knows, except The Almighty!

Hirameki hunch

Whether it is telepathic, inspirational, instrumental, an eye-opening encounter, a lesson learnt well or a warning alarm sounded for a potential danger, this quaint phenomenon of Hirameki — a Japanese appellation for intuitive detection, understanding, consciousness and attainment — has touched many individuals with inquisitive minds and thirsty eyes on its way. Sometimes, even a hunch with no logical backing proves true. Like a bright and bold pop of colour, it erupts as smithereens of fiery balls dispersing the hazy mists of doubt enveloping our faculty to reason, judge and argue.

Eureka moment!

Many a time, we hit that Eureka moment in life — akin to the eminent genius Archimedes, who had accidentally discovered his namesake principle — when we stumble upon a clue like a sleuth and unravel the remaining mystery. In a fit of elation, we then holler ‘Eureka!’ meaning ‘I have found it’ in ancient Greek. In other words, it signals acquiring awareness of what is right or wrong.

Open window

Don’t clam up and shut the world out. Unplug the gadgets, switch off the phones and come out of your claustrophobic watertight office cubicles and AC-controlled apartments to get wet and dance in the rains, gaze at the limitless azure above, marvel at the glittery stars and the milky moon, dive deep into the cyan ocean without a horizon, sprawl in the lush green fields, bask in the warm sun, feel the whistling cool breeze, enjoy the fragrance of seasonal blooms, taste the nectarine juicy fruits or lie under the shade of a tree that spreads a thick canopy. Keep your eyes and ears open like the windows of your room to let the fresh air in.

Our sense organs are the prime outlets to inhale and exhale the provocative entrants — imbibe the essentials and drain out the excess. Some are inducted while some are forbidden, no matter how enticing they appear. In a nutshell, all that glitters is definitely not gold. Didn’t we know, most bewitching things are beguiling, what say?

Our mind is sometimes clogged with ambient noises and incidents. We can’t see the very obvious even if it is right in front of us. We seldom see through our inner eye and identify the deeper realities.

Success stories celebrate the opportunities and quietly skip the failures but the fact of the matter is, every chance carries its own cost, infers life coach Krishnan Parameshwaran. “So, if you play this as a game, you have to grab the risks with both hands like a big bargain and as they say, no risk no gain. Therefore, the choice is always yours. Own it with your free will. Nevertheless, we lose plenty of chances to procrastination, getting busy with trifling things or straight out of fear. Even scientists or inventors like Thomas Alva Edison had to try his experiment a thousand times before finding the right way to make a light bulb work,” he reminds.

Amazing craft

The attractive Hirameki art mirrors the unpredictable and mutable nature of life. It can commence from a pencil dot or a blot of ink or a patch of colour to further draw lines and curves around to gradually form beautiful pictures, characters and articles that lay hidden from the naked eye. This is seminal and visually aesthetic. The creations bit by bit convert the banal into magical, prosaic into poetic. This is reflective of slow living with a deep focus. This style is famously called reverse-painting and doodling. It gives fruition to eye-pleasing shapes and formations from random spots, stains, strokes or flourishes.

Life is always in a flux as time keeps ticking. It keeps moving and changing reflecting our moodswings and the vagaries of nature. We act and react as per our whims and fancies....our mood shifts from merriment to melancholy. Likewise, nature wears different looks from dawn to dusk, from a stormy weather to a lull, from rains to snowfall, from fog to dust, from darkness to a clear daylight.

When we set out on life’s trip, we are not so sure of our destination. We only carry a roadmap of heart-cherished ambitions. We don’t know whether we are going to succeed in achieving those premeditated goals. We wish to tick off every targeted item on our bucket list but have no guarantee of its fulfillment. So, life is like an unsolved riddle to us, a mazy zone of winding paths and bends to navigate and finally reach the coveted terminus.

The tree of life germinates uncertainties, either shedding leaves or sprouting new ones. The journey of life is all about contrasts and we have to ace this balancing act like a pro trapeze performer, an aerial silk artiste or a tightrope walker.

Is it because of our overstressed life, chockfull schedule and superficial inclinations that we appear to have already lost the capacity to peer through the pragmatic prism that sieves fact from fiction? We always need a filter or a safety net to keep us grounded and not fly on the wings of fantasy into a la la land. There’s no harm to dream of a utopian world but then we must also take dystopia into account since both the yin and the yang (according to old Chinese philosophy two disparate forces coexist in happy harmony as both are complementary, interconnected and interdependent on each other) are juxtaposed like two opposite sides of the same coin.

Slow pastime

At a time when people are trying hard to re-inculcate the habits of slow and mindful living, then indulgence in analogous workshops (involving raw and sensory efforts instead of reel-effect) and physical hobbies is taking precedence. Is Hirameki one such appealing art engagement that teaches patience, indulges in immersive experiences and achieves perfection?

Art curator Shivangi Jha shares: “For me, the connection is quite spontaneous because I have been always drawn towards art that makes you slow down and really take a closer look at the gallery for keen observations. I spent some years curating exhibitions around traditional art and crafts, and what stayed with me was how much perseverance, profundity and presence the process demanded.”

FACTOID

Eureka Episode

Remember the Archimedes principle from one of your Physics lessons taught in Science class? No, you don’t have to go back to school. Just brush it up for now for better comprehension.

The theory was propounded by noted Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes (approximately dated 250 BCE) after he discovered the upward buoyant force or an upthrust experienced by an object when wholly or partly immersed in a liquid. The water pushes the object submerged in a fluid upward and spills over the sides. The amount or volume of the water being displaced is equivalent to the buoyancy felt by the object dunked in it.

This was no planned experiment in a lab but a major discovery on the scientist’s part. He had once stepped into his tub filled to the top and saw some of the water being spattered from his bath as soon as he dipped his body into it. The weight of the splashed-out water matched the space (submerged volume) of his body. Grasping what just transpired, he shouted “Eureka!” He was so overwhelmingly delighted by his unexpected achievement that he ran down the streets in the buff.

This shows that if an object floats on a watery surface, its weight is less than or equal to the buoyant force of the liquid that drips out. And if the object sinks, its weight is greater than the upward thrust of the displaced liquid.

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