12th of February 2020 dawned like any other day… my usual listening to Bhajans, my obeisance to the sun, my listening to a spiritual lecture on the computer… and me thinking of how peaceful I felt… I could drop into a reasonably good meditative state easily … all in all I was feeling good about myself.
Then in the early evening a sudden restlessness entered me like an unwelcome guest… why? I asked … I mentally went through various ‘so called’ unpleasant situations going on in my life and of those i cared for but no! It was not that… then what was it? I looked deeper into the dark new alley that had just taken birth … and strangely I was ‘told’ write! But write about what? And with that thought I went to bed…
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And I woke the next morning with the same restless feeling … when I looked at my computer that morning it was like it was beckoning me to touch its keys … I apologetically and affectionately told it: ‘here I am but I have nothing new to offer you!’ … I still don’t really know what to say… but the good sign is that my fingers move… so I trust they have a song to sing… so, as my friend Omkar says: ‘let the curtains rise…
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I believe that the greatest writers have written because they cannot help writing… their desire to write and share comes from the heart … and therefore it can’t but help touch the hearts that read it…let the pen dictate… where it goes is of little consequence … I believe that ‘the writing’ brings with it its own destiny.
So then I suppose we go with the flow… surrender to the pen…
Paulo Coelho says: ‘And when you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.’ And other self-help gurus say that when you want something, you must start behaving as if you already own it…so when I say ‘surrender’ I do not mean that the pen will do all the job … the desire that you hold may have originated in the soul of the universe but one must work towards it… and the Universe will help you…so here I am… and as is my philosophy in life, I do my best, and leave the rest…so with a deep feeling of gratitude in what I have in me…
I move ahead, my hand firmly in His.
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Let us talk of surrender relinquishing
That’s a tough topic to tackle but let’s try… our mind is trained to be active …to do something… but in this case … ( after having done all you could ) don’t do … just Be…being passive is death for the ego…thoughts will then by and by cease…allow what is happening to happen…don’t interfere…receptivity is always passive… you are not going to create the truth … the truth is already there …what you are is already there …just wait ! Being active for the world is good…but what is helpful for the world is not so helpful when you move into God… unto the Universe…surrender is always into the unknown… only be aware! Fall In love with the Cosmos … with the Viraat Svaroop, the Life force of Lord Krishna …and watch miracles unfold …
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But to surrender to life one must perforce be fearless…but how does one achieve that state?
If one thinks and goes deep within oneself to learn from our own experiences, one does conclude that one has little choice but to ‘surrender’ to life and whatsoever It will bring, after having done what so ever one could, in the situation…I believe:
Do your best and leave the rest. But my wise ‘belief’ is borrowed from what Lord Krishna states is the Geeta.
Lord Krishna reminds Arjun that he only has a right over his actions, not over the fruits thereof. Krishna urges Arjuna to perform his ‘dharma’ the best way he knows how, and to surrender the results to the Lord.
But what about fear? Read the following:
It is said that before entering the sea, a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has travelled, from the peaks of the mountains. The long winding road, crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter there seems to nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way. The river cannot go back.
The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean, only then will the fear disappear, because that is where the river will know, it is not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean.
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I believe that the need to write comes with hope. Hope to inspire…Hope for a better existence, a better world, a more peaceful one. One in which we learn to coexist. In which it finally dawns upon us, that we share the same planet and it has to survive if we need to.
Maybe when I see my words on paper I understand myself better. When I read what I have written I become clearer to myself…and then most of the time, for me at least, when I realize that what I feel, is true, then I share it… and then when the complex world becomes clearer to the reader…when he is able to see the world and himself in a clearer light, then I feel that I have scored…and I realise that the pen is truly more powerful than the sword.
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So let us talk about fear.
Parents urged us not to be afraid, they wanted us to become achievers and walk boldly on, in the face of adversity…don’t be afraid of the dark!, walk on your own they said silently while suddenly letting go of our hand as we toddled along, but then contradicting themselves they taught us not to trust strangers instantly and not to cross roads while distracted…we grew up confused…but soon we learned to walk the line between fear and fearlessness…however parents and children continue to remain uncertain as to what to fear or what not to…
The truth is that there are no guarantees…if you don’t take that step forward for fear of falling you will never learn to walk. I have read that there is no shame in falling in the mud but there is. in not getting up and continuing to walk…try and try again until you succeed…or move on…don’t look back…we all have heard those wise instructions often enough but…think! Only that ‘child’ succeeds who applies those instructions to their life and continues to walk and stand tall in his own image…so what if people criticise you or ‘talk’ about you…haven’t you heard the song: kuchh to log kahenge logon ka kaam hai kehna…and then chhodo bekaar ki baton mein, kahin beet na jaaye raina…meaning people will talk, that is their job, don’t waste this (beautiful) night thinking about useless things!
Now let us understand fear.
Some fears are necessary.
Fear helps us to perform better…to change the situation for the better…think about it! when you are afraid of examinations it may goad you to prepare earlier…Gandhiji did not like the way Indians were treated on their own soil…the fear of that condition persisting, made him work toward India’s independence.
Yet many fears one needs to fight against…those that makes us withdraw from life, those that do not allow us to face a situation…maybe we fear the outcome, that outcome we may imagine will be of failure or of ridicule. We fear as to what people will think of us…I have heard that ships may be safest while docked but ships were made to sail on the high seas…
Fearlessness does not mean lack of fear. It means that you are able to conquer the fear and rise above it.
I believe that I never lose, I either win or learn…so I go right ahead and take the jump into the unknown…and whether I win or lose in other people’s eyes I always win in my own…
Rabindranath Tagore says: Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.
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Jean Paul Sartre said: “L’enfer c’est les autres”
From latin, ‘infernum’ is akin to ‘inferior’ also in Spanish ‘infierno’ means ‘hell’
Roughly translated it may mean: ‘the other is hell’ what does that really mean?
In my mind, it means that if you do not consider ‘all’ and everyone as an integral part of you…then the ‘other is hell!’
Think about it…we are obsessed with the other…whether you may want to possess or get rid of it…you may feel jealous of him/her or be angry with him/her…yet often we cannot do with the/thing person… and we can’t do without! And therefore we live in ‘hell’
What if we learn to cross bridges on earth?…of like and dislike…( The Bhagvad Geeta talks about going beyond Raag, what is dear to us and Dvesh, what we abhor) sometimes we need to cross difficult bridges if we need to preserve the planet…we need to understand what truly all religions speak about…about love and compassion…yet (so many wars have been fought in the name of religion) … we need to cross bridges involving different beliefs… different conditionings, people grow up with…
If only we could now think of what Quantum Physics has proven… that all matter is actually energy.
Incidentally all that science is now proving was known to the ancient sages and saints in various parts of the world.
So, if we think about it, if we are just energy or consciousness, all the identities that we gather about religion, nationality, race, caste, creed etc in reality do not exist. These are divisions in our own minds reinforced by society. Because all energy, all consciousness is One.
Shakun Kimatrai 