I am not from Mumbai. I had never been to Mumbai but I just love the city. The whole city of Mumbai is in floods now. And its not just this year, but every year when the monsoon hits India in the month of July, Mumbai is drowned. Whether it is a chaiwallah's (tea selling vendor's) shop on the road side or the posh bungalows of some of highest tax paying actors like Amitabh Bachchan, everything is flooded with rain water. Not just Mumbai, every place in India it is the same.But life goes on in India... When I was going through some of these news articles, its just too amazing to see people having a cup of tea with their pants rolled up till their knees and sitting in a coffeeshop with rain water till their knees. Its just too amazing to see the spirit of people pulling bicycles with one hand and holding their sandals in the other; to see people hanging on to the holding rails of the crowded subarban railway trains of Mumbai and the train cutting through flooded railway tracks.
Whether it is rain or terrorism or earthquake, cities like Mumbai have shown that - life just goes on.
Yeah, many people might be cribbing about the poor infrastructure, hygiene etc. etc. but there are many more people who just take life as it comes. That is the beauty.
When we went for Varanasi trip with Swamiji, we were all waiting for train from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata at Bhubaneswar station. The train was delay by about two hours. We all (300 of us) sat down on the railway platform. Swamiji also happily settled down on platform with a turban on his head and asked us, "How many of you are irritated with delay and this waiting?" He paused for a while and said, "Even if you are irritated, nothing can be done. Just relax and enjoy."
Swamiji says, "We can always see things in two ways. One: we can see what is wrong, how things can go wrong and always be engulfed in fear and worry. Second: we can see everything that is happening as auspicious and just flow with whatever is there in this moment."
Our fears arise because of our expectations and fantasies about what is really there in this moment. Those people in Mumbai can feel terrible about the whole thing by seeing how their expectations and fantasies are not being met. Or, they can be just flowing with what they have right now.
Living life by the moment and strongly believing what is happening is auspicious is the best possible option that any of us has. In fact our fears due to our fantasies and expectations always creates a thread of negativity constantly running in us. If we see in our lives, even if something good (according to our definition) happens, the first thought that comes is that of fear as to how long will this happiness last. It is not about gratitude or pure joy; its about fear. That negativity in turn attracts negative events in our lives. This becomes a vicious cycle.
It need not be as big as our homes getting flooded. It can be as simple as some issue at office or home. We have the right to decide: do I want to get worried and scared, or shall I just see what really is there and work on it. The choice is ours. Enjoy this video
2 comments:
I really enjoyed your article, Ma...it is true about everything being auspicious...I can just see you guys hanging around the train station, just sitting and waiting, together with Swamiji. Whenever I have to wait , in the future I will visualize that scene:300 of you sitting and waiting for the train with Swamiji.
Adrienne, blissed out volunteer from Orlando
Namaste,
Your guru bhakthi is commendable.But can u please clarify, why the classes are charged for a certain amount.According to our Shastras (and you are claiming to follow the vedic path), one who sells VedAs ( who takes money for imparting scriptural knowledge) these are destined for a special Purgatory known as LavaNam. Here, though the Acharya is not supposed to demand recompense in cash or kind for imparting knowledge, the sishya, on his own, should offer the best and the most he can to the Acharya, so that the vidyA he has imbibed would be fruitful.
So how do u justify Nithyananda's organization charging a fee for their classes? The Guru Dakshina should be offered by the student in whatever way he can.Dont we all know know the story of Sudhama where he offeres only 'Poha' to Lord Krishna and he accepts it lovingly?
If he is Sanyasi, one who has renounced and who apparently also begged for food, what need does he have to ask for money?
Like the Sankaracharyas (Sringeri,Kanchi), should he not accept whatever is offered?
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