Many years back, one of the very first spiritual workshop I had attended was a training program organized by my office of a Swamiji , who was a sought after Guru in corporate circles. It is not really relevant who the speaker was as I have latter on attended so many other discourses and Yoga training/ workshops , which in turn have helped immensely to progress in life, that I continue to be grateful to each of the masters and the line of thought. One of the things that one tends to do at such workshops is to seek all those unanswered questions about life. At that young age, one does not realize the wise saying: Don’t try to answer life’s questions cause by the time you are ready with answers, life itself changes the questions.
Well the reason I was reminded of this was because of a conversation with a youngster who said he can never forgive people for the wrongs that they afflicted on him. I had exactly similar strong emotions when Swamiji had asked all of us to forgive. Let go, he had then said. The whole idea was not whether who was right or wrong but whether you wanted to be hooked in the past, so that the present fritters away and you deny yourself progress. To a young mind this is all very strange, to some extent unappealing and perhaps bizarre. Some even said it is denying the reality and living in Utopia.
So continuing the thread of forgiveness or being thankful and filling oneself with the emotion of gratitude is mainly for the subconscious to be free from the heavy weight of depression,sorrowful and sad thoughts to enable it to feel light and elevate itself to happier feelings of love, affection and abundance. It is only when one has emptied oneself of the dark feelings that one can fill oneself up with desirable qualities. One of my Guru used to tell me, look at those who do not have and you will appreciate how blessed you are.I used to respond by saying that it is no fair way of feeling happy by realizing that more people are in a despondent state than me. How can I feel better at the misery of others, I used to ponder. What sometimes elders fail to point out is the purpose. The rationale is akin to what we say – wealth begets more wealth. So feeling content with whatever you have right now is the starting point to magnetize joy.
Another beautiful oft repeated example is that of an orange. When one squeezes an orange, one gets orange juice. Why is it that we do not get apple juice or mango juice out of an orange? Obviously, the reason is that an orange is filled with orange pulp. Similarly, if one’s subconscious is filled with depression, sorrow, remorse, negativity then when squeezed ( read challenged) all that will vent out is anger, frustration and the like. Hence the need is to fill the subconscious with positivism. The power of attraction ( remember 'The Secret'? ) advocates exactly that. The subconscious has to learn that it has to gear up to the thoughts which makes it feel cheerful and consequently it attracts happiness.
With these thoughts when I started to reflect as to whom I would like to thank – my life went into a filmy style flashback. Foremost were those who taught me – my Gurus –parents, my sisters, teachers, bosses, friends and even my own children. All those who supported me in thick and thin , who instilled confidence in me. Then came the benefactors – again parents were in forefront of the list, followed by a certain set of teachers, bosses,relatives. Then I thought of my supporters and admirers - your very own personal fan mail so to say. As the thought process churned, to my amazement I found that I have more to thank those who harmed me than those who helped me. Surprised? Well, let me explain. The challengers, the attackers, the enemies and above all one time friends turned foes, know very well that an open competition would not work out well as they would get defeated hands down. So when meritocracy is wanting,they indulge in politics. At this moment I may sound pompous but let me complete. What do these people do? They create obstacles and life becomes tough for you. One has to doubly prove oneself to singly match with such scheming mechanisms. The best example that I can give is that of the Mahabharat fame wily Shakunimama who help the Kauravas to win over Pandavas. So coming back to our main point, I realized that these people are designed to be planted in one’s life so that one is able to surface the turbulence caused by the bitter experience, just as gold shines brighter when subjected to fire. So all ye people I thank you from the chore of my heart for hitting me on my weak spots as it has helped me to evolve and emerge. You have done a service that even the most benevolent well-wisher of mine has not been able to do. Every prayer ends with thanks. We give thanks three times to cover all the categories, I guess.
Summing up, our soul or subconscious is also like a flame. If it glows like a lamp (read a calm and stable mind) it has the power to create magic. However, if it flickers like a faltering flame in a storm (read wavering mind) or like a blaze (read disturbed mind) then no guesses to tell that the result would be a disaster. The flame of life is happiness, the wick is the forgiveness, the oil is the gratitude and the lamp holding it all is the soul.
So the forgiveness is not for them but for you. It is for programming the soul to be happy. Even our prayers are sung in praise not because the Lord needs it but because we need to feel ecstatic and happy. This is the key to our well being, which our forefathers knew very well and packaged it as a religion.
Anagha Hunnurkar
Monday, August 17, 2015
nice insight
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