Hari
Om
'Freedays' are the 'gather our thoughts' days;
Q&As; a general page reviewing the week so far…
There
was a comment made on Saturday's
post which revealed a sense of 'ache'. Of course, in a sentence of few
words it is possible that this was not the intention, but nevertheless, the
impression received was like that of many other similar statements heard over
the years and as there has been no rebuttal of the response made, this was
probably a fair assumption.
It
boils down to this; how is it that in a world where such atrocities as the
recent Paris bombing occur, one can maintain any sense of balance and optimism?
How does one continue to see the beauty? Bringing it down to personal level,
how does one deal with the barbs of life?
As
so often happens, there is some degree of synchronicity to when this point
arose and the arrival of this week's "Choose-day" post, where almost
exactly the guidance required is given. Naturally it is given from the Vedantic
standpoint, but within that it is understood that ALL ancient wisdom is worth
the mining for the gems of living life rightly, more freely and with a sense of
joy. This happens more and more… the asking of a question or the raising of a
doubt, when studying Vedanta; more and more the answers come. These in turn
will often engender further enquiry and so it goes. This is exactly how we build knowledge and
understanding.
Here
at Aatmaavrajanam, Advaita Vedanta is the key subject because, after much exploration
by this roaming soul, it has proven its worth. Not by sitting within its texts,
but by it being taken out and put into practice. You will hear/read this again and
again! In the same way that we are always going to begin that diet, begin that
physical exercise regime, (plug in here all the
'I am gonnas' which pertain to you), we know that there is a need for
spiritual growth but we find all the
reasons not to make proper efforts in that direction.
Certainly,
if we surrender ourselves to the ocean it will
drown us. Even the strongest of swimmers can only keep head above water for so
long. More educated, more prepared
sailors, though, have survival equipment with them and even if one bit fails
there are other things to kick into place in order to ensure coming upon dry
land again.
In
Sanskrit tradition, Life is seen as an ocean, the 'water' being all the events
which take place, all the joys and sorrows are the crests and troughs of the
waves. This ocean of strife is called as संसार/samsaara. It is a thing to fear, no doubt
about it! If, though, one has ensured
one's boat is well built, is well supplied and well equipped, there is a
greater likelihood of reaching the 'other shore' (death) in good shape. The
ocean will always be the ocean. Life is
life. The 'world' will always do what it does.
What makes the difference is how we have prepared ourselves and how we
meet all the challenges and share all the joys. The spirit of the world which
the commenter so lamented as being less, is but a reflection of the individual
who is perceiving it. (Refer the posts on how Karma
informs this and how Experience is
constructed.)
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This
is not to belittle great tragedy, neither is it to make excess of good news.
One wonderful remark overheard from an interview of a French spokesperson
following the Paris attack, was that so many (in media especially) were looking
for scapegoats politically, but that "we the French people must not to
blame the political class, remember that they are only an emanation of us, The
People [for we voted them in], and it is
important that we now face the questions individually…"
This
is NOT a political blog, however, this interviewee was very impressive when
faced with some harsh and manipulative questioning, showing poise, intelligence
and a clear understanding of priorities.
The very epitome of preparedness and a prime example of how, even at
such times, if one 'keeps one's head' and works from the highest intellectual
base, it is possible to move on. It matters not which particular
Philosophy/value structure one takes up, the important thing is that there has
to be a scaffold to which we can cling - all capital 'P' philosophy tells us
the same thing. Be it Sanskrit, Greek, Chinese, Roman; Philosophy is the practice of rational
thought given validity through application. So many people are adrift in today's world
with their spirits unattached to any scaffold.
What happens then is they try to build their own from whatever floats
by. This either costs a lot of money - the 'new age' is just ancient wisdom
being rediscovered, usually to another's financial benefit - or sinks without
trace. Sects arise and create havoc,
eventually to fall away. More and more methods of escapism are sought.
The 'freeways' of the spirit; within all the
major religions lies a path of 'Knowledge' and all of these say essentially the
same thing. Individuals must take
self-responsibility; this leads to a self-responsible society, a truly
compassionate entity; this in turn can reflect up to the nation and so on. To
truly cope with the experiences which come your way, you must know yourself
inside and out.
The
following video came to attention (another of those synchronicities!) and fits
right in to this post. An entertaining talk in its own right, the important
message is the benefit to be gained from listening to/reading the ancient
wisdom. Balance can be found. The spirit of 'the world' is but an emanation of
the people within it. The more of us who take self-responsibility, the more who
will be available to give buoyancy to those who have yet to find a raft.
