This mail was sent on the occasion of Dussera & it outlines very beautifully the importance of this festival.
Dear Friends,
Namaste!
Wish you all a very happy (albeit belated) Dussera
Dussera is very auspicious for two reasons. Firstly, we are expected to perform “Seema Ullanghan” (Crossing the Boundaries). Secondly, we are also expected to spread wealth and well-being by drawing upon the reservoir of riches all round us.
This was the day when Pandavas completed their tenure in exile and re-claimed their weapons hidden in a “Shami” tree-hole. They went on to fight injustice, recover their kingdom and restore their self-respect and reputation.
This was also the time at which Rama killed Ravana and Durga Maa killed Mahishasur reassuring mankind that Good will always eventually prevail over Evil.
Thus, Dussera inspires us to overcome the so-called constraints, take our achievements beyond the imagined limits and fulfill our true potential. It also inspires us to celebrate and live life to the fullest by engaging in constructive activities. It further inspires us to leave the mediocre, the negative, the petty behind and get into the territory that is glorious, positive and principal.
How do we do this? Is there a technique that all of us can practise to get there?
In answer to these questions, let’s look at a jewel of a technique from Yoga Shastra. Hopefully, this will also provide the “quick win” that some of you Jet-age citizens may be looking for!
The law of Karma (better known as Newton’s third law) states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Effect will follow Cause and where there is Smoke there has to be Fire. Whilst reaction succeeds every action, there is always a trigger that precedes it. That trigger is ‘thought’. In fact, thoughts are the roots from which the tree of action grows bearing fruits of results! Hence the saying, “As you think, so shall you become”. What we are today is a result of what we thought yesterday and what we will become tomorrow is going to be a result of what we are thinking here and now.
Thus if we can shape our thoughts, we can shape our destiny. If we can control our thoughts, our progress will know no bounds. We can possess and share all the good things in the world if we can focus our thoughts in that direction. We can - if we think we can.
Difficult to believe? Then read on this story of a magical tree…
This is the story of that magical tree
Whatever the wish it would grant for free
The seeker could either be arrogant or humble
All he had to do was stand beneath it in the jungle
Once upon a time a man was passing through
At heart he was a sceptic well and trueSure enough he wanted to stand below the tree
To confirm his non-belief and make others agree
His horse in anticipation he did straddle
Once and for all he wished to resolve the riddle
There in the jungle right in the middle
Stood the tree that he considered merely a fiddle
Looking at the tree and not a little excited
From the horse’s back he nimbly alighted
Standing beneath the tree he got all set to demand
Whatsoever would be his cynical mind’s command
As his mind drowned in a plethora of thought
A bountiful of wealth was the first thing he sought
At that very instant and suddenly from nowhere
Appeared a chest full of goodies he would revere
Eagerly he asked for a perfect looking wife
In search of whom he had toiled all his life
No sooner did the thought pass through his mind
Than did he get a lady no mortal could ever find
This was when his suspecting mind did observe
All the goodies he had done nothing to deserve
He said to himself, “This cannot really exist,
“I will go mad if these hallucinations persist”
The moment he convinced himself about this ‘reality’
All his possessions left him with amazing agility
“Aha!” exclaimed his mind, “Didn’t I tell you?
“About some superstitions I all along knew?”
Wearily he made his way back to his horse
Satisfied that his beliefs at last he could endorse
On the horseback out of the jungle while making way
He knew to all Believers exactly what he would say
So far so good!
Having seen how our thoughts help us to achieve our goals, we will now turn, in the next article, to how we can control our thoughts. How we can be the master and make our mind our slave (rather than the other way round). What simple, yet effective, technique Yoga Shastra prescribes. A technique that is so easy that it can be practised by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Till then.
No comments:
Post a Comment