Thoughts - A journey within

Thoughts - A journey within

Sometimes all that it takes for a ripe fruit to drop without effort is the slightest shake of a branch. No wrenching, no tugging, no spasms of pain on being uprooted from a source that had held it for so long. It just gives way, severs itself to begin a new life. Similarly, there are those precious moments in one's life when a casual conversation can suddenly reveal a side of a relationship that was hanging there all the time, but hidden by a thin veil of ignorance or self deception. And, all of sudden a chance remark pierces that tenuous veil, a gaping hole appears and everything becomes crystal clear to mind's eye. Things can never be the same after that.

The important thing though is one's inner availability to recognize and change at that moment. It is easy to struggle, rationalize, argue with oneself, lose that poignant moment to be radically transformed and continue in our mutually uncomfortable relationships. But an intelligent, wise Man is one who will stop when he observes such an opening and plunges into its holy depths. There is a wonderful word for such a moment in English. It is called "epiphany" The origins of this word goes back to early Christianity, when the appearance of angels , birth and revelation of Christ was considered a "sudden shining forth of divinity", but close to eighteenth century the word crept into English to mean any moment that suddenly revels a hidden truth or meaning.

Yesterday in office, I had one such epiphanous moment. It happened all of a sudden, when a conversation I was having suddenly turned direction, and in that pivotal instant, a whole new truth manifested. It was very cleansing. Zen Buddhists would want to call it Satori - an experience that complete reverses or invalidates (probably the better word) ones assumptions and premises and is tremendously healing. Such moments are rare, and as I said earlier, it is one's availability that makes the key difference. All of us have many such opportunities in our daily lives, but unfortunately, we lose most of them because we are so caught defending our positions against all odds. Here again , the word "losing" is not used in a negative connotation. It means letting go one's erroneous or misplaced understanding and emerging out of it a more wholesome man. The litmus test of such an event is deep peace within and without.

This is the season of Christmas, and one of books that is always close to me along with the Gita is "The sermon on the mount" - a collection of Sayings of Jesus Christ collected in the book of Matthew. It is said that these aphorisms were one of the first utterances of Christ after he was baptized by John in the river of Galilee. The sayings are fresh, vibrant without interpretations. In it Christ says

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? "

This is purest definition of epiphany. When the mote in one's eye is recognized and removed, everything else becomes clear. Professional, personal and social relationships are all desecrated by the heaviness of our personalities. Like a ripe fruit with too much weight hanging around uncomfortably, we invest too much of ourselves in our relationships, and in epiphanous moments when we realize the dead weight on us and learn to let go - a new dimension opens up that is far more enriching, liberating and fulfilling than what we assumed for so long.

Every year, Christmas denote the birth of divinity. An opportunity to be reborn again in spirit. I want to wish all of my readers, friends and well wishers my profound Christmas greetings, and pray that all of us are more open to moments of change and inner transformation.

Merry Christmas!!

Yours in mortality,

Bala