A New Awakening

 

By late last night it was evident that the election results are not what I had hoped for. A majority of the voters had shown preference for the candidate who has some major flaws. I went to bed with a feeling of great disappointment and despair. 

When I woke up it was a quarter past three. Result of jet lag. My mind was at peace. Quite a contrast to the state in which it was before going to bed. I offered my daily obeisance to the All Pervading Consciousness and to Mother Earth before getting out of bed. 

It was a quiet time that I knew I will not get once the world wakes up around me. That unique silence filled with awareness was precious and would be short lived. It will be riddled with a lot of commotion for rest of the day. This was my only chance to seize upon contemplation.

Contemplation over what? Over recognizing and affirming what matters. The political picture is about to take some major turn. The mind can be vulnerable during this period to a variety of unpleasant experiences. It can be inflicted upon by negative emotions of anxiety, fear, anger, disappointment, hopelessness, lack of clear direction. Yet it needn’t be so. It needs to know that the peace that was experienced upon waking today is going to be there at all times irrespective of circumstances outside. It is the substratum over which any disturbances may make appearance. This peace needs to become the permanent resting place, safe haven for the mind.

There are responsibilities to bear now and until the body breathes its last breath. The focus must remain on the responsibilities rather than the disturbances from the surroundings. The moral virtuosity laid down by the saints must be adhered to. The polluted winds from outside must not be allowed to change the course of this ship. The ship must be in the ocean but not of the ocean if it must remain afloat.

Muktabai’s lines come to mind:

मन मारूनी उन्मन करा

ताटी उघडा ज्ञानेश्वरा 

A thought did cross my mind earlier, would it be different if the election results were not what they turned out to be? Probably the mind would not experience the disappointment like it did last night. Instead it would be subjected to immense joy, relief and a resultant sense of complacency. While that may have been good from the worldly perspective it would not have brought the focus on and reinforced the inner foundations. 

The famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s words appear in new light in the moment :

मन का हो तो अच्छा

ना हो तोऔर भी अच्छा

When things turn out the way you wanted, it is good. 

When they don’t turn out the way you wanted, it is even better.

May we all be able to see what and why it is better when things don’t turn out the way we envisioned.

The real exercise here is sifting the mind out of pure being . 

Saree is a cotton weave from Kanchipuram.