My First Milestone
Embracing the Whole of ME
I did get to know that, “I am not this mind. I am That!” as I recounted in my previous story. This knowledge was not yet free.
[Knowledge becomes free when we become aware — thanks to our life experiences and the right meaning we put into them, which is possible to apprehend only with grace!]
My pensive bro was all blithe the next day. He was the one who woke me up from my slumber, reprimanding me, “You have a plan to work on and you are sleeping like a log!” I groggily rubbed my eyes, frowned at him, and looked at my watch. My plan was to wake up at 4 a.m. and it was 6! The perfectionist in me got upset and slumbered down into my bed again.
Bro saw that and said there’s still time and the weather is beautiful for a quick walk before our breakfast. I looked outside the window and yeah, he was right. [I always thought him to be a dunce but in retrospect, I realize I was being a dunce in thinking of him thus; though a lesser dunce than he was!]
I picked myself up, did my morning prayer (given below), and went for the dose of my Vitamin N [N = Mother Nature], paying my obeisance to the Sun God on the way.
A Meaningful Pause
Before I continue the story, let me pause and share what Sanatan Dharma means to me.
‘Sanatan’ means ‘ancient’ and ‘Dharma’ means ‘basic principle of divine law, a code of proper conduct conforming to one’s duty and nature.’ It is an ancient culture that divinizes each and every aspect of our being on this Earth.
‘Nature’ is a personification of the nurturing and life-giving aspects of a Mother, and thus is revered as the Highest Divine Being; Goddess.
‘Sun’ is a personification of the Father, a giver & a sustainer of life on this earth, revered as the Highest Divine Being; God.
[We have more than 33 Core Gods and Goddesses in our culture. Stay tuned and I’ll introduce you to them all].
My Morning Prayer: An example to describe how Sanatan Dharma personifies divinity in one’s own palm:
कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः करमध्ये सरस्वती ।
करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥English Transcript
karagre vasate lakshmi karamadhye sarasvati |
karamule tu govinda prabhate karadarshanam ||
So as soon as I wake up, I have been taught not to rush right into the day. I’d sit cross-legged, bring my palms closer, and say the above prayer, imagining the Gods and Goddesses to be in the palm of my hand [this thought in itself is so empowering, no?]. Let me also roughly translate this for you:
I focus on my fingers (Kara: hand; Agra: top/tip) and I visualize the abundant blessings of Mother Lakshmi (Goddess of all-prosperity), who dwells there.
I focus on the center of my palms (Kara: hand, Madhya: middle) and I visualize the abundant blessings of Mother Saraswati (Goddess of all-wisdom), who dwells there.
At the base of my hand (Kara: hand, Moola: bottom), I visualize the infinite blessings of Lord Krishna (Lord of the Universe), who dwells there.
And so, I focus within my hands every morning and seek divine manifestations.
Then, after this prayer, I fold my palms and bow down to Mother Earth (a personification of the growth and grounded aspects of a Mother) and then step on it to begin my day. Seems too long a process, but it is an automatic one for me now, which takes less than 2 minutes.
Universal Aspect of Sanatan Dharma
Don’t we all need all kinds of wealth, wisdom, and power, irrespective of the religion/country we come from? Isn’t it invigorating to believe all this and more to be in the palms of our hands? And, isn’t it wonderful that we drive this belief inside our being daily by affirming it?
To me, Yes! It’s a daily affirmation coined in our ancient text called ‘Vishnu Purana,’ authored by Sage Veda Vyasa thousands of years ago. Speaking it once daily, with feeling, is enough because of the way it has been conceived in the form of a very potent and powerful Sanskrit Mantra.
[And you thought ‘Affirmations’ to be a recent phenomenon developed in the West? Well, there are many like you — even Google Search!]
Sanatan Dharma, while divinizing each and every aspect of our being, helps us relate to it better by associating it with a particular name and form. So, “Wealth” is “Lakshmi,” “Wisdom” is “Saraswati,” and so on.
Just how your being has a name and I have mine, ‘Sakshi,’ no?
Back to the Main Story
A beautiful weather it was indeed, and I was glad I came for the walk (yeah, okay — thanks to my more-than-me-dunce bro!). But I had to start work on my plan and discuss so much with Dad & Mom over breakfast. Thus, I rushed back.
Bro was like, “Chik (another form of my nickname, ‘Chiki’), you have my back. While your goal remains what you’ve chosen, let me help you with alternate paths to that goal. My fee remains nominal though. Pay me when you can — no hurry. Just don’t ask me to share my share from the breakfast table!”
Fair deal it was and I gave my consent.
Mom was like, “You better stick to your goal. You waver and you would have to prepare lunch for us that day and not have it yourself.”
I can go off anything but food! Still, I consented — it was a necessary whip to goad me on. [Mom always knew my monkey mind better than I knew it. I love (in retrospect, though!) the discipline & self-dependency she ingrained into all of us].
Dad chose to read the following to us from his favorite book of our Spiritual Master:
Experience happens even to the animals, and they suffer from hunger, thirst, heat and cold. The uniqueness of a human being is its ability to engage in purposeful actvity and not be simply governed by the mechanism of instinct. They are independent agents and act with great freedom. What you get out of this life is not through what is happening to you, but through how you choose to deal with what is happening to you. [Extract from a discourse by Swami Chidananda (First President of Divine Life Society), captured in the book ‘An Instrument of Thy Peace — Swami Chidananda in the West’]
I didn’t lose time and quipped, “Just as I did not let perfectionism get the better of me this morning and chose to get up and start my day as best as I could! Great choice I made…” Just then Bro looked at me with raised eyes and I added, “Yeah, okay, I give 20% of the credit to you too. After all, you are my younger brother and my liability.” He squinted his eyes now menacingly and I chose to ignore him and his eyes. Also a great choice!
Well, it was a great start, even though not perfect. I slowly started recognizing my imperfections and combined them with my strengths to transmute myself into a new and better me each day — the way it’s done in Kintsugi.
It was this better me that I knew was going to help me free the knowledge within me. That day, I came across another quote from my Spiritual Master:
“When your spirit begins to be like a bird, fluttering against the bars of its cage, there comes into you an inner hunger. That is ‘Grace’, and that is the commencement of INNER AWAKENING.” [Swami Chidananda]
Well, words like ‘Awakening’ and ‘Grace’ didn’t appeal so much to me as a kid because they sounded more transcendental than practical. Today, after 30 years, they are more practical than anything else on this Earth for me!
I woke up every day at sunrise and beheld the world with the eyes I was fortunate to have since birth. It was only when I awakened, that I understood the world to be what it stood for.
Grace it was that I was born in this body, and grace it is that I am writing this today — with my grace-filled awakening journey continuing still! Just that it took me 30+ years to get aware of, express and share it with you! [My Ruminations].
However, even with my limited knowledge back then, I could sense how the limitless, knowledge-full spirit inside of me was fluttering hard. I was a long way to freeing it from its cage, but knew I would free it.
I just had to attain my chosen milestone after milestone; and, consciously work towards unbinding it from my deeply entrenched raw core beliefs.
Recognizing and embracing the imperfect me was the first milestone, and I achieved it with aplomb!
Next Up: My Second Milestone (Embracing the Whole of the World).
Parting Thoughts
Rabindranath Tagore Sir wrote the following line in his beautiful prayer, during the pre-independence era when my Mother Country, India, called ‘The Golden Bird,’ was still under colonial rule and the education system was governed by the colonists:
Where knowledge is free…
Some think it to be his prayer to the Almighty to have educational knowledge freely available to all in India, without any colonial filters. Well, today, in the 21st century, the digital revolution has made it freely available to the entire World, without any filters.
However, I think, in addition to that, Tagore Sir’s words have a deeper meaning. India gained independence on August 15, 1947; but its spirit, the Golden Bird, was enshrouded in self-doubts, fears, etc— the aftermath of the colonial rule that ripped her of all its material wealth and made her people scorn its ancient spiritual wealth. [Who wants to focus on the spiritual anyway when basic material needs are wanting?]
The Golden Bird kept fluttering its wings anyhow. It didn’t mind the plunder. It knew that her land would be giving birth to many more who would again make it the Golden Bird of the days of yore. And, they (including me!) did and continue to do so. [A proud Indian I am, who transmuted herself into a proud global citizen after attaining the second milestone. More about it in my next story].
As we recently celebrated our 77th Independence Day, and also the stupendous success of Chandrayan — 3, I couldn’t help but marvel at how the ever-expanding spirit of the Golden Bird has already broken its cage and reached the Moon. It stands situated in its own grand knowledge of its being— free! Not just that! It will help the World get a better understanding of the southern part of the Moon, where no one could get to before!
May each of our beings also unfold its knowledge and get free, so we together pave the way for a better world! Amen!
About Me
Greetings! I am a Learning Evangelist, with two decades of experience in L&D and Management consultancy. Writing is my hobby, and I write prolifically on LinkedIn (coordinates below) on my journey — the ebb and flow of my life, that I’m so passionate about.
Riding the wave of life and navigating its crests and troughs like a well-balanced surfer is a skill, which I know I will master only when I make waves. Write in a way that inspires, challenges, empowers and effects positive change! It is with this intentional quest of making a dent in the Universe, I chose Medium as a medium to carry my waves from its source to its destination.
And, by the way, waves always travel through a medium — that is what I learned in Physics. So, join me as I surf up.
Your claps and thoughts here, on Medium, encourage me to surf smoothly and get back up when I drown. For more, you can follow #SakshiJoyousRuminations on Linkedin. Much love and gratitude! 💖
