Slowly Is The Way...
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[Slowly, slowly O my heart, Slowly happens all
Gardener pours hundred pots of water, but fruit ripens only when the season comes]
-Kabir
We talked last time about infusing a positive emotion into our mind whenever a negative emotion tried to overpower us. Considering the fact that our mind has immense power and at the same time also acknowledging that our mind is mostly very obstinate, we realise that our mind can be our well wishing friend and it can also be our harshest enemy. It is up to us what we would like it to become- a friend or an enemy.
Now moving ahead from our last month’s stop-over at “Pratipaksh Bhavana”, we may find it challenging to deliberately invoke a positive frame and positive emotional attitude to replace our original mood which might be negative. After all it is not easy to smile , if someone is abusing us constantly, for instance .The answer to this challenge lies in allowing a certain degree of patience and slowing down in our reaction to negative things and negative people. Three things which help us to slow down and develop patience are : Awareness, will power and right attitude.
Awareness is a continuous flow of knowledge about inner as well as the outer situation or conditions. Awareness gives us knowledge about totality of our inner and outer being . It makes us a witness or seer of the reaction of things and people on us as well as our reaction to things and people. The knowledge which is the direct result of awareness, becomes the key to empower our mind . Knowledge increases our will power.
When we have the knowledge and the will then we can be sure of adopting the right attitude and it is the right attitude which creates a balance in our inner and outer life. Balance leads to mental peace .
Hence slowly, we can work on our awareness factor as Lord Krishna suggests:
Shanaih shaneruparamedbudhdhaya dhratigrahitaya /
Atmasamstham manah kritva na kinchidapi chintayet //
[6:25]
[Slowly with regular practice ; gradually becoming indifferent to sense objects;
establishing the intellect in patience; placing the mind in the inner Atman,
the seeker should not worry about anything]
Krishna is imploring the seeker to have patience and leave the worries behind. This is possible only if we are regular in our chosen or given spiritual practice .
In Hindu calendar, festival of Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the Poornima of Shravana month. This year Raksha Bandhan falls on the 29th day of August month. It is a festival that commemorates affection and duty between brother and sister in a Hindu family. In a patriarchal society, it also suggests duty of a brother to protect his sister. The festival consists of a ritual act in which a sister ties an embellished thread on her brother’s wrist. The thread is symbolic of love between siblings as well as a reminder to the brother about his duty towards his sister.
In modern age when we are asserting the equality of genders, this thread has become a symbol of compassion and can be tied to anyone regardless of gender.
Let all of us tie our souls to each other with a thread of compassion!
