LIFE AND LIFE-SITUATIONS ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS









Pic.: Dilip V.

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful
for the evolution of your consciousness.
How do you know this is the experience you need?
Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”

- Eckhart Tolle

These words of Eckhart Tolle from his famous book – ‘Power of Now’- help me to calm down, become peaceful.

The misery and suffering in my life, always, are in proportion to the resistance I throw to my life-situations. In other words, they are there in me because I do not accept the reality of my present moment. The more I spend my time resisting – blaming, cursing, self-pitying and resenting – the more I will experience the turmoil with… my misery and suffering.

What Life has brought me right now is my reality. If I can’t get out of it right now, I must accept that reality and slowly and steadily take some concrete actions to come out of it… Yes, I should not lie passive, saying ‘God will get me out of my misery’… I must take all necessary steps to deal with it… But, the more and more I spend time in blame and self-pity, the more and more I resist and resent, the less strength I will find to deal with my misery.

“Life and Life-situations are two different things,” Eckhart Tolle tells us. We, often, mix them up… think, that, if situations in our life are bad, our Life is bad. Life, indeed, is like the vast sea… deeper, profound, inspiring and infinite. On the other hand, our life-situations, no matter how good or bad they are – they are like the waves of the sea… They are there only on the periphery… They are shallow, they change.

Yes, if at all, our life-situations - the waves of the sea - bring us something worthwhile, it should be the powerful message inscribed on King Solomon’s ring: ‘THIS TOO SHALL PASS AWAY’!
The ring kept King Solomon wise all through his life… Every time, the pomp and glory of his kingship made his heart swell, he would look at the ring and remind himself: ‘This too shall pass away’. And, every time, life’s burden and misery made his heart shrink, he would look at the same ring and remind himself: ‘This too shall pass away.”

Why, then, spend our time in blame and self-pity? Why resist and resent? The unrest is where the waves are… not where the deep sea is!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...