Part Zero
The ultimate quest of a human being is achieving his/her potential. Some call it being one with divinity, some call it achieving the state of supreme bliss and some call it the clarity of thought that gives you the ultimate peace.
I call it the guiltlessness and as a result of this the freedom and the frame of mind to make the right choices. To me, being one with the divine is the state of flow, where you are your best – a natural – where you respond to the situations flawlessly, without thinking very consciously about it. I am sure all of us have experienced this situation at least once in a life time. A time when you are in a meeting, or discussing a new idea, or talking to a friend or a partner. Time seems to rush past you, what you want top say or do next seems to be illuminated for you and you just go ahead. The ecstasy, the joy, the happiness, the feeling of oneness with your surroundings, happens a few times for some of us. What if we want this to be a constant in our lives? What do we need to do to attain this in our lives?
Does it mean that this ecstasy is a result of giving up worldly pleasures? Of giving up?
NO!!! This ecstasy is in understanding and creating the pleasures. This supreme joy need not be restricted to the ones who retire from the world. This can be ours – here and now. This can be our constant state – while making project plans, while dealing with irate customers, while preparing for presentations, while going for collections while we are in meetings – every minute, every hour, every day of our lives.
What do we need to do to get there? I have glimpsed a few answers in Ayn Rand. Closer home, I have glimpsed more detailed answers in the Bhagwat Gita. Though I can't claim to have read the entire text, the first few lines of the “Bhagwat Gita – Tatvavivechani” by Shri Jayadayal Goenka and printed by the Gorakhpur Press had me hooked. This blog is an attempt to share my thoughts on how this would affect us in our everyday life. I am starting my journey today with a few choice questions and answers I found in the book that establishes the context and gives an indication of the content of the Gita. At this stage, I would like to mention that this is an attempt to understand the Gita as the philosophy of life and not to propagate it as God’s words. Right now I am not concerned with Bhakti or Mukti, although many people say that they are important. This journey of mine is like a long trek in an area I have never visited before. There would be hills, rivers, mountains, some scenes I might have come across before, some that are totally new, some situations or views that I am thrilled with, some that are commonplace, some that are difficult to accept and digest. However, as it happens in any trek there would be some unforgettable moments that make the journey worth its while.
I call it the guiltlessness and as a result of this the freedom and the frame of mind to make the right choices. To me, being one with the divine is the state of flow, where you are your best – a natural – where you respond to the situations flawlessly, without thinking very consciously about it. I am sure all of us have experienced this situation at least once in a life time. A time when you are in a meeting, or discussing a new idea, or talking to a friend or a partner. Time seems to rush past you, what you want top say or do next seems to be illuminated for you and you just go ahead. The ecstasy, the joy, the happiness, the feeling of oneness with your surroundings, happens a few times for some of us. What if we want this to be a constant in our lives? What do we need to do to attain this in our lives?
Does it mean that this ecstasy is a result of giving up worldly pleasures? Of giving up?
NO!!! This ecstasy is in understanding and creating the pleasures. This supreme joy need not be restricted to the ones who retire from the world. This can be ours – here and now. This can be our constant state – while making project plans, while dealing with irate customers, while preparing for presentations, while going for collections while we are in meetings – every minute, every hour, every day of our lives.
What do we need to do to get there? I have glimpsed a few answers in Ayn Rand. Closer home, I have glimpsed more detailed answers in the Bhagwat Gita. Though I can't claim to have read the entire text, the first few lines of the “Bhagwat Gita – Tatvavivechani” by Shri Jayadayal Goenka and printed by the Gorakhpur Press had me hooked. This blog is an attempt to share my thoughts on how this would affect us in our everyday life. I am starting my journey today with a few choice questions and answers I found in the book that establishes the context and gives an indication of the content of the Gita. At this stage, I would like to mention that this is an attempt to understand the Gita as the philosophy of life and not to propagate it as God’s words. Right now I am not concerned with Bhakti or Mukti, although many people say that they are important. This journey of mine is like a long trek in an area I have never visited before. There would be hills, rivers, mountains, some scenes I might have come across before, some that are totally new, some situations or views that I am thrilled with, some that are commonplace, some that are difficult to accept and digest. However, as it happens in any trek there would be some unforgettable moments that make the journey worth its while.
posted by Uma Sundaram at
8:10 AM
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