Kulu valley |
I’m not exactly sure what I’ve stumbled upon, but it may just be the magic I’ve been seeking. In a fairly modest room sits a Swami. He looks like an Indian Sean Connery with a long white beard – weird but accurate.
The room is filled with Westerners and conspicuously few Indians. He’s talking about ananda, bliss. This ananda is what all living beings seek, though only in the human incarnation is this recognition and endeavor possible. Our outer designation: doctor, lawyer, homemaker, is irrelevant. Rich or poor, Indian or white, whether we know it or not, we are seeking a state of perpetual ananda. It is our birthright and the goal of this human form to cultivate it. Ignorant of our true calling we pursue fleeting sensual happiness, all the while fearing death. We mask the fear by seeking outer trappings of wealth and security, but no matter what accomplishments we accumulate, nothing can save us from death and rebirth. Only self-realization, knowledge of our true self can end the cycle of samsara, the cycle of birth and death. The magic, the bliss we seek is the knowledge of our true self.
See where I'm going with this? |
Okay. He’s got my full attention.
As I sit in this room full of strangers, all the reasons why i left Australia are being validated. Here is someone who is espousing a set of priorities that feels right. He is not telling me to give up mundane work, only to put it in perspective and pursue the highest goal. We instinctively feel when something is good and right, just as we feel when something is not, regardless of what others would have us believe. And right now I am picking up what the Swami is putting down.