Life is easy, it is we who complicate it.

So what if someone has robbed you of your time, emotions or wealth and then left you?  Kabir says: Joh thagay so chor, jo thagaaye so thakur — The one who robs you is a thief and the one who gets robbed is a thakur, a rich man. After all he was rich enough to be robbed. You had something of great value, something to impart to another person, is that not a great thing? So don’t take is as blow to your ego, just let it go.

The problem lies when we look at everything from the perspective of our ego and become slave to our tendency to put others down.

Why do this? How does it matter? Why must we focus so much on putting others down, come up on top, make others come around to our point of view? Has this habit improved the life of people around us by any measure?

Most people are busy trying to influence others, getting others to believe how great they are, how mahan they are.

Why are you striving so hard to make others believe that you are great? What do you hope to achieve from it, except feeding your ego? Why are we constantly focused on ‘I must get this’, ‘everyone must obey me’, ‘everyone must listen to me’, ‘my way is the right way’?

How to get out of this rat race to outdo each other?

It is simple. Each one of us must work to be centred, be centred in our True Self. Be happy with yourself. As Kabir said: “Kabira khada bazaar mein, maangey sabb ki khair – Kabir stands in the market place, praying for everyone’s welfare’. That’s what needs to be done. Work on yourself and just pray for others. And apney aap mein anand lein – enjoy the bliss within.

 How can you get anand by yourself?

This is possible if you use all your faculties, mental and physical, to the fullest. To be able to enjoy all your abilities — your eyes to see wonderful beautiful things, your ears to hear Nature’s sounds and the words of the wise… feet to travel wherever you like… You have so many things with you to share your joy with. Just live life fearlessly. Do what you gives you bliss fearlessly.

It is not essential to make a point all the time, score brownie points! It’s okay to stay silent too. There is bliss – anand in silence, you can experience that joy too.

We often misuse our vaani – voice and create problems for ourselves. We misuse our eyes, our ears… we came on this planet to do something else and instead have got lost… to quote Kabir again: ‘Aaye thay Hari bhajan ko, oatan lagey kapaas…we came here to sing the prayers of the lord, but got busy reaping cotton — meaning got busy with worldly things.’

Life is easy. Life is beautiful. Life is full of joy. If we don’t enjoy it, what have we come here for? True joy does not lie in pulling people down. Aspire to give love, concern compassion and consideration. These are the only humane values worth living and dying for!

Meena Om

July 7, 2014

Noida