Flowers on the path

The journey is beautiful – definitely. But the perception of the journey is as important as the journey itself. But the one who paved the path remembered to put pitfalls along with the picturesque scenery. He also remembered to give people who reach out their hands when the way seems lost. The journey also needs different skills at different times. At times, we forget we are making this journey and view this as a trap. A gentle knock on the head to bring us back on track is also forthcoming.

A token of gratitude for those people – who gave without expectations; many who gave without even knowing thus. These people keep my journey alive by imparting different skills or inspiration to go on. They are very much a part of my life!

Intelligence
Osho! I owe my presence on the path to him. The man who is so badly misunderstood by the masses – one who discarded everything that was dear to him with a single pointed agenda to Know. He eventually attained with his sheer intelligence without a Guru* - no ordinary feat! I am on the path because of him – unequivocally!

Humor and Playfulness
Krishna! The man who is present in every home in India, who is embedded into the cultural fabric of this nation, but not necessarily understood for what He is! It took over thirty years for me to look behind this ubiquitously found image to glimpse (only glimpse - this is a carefully chosen word) what He comes to represent! One who lived the life of a hundred strong men put together and yet danced through life! Just the thought of Him unburdens my life!

Involvement
iLaiyarAjA! A man who is more popular for his untimely comments than for his involvement. The man who breathes music – one statement to which you can append literally append "literally" without sounding outrageous. What people need to realize is the amount of work (read: "level of involvement") that went behind the scenes leading to the attainment of this near-impossible skill of collapsing situations, thoughts and emotions instantly into aural tones! It will be fitting if he attains through this path!

Humility and devotion
 Paramahansa Yogananda! Multiple reads into “Autobiography of a Yogi” will give you no clue of his towering stature. Indeed, this humility is the hallmark of devotees. Only multiple third person accounts later do you realize how tall He stands and yet manages to say “It wasn’t me!”

mAnickavAsakar! Properly imbibing the “sivapurAnam” will make you a devotee with no prior initiation! The words themselves exploded out of him in intense devotion – there is no other conceivable possibility. He surrenders even his devotion to the One. And it is the privilege of this culture to say he is one among many such people!

Intensity
Bruce Lee! He probably left early because he packed three years into each year he lived. He showed how much it is possible to push the body and the mind with proper focus – had he come from Indian culture, he would have called it his Sadhana! Those eyes, that face, that look...

There is one other person who in my mind, who cuts through all these dimensions with ease!

There are also of course many more people than I can list here. Indeed, for a willing heart, everyone encountered on a path can be a teacher in some way.

* Without a Guru is not being stated here as a pedigree. It is actually a great blessing have one. But reaching there without a road map is a superhuman effort!

Of beautiful dusks and sudden showers

What Osho has spoken about "darshan" below:
"As far back as one can remember, people have gathered around masters, just to sit silently. In the East we call it darshan. The West has never understood the meaning of it. It looks stupid, that, "I am going to see the master." Why not have a picture in your house? And okay, go once and see and be finished - but going to the master every day? Are you mad or something?


The West has never understood that seeing - that is the actual meaning of the word 'darshan' - means being in the energy field of a man who has come to know himself, to drink out of his well, to look into his eyes, to feel his hands, to listen to his silences, to his words."

In a recent darshan, I heard this same message, of course not verbatim. Though I was sitting silently, inwards, I was shaking my head and saying to myself, "I'll be damned!"

I also had the opportunity to attend my first wedding at the Linga Bhairavi Temple. No, not *my* wedding - though I wish it had happened there! It was beautiful, just watching the marriage in that space in Her presence and the entire audience, about fifty strong, participating! Just after this wedding was done, another couple walked in - must have been wedding day that day!

Is he here?

Anirudh was speaking to his mother.

"You know they say God is everywhere?"

"Yes"

"That's just a figure of speech right?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I mean, if people really thought he was right here, they wouldn't be doing all they're doing?"

"Well, God is everywhere doesn't mean you feel him all the time!"

"Yes, I was coming to that. Yesterday..., well forget it."

"Come on Ani!" - she pinched him lightly on the cheek.

"Yesterday evening - I was at the terrace watching the sunset. You  know, casually looking at it, people would say red. But there were like, I don't know, a hundred shades of red and gray scattered on a glorious canvas. I mean, I could have sworn he was there!"

She smiled understandingly.

Anirudh continued. "Now, it will be crazy to say that he was in the clouds. But it would be crazier to say he was not there in the clouds."

"Yes - another person could have looked up and not even considered that sight again. Or you for that matter could look at it another day and not feel a thing!"

"Yes - what does all that mean?"

"There is a beautiful Indian saying - 'A devotee creates God through his devotion'"

"That is beautiful! So what are you trying to tell me?"

"Why do you think you felt like God was with you that particular moment? You don't feel him in a traffic jam!"

"I don't know... I guess - I guess I just lost myself!"

"That is what you must do! Lose yourself to find him! You will see him whenever and wherever you lose yourself. Even in a traffic jam!"