I was on my journey back home after temple darshan & Ramakrishna Math Visit at Mylapore and I suddenly spotted a curious face staring at me with a feeling that the person had known me well. I tried to remember the face but can’t figure out who the unknown person was. I went past the person thinking that whether it was just a new found syndrome or theory. As per “The Theory of Relative speculation of mind,-When you spot a good looking guy or girl with a charming face and smile somewhere, there is high probability that your mind might think or guess that you had actually seen that person somewhere before even though you had not seen or met that person.”
Many guys use this syndrome as an excuse to just start a conversation if they really like the other person.
Things got interesting as the unknown person started following me. I began feeling suspicious. I stopped at the nearby shop which sells handmade garments, clay lamps, clay bowels inquiring about their price . The price seemed to be a little bit on a higher side. I bargained but the shop dweller explained that it took a lot of effort to make those garments and the new generation’s craze for western outfits and items eating a large share of their income. The women explained that it was difficult to meet their daily expenses and that’s why they had to charge more. I was taken over by her straight from the heart explanation. I bought some clay items & garments and paid the amount the shop dweller enquired without bargaining. The shop dweller was about to return the change of about fifty rupees, for which I politely refused. The shop dweller thanked me with a smile that bestowed kindness & gratitude.
I continued walking towards the Mylapore railway station. Just when I was climbing the steps, I heard some gossips from young people. I turned back to see whether the unknown person was following me. To my surprise, I spotted that person with a gang of four other friends, all belonging to an age group of 20 to 22. Noticing me, the unknown person stopped the conversation and started staring at me out of curiosity & shyness. Her friends suddenly started breaking into laughter. Laughing is contagious. I too broke into laughter and then asked them why they are laughing at me and why that girl is following me? “Are you people playing some prank on me?”.
“No Sir, Your name is Karthik right. In 2007, you worked in Udaipur. Right?”, enquired a tall girl in that group.
I was shocked and puzzled. I asked “You are right. How come you people know about me?”
“Nothing sir, our friend Shweta wants to offer her gratitude to you. Tell Shweta. Sir Ko thank you bolo……..”
"Thank you very much Karthik sir" said Shweta with a gentle smile.
“Don’t add so much suspense friends. Tell me who you people are? How come you know me? Why Shweta is thanking me? What I have done Shweta?”, I asked out of sheer eccentricity.
“Well, we will not let you know the identity that much soon. We will give you clues and you should guess? If we reveal the identity so early then time won’t pass sir. For a clue, Well I am from Ahmedabad,Gujarat.” Said Shweta
“I had been to Ahmedabad four times on official work and I don’t remember us meeting there.
What you girls are doing here? “ I asked
“We are studying first year engineering at Anna University, Chennai.
Chennai to Ahmedabad….Nava Jeevan Express III AC coach.” Said Shweta.
I got it. I said “At that time, you were waiting for your 10 th standard results. Correct. I remember you were a bit anxious at that time. How are your sister, brother and parents? Hope they are all fine.
It’s great that you people got admission in one of the premier institutions. All the best. Keep up the good work.
It is so nice of you to recognize me and saying thanks to me for that little bit of information I shared with you on that journey”.
“Thanks a lot for your wish sir. When I saw you coming out of the temple, I instantly recognized you since you have not even changed a bit. You look like the same person I had met three years back” Sheweta said.
“I am surprised by seeing you here. Even if I happen to meet you, I never expected that you will thank me for that small information I have shared with you.
Why this thanks and all yaar? I haven’t done anything great. Your attitude & character deserves special mention.”, I said.
Sheweta exclaimed “Well sir, you motivated me to aim for greater heights in life. You showed me the importance of single minded focus & determination in a way I could understand. It’s not been an overnight effort for me to come up to this point. The teachers, friends right from my childhood, persons like you whom I happen to meet in journeys and in some cases the persons whom I have not met till now have directly or indirectly influenced my journey till this point in life. I am very grateful and thankful to those personalities. I always pray for their welfare and thank them in my prayers. I have made it as a habit to thank them whenever I go to sleep at night or personally when I happen to meet them”.
Having been impressed with her level of thinking ability, I said “Fantabulous! What a powerful insight from a girl who has just passed out of High School.”
I started to imagine how many times I had really thanked those so called teachers & friends who are responsible for what I am today. I found that it was lesser than a hundred times, hardly any. Whenever we achieve something great professionally, we tend to have a feeling that we have done it singlehandedly. Hardly do we thank the people who have helped & molded us right from our childhood days. Even if we do thank them at that moment, as time progresses we forget to thank them at our moments of success, be it promotion, or success in interviews.
But sometimes , when things go wrong we simply put the blame on other people. This seems very strange!
This simple concept of extending our gratitude to fellow human beings highlights that life is unassumingly simple but it is we who made it complicated anyways.
“How is your life going on sir? Can you share some of your experiences with us?”,Shweta asked.
After a moment of silence, I replied ”Fine, for all these days, I have been learning to experience life inwardly from the depth of our consciousness. It’s very much satisfying for me to practice living a life that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich. There have been so many distractions, disappointments, imperfections, temptations, conflicts with inner mind coming in my way but after practicing the teachings of the Supreme Personality Shri Swami Vivekananda, I got the courage to accept that these emotions & events are occurring due to the superimposition of the mind. Once we get rid of these superimpositions, our true nature of mind will suffice. Meditation is one of the ways to get rid of materialistic superimpositions.
A child just born whose mind, till it attains the age of two, is free of all superimpositions and that’s why a child spontaneously expresses its emotions be it crying or laughing. You know why a child cries frequently when it’s just born?”
Fear, hunger & just to catch other’s attention, are the responses I got from those girls.
“You are all right to some extent. But something is holding you to go into further depth which you all are being capable of. Just you have to practice & train your mind to go into further layers of understanding.” I Said
Being curious to know more, Shwetha exclaimed “Quite Interesting sir. Can you explain from your point of view?”
“After its formation from a single cell to child, a child has approximately spent some three months conscientiously in mother’s womb thinking that is the World and is quite comfortable with the darkness. After coming out of mother’s womb, the child is frightened to see the light, sound & other beings for the very first time. The child birth is the most traumatic event both for the mother as well as the child.
One of the other reasons is that child’s mind being ever pure, free of superstitions & superimpositions, it instantly connects with the soul and is quite worried that in spite of repeated cycle of births & deaths, it is still unable to reach the higher plane of supreme consciousness* and is worried of being born again.
I promise you that this is not the final solution. There is no end to deeper understanding and you can go further depths with some practice and meditation. But when you plunge into the depths of life, you can find out that Life is exceedingly simple and it is us who have made life complicated due to the Superimpositions of different attributes in our mind.” I replied.
“Thank you sir, you have told something very simple yet powerful thought provoking concept.
Can these superimpositions affect our way of normal thinking?” asked Shweta.
In response I added, “Of course, the superimpositions of lust, anger, greed, ego, arrogance and ignorance in our mind influence our thinking process and augment the desire to seek pleasure in materialistic pursuits. Our mind is just a tool and it will act upon where it is directed. Seeking pleasure or joy is the basic nature of mind. You cannot eradicate it even through spiritual practice. But you can convert it to the other form. Passion for lust, greed & other materialistic pursuits can be converted into passion for knowing and Experiencing God inside us & other beings.”
“Sir, How come you know so much about the nature of human mind?”one of the girls asked.
I replied, “I am working on a science fiction novel and I have started the ground work for the novel. The story demands me to track the roots of the existence of Human species and other species greater than the human species. I promise that the readers will be taken to a new level of thinking and will train their mind to a higher super conscious plane in which they can handle their mind & emotions in a better way so as to aspire for reaching the Supreme abode.
We are here for a purpose and it’s a pity if we chose to spend our whole lifetime without desiring to know the purpose of our existence and arriving at false conclusions about life due to our inadequate level of our thinking.”
“Sounds Great! Oh it’s time we have to reach our Hostel. One last question? How to start the process of removing these so called superimpositions?” Shweta asked.
I added” For that you have to clearly define your purpose of your existence and goals with respect to your supreme personality and direct your emotions, desires to experiencing the divine personality that is embedded in our soul. Once you have clearly defined your purpose, you can clearly identify the superimpositions that will take yourselves away or come in way of realizing your purpose. You pile off those superimpositions through meditation and by converting it to the other form of blissfulness.
The same logic applies to your professional goals. If you have well defined goals, powered by ambition & desire to achieve your goals & serve the society, then the superimpositions of mind can be piled off with the help of single minded focus, will power, determination & self belief as catalysts. This is how the great discoveries both materialistic & spiritualistic have been made by well trained minds of eminent personalities.”
Shweta was getting late. She concluded, “It has been a great evening for all of us. It seems that we are coming out of some spiritual disclosure. The concepts and ideas shared here will definitely benefit us and will equip us to face challenges & tempting situations in our life. Thank you very much sir.”
“Don’t thank me alone. The information I have shared with you is not being invented by me. I have acquired this knowledge from the works of Swami Vivekananda and many swamiji’s from Ramakrishna mutt, Bhagavad Gita and the Sacred Vedas. I shall not keep your thanks with me. I shall pass on your thanks to all fellow beings including my friends, teachers, parents and other great personalities who have influenced me to come up to this point.
Thank You Everyone and looking forward for you to share this information to everyone.” I said.
“It is so nice of you to share your valuable experiences with us. We are looking forward to your Science fiction novel.” thanked the girls.
(The girls left with smiles in their faces and I can sense the burning desire to achieve something remarkable in life from their eyes.)
I went into sleep that night thanking every one of my teachers, bosses, friends, eminent scientists & few noble men who have contributed to the welfare of my selves & mankind. I slept peacefully and woke up to a pleasant morning. Even though I received thanks from many of my friends & people, the “Thank you” that came from the young girl’s heart for the small motivational information I have shared in one of my journeys taught me the simple lesson of extending gratitude to fellow beings and it was one of the most unforgettable instances indeed.
* Those who will reach the supreme consciousness become part of that Divine energy by which the entire galaxy is being maintained. They will not come under the cycle of births and deaths .Occasionally they will be manifested as supreme personalities such as Krishna, Rama, Hanuman, Shiva, Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammed, Swami Vivekananda to show directions to the mankind.
The concept behind writing this blog:
This blog was dedicated to my beloved teachers whom I forgot to thank in my moments of success and I can't bear the agony of waiting further to meet them personally to say thanks. Now I found a way to express my thanks even in my daily prayers & wish for their wellbeing.
all my teachers, “you were all so kind, gentle, caring, generous, selfless, strict in enforcing discipline and in spite of obstacles in your path, You showed us the light like a candle burning itself to show luminance to the World. And I am walking in the direction of light showed by you and I am so much indebted to you. Kindly accept my gratitude & heartfelt thanks.
Even if I manage to achieve great milestones in life in the future, I am still a student to the great personalities who taught me A,B,C,D...... & 1,2,3,4........
- A blog written by Karthik, Edited by Kailash.
