It was 3.45 p.m. As I stood at the corner of the street where I stayed, an electronic display board read the current temperature of the place : -3 Celsius. Earlier during breakfast, I was told that in the morning hours, the mercury dipped to -10, and in the Southern areas it further dipped to -16. As I dared to have a firsthand look at the city streets of Brussels, I was welcomed by a white carpet of snow, which had rained yesterday. I was a wonderful sight for the eyes, but not to the inhabitants for whom it was far from a beautiful sight. The consolation is that when it snowed, the temperature will not dip as low as it had done this time. So seeing the snow fall is better than seeing the mercury dip further and further. But then life has not come to a standstill. I can see through the window of my room, which stands beside the street, rows of cars beautifully draped with white sheets of snow. All that I can see is an aerial wire jutting out of the white sheet.
Nature knows how to dress up the earth, and beneath the beauty that she spreads, there stands a little thorn to remind us that we are not the masters of our situations all together. Nature holds the key to the wellbeing of humanity, and all our attempts to fight nature may ultimately prove to be a false dream, and we may be the greatest losers in the battle. While spending three fierce winters in Delhi some years ago, I had told my friends that I would not mind cold winters as against the scorching heat of summer. Our city had been fortunate not to hit the extremes; while the winter is moderate, the summer does not scorch us to the extreme altogether. But I would like to think of the people who are forced to get accustomed to extremities of nature, for no fault of their own. The worst of winter and summer is something we have very little control over; however our bodies are adept to adjust according to the surrounding conditions.
The title of this blog has been taken from chapter 9 of Bhagavad Gita, which talks about who is dear to the Lord: after saying that s/he is the one who is the same in happiness or sadness, in thought and in eagerness, in good and bad, in cold and in warmth, and in contempt and in praise. It is not that easy to remain the same in differing situations and circumstances. As human beings, we are pushed to prefer one to another, and that is ingrained in ourselves, and have very little that we can actually do. We cannot ask someone to remain dead to varying situations and it happens without much effort from our side. Then what does the Gita say about the indifference that we need to possess in order to become his dear. Is it at all possible?
What is difficult for us need not be utterly impossible, but often in life, we take it for granted that what is difficult is not desirable. We have also seen that what is difficult at the time of action is deemed one of the most important and enjoyable thing at the end of the action. Therefore it is obvious that we often go by the sensations and physical feelings, rather than entering into the true self of the personhood. What we considered at the enjoyable thing can turn out to be our nightmare. To keep ourselves abreast to what nature may offer us is an art in itself, and most of us are novices in this area. It is very few people who achieve this art. And the people who have managed to keep themselves not to be easily swayed by what the body may conceive as good or bad, are the people who enjoy the benefits and blessings of nature.
Today I present myself in the presence of God and look into myself to find the areas where I am already prejudiced as to persons, events, incidents, ideas, principles and opinions. The start point of my journey to reach true indifference that the Gita talks about is truly the recognition of the blocks my mind and body put before my spirit. Once I clear these, then I may be in a better position to receive whatever may come my way. To put it in a figurative way, for the person who is prepared to receive the blessings of nature or God, everything may be alike, cold or heat, pleasure or pain. I would like to enter into the great mystery which says that reality as it is in the true sense neutral, and it is the human mind which makes the difference. It is the colored glasses that I wear which can make me believe that one is better than the other, but in fact, one may be as good as the other. I would like to prepare my heart and mind to receive reality as it comes to me without putting any conditions! (Brussels)
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