Living with passion

Living with passion

November 2o14

By Nandini Sarkar

Only those who are fired with passion can live life king-sized, for the doing is effortless and powerful, and greatness is within our grasp, says Nandini Sarkar. The video of little Omi, learning to walk, went viral over our family network. Chuckling gleefully, chubby arms raised up in the air to keep hisbalance, Omi walked through the long hall, while anxious adults hovered over him. He fell twice, but his peals of laughter continuedunabated, as he picked himself up and continued his journey with gusto! My brother received a lot of kudos on his son’s video.What people loved was the incredible energy flowing from this vivacious kid, his passionate, joyful efforts.Sadly, when our Heavenly Father looks down on us, I suspect, most of the time, He finds His children morose, drained of energy, and far removed from joie de vivre, the joy of living! This listlessness reflects in people’s body posture. Most of the time people slump in their seats or bend forward, as though carrying a heavy burden. They slouch when walking. People are not aware that a slumped posture blocks the flow of energy in the spine, tensing the body parts and causing listlessness or anxiety. Contrast that with the total exuberance shown by little Omi, his arms thrown up in joyful embrace of life and tell me which person you would rather be? No jury is needed on this one. All of us would choose to be passionate, full of life. Then why aren’t we like that?

The answer is, we lack awareness; we are like zombies, moving through life as if on a remote control of inherent tendencies and circumstances. Vincent Van Gogh: All great artists are driven by passion Journey without accidents One of my regrets in life is never learning how to drive. My brother and husband both tried to teach me, very patiently. Both failed. Thrice, I nearly ran over some people; I panicked when I saw speeding trucks or buses in front of me, and once I crashed the car into a hedge. Then, I gave up, fearing for others’ lives. My husband made a telling comment about why I wasn’t succeeding. “When you are not driving, you need to sit with eyes closed, and visualize yourself behind the wheel, rewinding the entire gear-brake-accelerator motion in your mind. Unless you think about it, you just won’t get the moves right,” he said. The same principle of visualization applies to living with passion. Shahrukh Khan : Actor extraordinaire, thanks to his passion We have hypnotized ourselves into living life the way society, family, peers and circumstances demand. Very few among us think out of the box, or challenge our circumstances. Like my failed attempts at driving, many lose control on the gear of life because they are driving mechanically, without passion, and so they crash into a hedge of disappointments!

Chaitali Gosain, the owner of the popular medical clinic, Recovery, in Kolkata, is a commendable exception. An ordinary housewife, not highly educated either, Chaitali was inspired to start the clinic based on her failure to find a doctor in her locality when her baby daughter fell seriously sick.

Displaying great zeal, she converted two rooms on the ground floor of her in–laws’ house into the Clinic, and persuaded a doctor, who was serving at the RK Mission Hospital, to visit thrice a week. She also succeeded in persuading him to enrol other doctors. In its 13th year now, Recovery continues to serve hundreds of patients each month, many of them from poor families, and enjoys a great reputation. Explaining her achievement she says that when she had thought deeply about the problem, this just seemed the right thing to do! Undoubtedly, contemplation is the door to inspired living. The symphony of the sea I often hear this line, which smacks of defeatism, and pours cold water on enthusiasm: “Don’t think life is so simple! Life is very complex, it isn’t child’s play. Once you make a mistake, that’s it, finished!” Sorry, the spiritual Masters beg to differ.

God is simple, they state, everything else is complex. Jesus said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” The fact is, passion bubbles forth from our hearts, whenever we experience childlike wonder at the mystery of our throbbing, vital, universe. We have to consciously attune to Nature’s pure, throbbing energy and become empowered by Her to live in joyous passion, no matter what the circumstances. Swami Anandamoy Giri, delightful speaker monk with the Self-Realization Fellowship recommends practising Energisation Exercises, to free up the tension in the body that stops the free flow of energy. He tells us there is a significant link between energising the body and in meditating successfully; a link that devotees most often overlook. Once the energy has started following freely in the body through the practise of Energization Exercises, the prana or vital life force is drawn away from the senses into the spine. Next, he recommends the practise of pranayama or prana control by moving the kundalini up and down the spine through the practise of Kriya Yoga. This is the yoga of transmuting the breath into cosmic energy, taught by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, and by Mahavatar Babaji in the New Age as Kriya Yoga. Thus, by re-vitalizing himself through energization exercises, meditation and devotion, man’s consciousness is uplifted. Bring it on! he cries passionately to life, as he goes about his daily duties. He is a transformed creature, who is able to pierce the veil of Maya that tells him that he is an ordinary mortal who must suffer the blows and arrows of fate, helplessly. In the stillness of meditation, the Universe whispers to Man that he is not alone, he will be helped. Swamiji says, if we remember to call on the Masters with love, at the start of our meditation, the Masters accept our invitation and meditate with us. So, we are actually in group meditation with the Masters, the best meditation group in the world, the most powerful, that will help us unconditionally to steer our course. The result? Bliss, energy and light, flood our entire being, and we tap into hidden reservoirs of creativity and strength. We become passionate and committed about every activity, and don’t let our lives drag on in sheer boring routine or in listlessness and despair. Solar Yoga: Key to vitality Think of yourselves as a smartphone. Unless you plug the smartphone into the charger and charge it daily, what does it become? A dead phone! One of the most amazing gifts the universe has given me is learning to commune with Nature, melting the ego in its embrace, and surrendering to it with love. I was always an indoor person, glued to my books, tablet and laptop. I would never be able to join my husband for early morning walks or to view the sunrise. However, early one morning, when I was working on finishing an urgent project, a sweet little pigeon flew down and sat on my window sill. I had the uncanny feeling that it was requesting to be fed. Falling prey to its innocent charm and shaking off my usual inertia about going outdoors, I put some breadcrumbs in a bowl and went to the terrace. A flock of pigeons gathered to eat my breadcrumbs and cooed contentedly; the blue canopy of sky uncovered its mesmerising display of sunrise colours for me; the huge canopy of trees in brilliant shades of green greeted me from the borders of the nearby lake; a refreshing, cool breeze lulled me into a comfortable silence. My heart opened up like a blooming lotus and I felt such joy, such harmony, that it is inexpressible in words. The warm rays of the sun kneaded my back like an invigorating massage. I felt an urge to meditate in the sun. I sat with my back to the sun and allowed its warm rays to embrace me. I felt like a child in its mother’s arm, safe, protected. It was the best meditation ever and something I have continued till date. No matter how busy or rushed or stressed I may be I claim my place in the sun each morning and imagine myself as a charged smartphone! I tried Solar Yoga on a young colleague, a recent entrant in our firm, who was frequently falling sick with viral infection. His general demeanour also drew some adverse comments from other team members. They complained to me that he was extremely under-confident, needed to be taught the same things repeatedly, and was unable to meet reasonable timelines. They pointed to the example of two other new joiners, bright, alert youngsters, who had settled down very well. I called the young man and enquired how he was planning to put his life into some order. He was very defensive, and rattled off a list of problems. The pollution had caused illness, his home was also quite damp due to the poor drainage in his locality; his retired father’s deteriorating health was proving much anxiety, his daughter was having fainting spells in her school and on and on it went. I stopped him, a little sternly, and asked him, “Do you value the engagement with C-Quel? Would you like to continue with us?” I asked. “Yes of course,” he said, his face anxious. “Then, I want you to promise me that you will sit in the sun for ten minutes, in the morning, with your back to the sun and listen to this Surya Yoga video from Siddhanath Gurunath,

Again he started defending, “But I have such irritation to light that my eyes start watering.” “That’s why I’m asking you to sit with your back to the sun. The video will be your friend, and guide you in meditation that would otherwise be boring, all by yourself.” He acquiesced, though reluctantly.