• In :
• Personal Growth

March 2012

By Megha Bajaj

A tiny earthworm teaches Megha Bajaj the profound truth about the power of thought and the reality of interconnected existence

One evening I was sitting in the lush green lawns of my society and feeling extremely peaceful and in sync with everything around. Everything seemed to be just the way it was meant to be and I felt this sense of completion – like nothing needed to be added or removed from my life to feel ‘good’ anymore. Just then, a wriggle caught my eye. A little earthworm slowly but surely was moving in my direction. I smiled at it and it inched closer. I admired its little body and colour and it moved closer still. It was just a few inches away from my palms, so I held my fingers forward so it could come and touch me. As it was about to, a biology lesson from school came to my mind… I remembered my teacher saying, “When you cut an earthworm into two – both its parts begin to move independently!” As soon as this thought was released, much to my surprise, the earthworm moved far away from me and hid under a leaf.

I was amazed. Spellbound. Yes, I had always read that all of us are connected and my mind understood the concept – but suddenly the information had transformed into an experience and everything within shifted. I realised that when an earthworm, that didn’t have all its senses evolved could be so sensitive to a single thought – just how much bearing must all of us be having on each other?

Examples from my life flooded my mind. Wasn’t it true that there were some people in whose very presence I felt loved, protected, purified? And yes, also some people in whose very presence I felt agitated, restless, irritable… it was never about what the other was saying or doing – but simply ‘being’ with someone was either an energy-giving or an energy-draining experience.

I recognised that we were all so deeply connected – that even though the mind may or may not perceive the ‘other’ beyond physical reality, the heart goes straight to the core and thereby receives the signals straight from there. In that sense, truly, the heart knows better, doesn’t it?

As I wondered some more at the beauty and intricacy of life, it dawned upon me that one of the best ways through which I could make a difference to the world, was by transforming myself – one insight,

one experience at a time. The evolution of every person, leads to the evolution of human consciousness.

All the great legends achieved the phenomenal things they did not by changing the world but by first changing themselves. The mere presence of these souls was enough to set the energy in motion. As the core shifts, the world shifts.

I realised, for the first time, that the best gift we can give anyone is actually our ‘presence’. The more and more loving, blissful and peaceful we become – the more and more the world around us will feel these emotions.

I felt a sense of responsibility for my ‘being’ and promised myself that I would become someone in whose presence others would feel loved, not judged. Peaceful, not agitated. With a smile, I released the thought, “Thank you so much, my little earthworm… I know you are listening to me!’