The magical unknown

The magical unknown

Having faith in the creative prowess of the unknown has helped Shivi Verma discover her true self 

Ever since I started walking the  path of spirituality, the one con cept which has contributed tremendously to my growth is that  of shunya, or the unknown, as  you say in English. And the Master I am  indebted to, for it, is Osho.  A voracious reader, I used to happily  devour spiritual books in my thirst to gain  knowledge and proximity to God. But I  used to zealously avoid reading Osho. I feared that by the power of his  incisive logic he would dismantle  all my dearly held lofty ideals.

But his greatest gift to me was decoding the secret  of finding stability in an apparently uncertain and  unstable world. When he said with emphasis, that  shunya, or nothingness, is the ground from where  every creation, every stability arises, I felt that I had  discovered a magic formula.  I became certain he would push me down the spiral of cynicism, despair, and hopelessness— like most nihilists and atheists do.  They attempt to take away every  crutch of faith you may be hob bling on, just to prove their intelligence and superiority.  Moreover, his reputation for  convincing people to be licentious  and promiscuous terrorised me.  Although I didn’t judge him for  that, unlike those with a strong  sense of right and wrong, I feared  falling into the trap of his irrefutable logic and losing my faith. “The unknown with all  its possibilities, changes, secrets, and surprises is the  safest bet for seekers. The more you trust it, the  more it will prove its efficacy to you. The lesser you  do, the more angst-and-fear-ridden your life will be,”  he said. 

For me, it was like a bugle call to  push fears aside and begin experimenting with life.

The unknown with  all its possibilities,  changes, secrets,  and surprises is  the safest bet for  seekers. The more  you trust it, the  more it will prove its  efficacy to you.  I believed that even in my darkest of moments,  I will be held and supported by the  unknown: the nameless, formless,  grand, overall design of life. This  belief got so entrenched subconsciously that I went on accepting  one challenge after another, with  the faith that the Universe has  something special reserved for me,  but which can only be accessed if I  heard and acted upon my inner  voice. My fear of public opinion  and encountering loss or hurt were  diminished to a large extent  because of my faith in shunya.  

innocence in the process. 

But one day, a man, whom I had met accidently and had come to regard as a sort of  a Master, asked me to read Osho, before  bidding me goodbye forever. Gingerly, I  reached for his books in the bookstore and  purchased my first copy of his works. 

No sooner had I turned the first page than  I realised that I was holding the biggest  marvel in my hands. Every secret of life and  existence was stripped, and laid bare before  me by his penetrative gaze and laser sharp  observations. His arguments were so realistic and sensible that I wondered why he  was criticised so much by his contemporaries. And yet, there was no negativity or  cynicism in his views. He opened a thrilling  wonder of possibilities for me and I was  bowled over by it.  My decision to step out of a dysfunctional relation ship was based on my deep faith in the unknown.  And so far, it hasn’t let me down. 

The more I cultivate my faith in the unknown, the  more I realise that every seeker has her own unique  path to enlightenment and that no two paths are  alike. As it is rightly said, “Travellers, there is no  path; the path is made by walking.”  

Editor of Life Positive, Shivi Verma is a devotee  who found all her answers in loving God  passionately.