Compassion for oneself, compassion for all.
Compassion for oneself, compassion for all.
The true nature of human beings is to be compassionate. Other aberrations simply happen later. The multiple aspects of intellect, talent, efforts of daily work – all come from this. If this sounds a little too much to be true or too vague, then you have not yet been to the MRA program of Symbiosis. If you have been to the MRA program, you are probably nodding along.
Every day, most of us work through our busy schedule without taking enough time for ourselves. Where is the time? It seems to disappear in the big laundry list of things to do for the day, in the elaborate schedule of work due tomorrow and planning for the pending work and so on. The reality is, we DO take time for ourselves – during a coffee break by the quiet window, nurturing oneself when grooming, or the sweet walk towards the campus gate at the end of the day. All these are “feel good” stuff.
But now, these take a new meaning, an added flavour. When you see yourself taking a moment for yourself, let it happen with all the openness that you may have felt earlier. This will help to lead you to a peaceful mind within that minute. Times of peace and happiness can be remembered easily. This happens better when you are alone in your space. Then the daily routine of unending tasks list feels much easier to handle. Go on about it humming a favourite tune or a song in the background and work will feel much less burdensome. Tasks get completed in a smooth flow.
An important lesson we may have all learned from MRA time is to allow the alone space of the other person to happen. If you can, watch out carefully for the other person’s moment and let it not be disturbed. This action alone is good support by itself. Please be true to your human nature of compassion – let the other person remain undisturbed for a few minutes. Its best to not chat too much about it – avoid asking “so what are you thinking…”, “why are you so quiet?” etc.
There are sceptics and non-believers. They say…. ‘this nonsense won’t work’, ‘these are just a few weird exercises’, ‘at best a break in a nice place’, ‘can’t take this back to the real world’ etc. Those who have experienced their reality for themselves can’t deny that it was very very real for them, something that can’t be expressed easily with words. Don’t – don’t express it if it can’t be expressed with words. Instead FEEL. Let it remain as a wordless but a deep experience in you. YOU are real for you – aren’t you? Then how can one say this won’t work in the real world? Please do choose your words carefully when you conclude these as lessons for yourself. For, words can become statements, statements can become beliefs, beliefs can become values, values can become actions and actions – actions become you. Choose carefully in what you make of yourself.
As for the sceptics, we shall wait for them to turn around, hopefully within a few years. As for the non-believers, we shall accept them too as friends of non-belief– what’s life without a bit of variety in the garden. This silent patience is possible, because patience comes from….. you guessed it right – compassion. Many thanks for the MRA participants, their debates and prof. Muazzam’s insight that inspired this blog.
Happy blogging! Happy learning!
Prof Saravan
SCIT
