MIND YOUR HEADfrom the weight you carry

An extremely rich city business man visits a swami at his village and questions him I have everything I pursued, but when I am alone I am sad, I live in anxiety and now it’s reflecting on my health. (a condition with most people today.) The swami responded strange you feel miserable when alone, which only means you are in bad company’. The bad company needs corrections. How is that possible I can be bad company to myself, can you help. The swami requested the rich man to come tomorrow we will go up the hill and look for corrections.

Next day as they were walking uphill the swami tells the businessman, is it not strange education, income, comfort, power, wealth, authority, property, servants, advisers, family, insurance, good food & medication, status, clothing, is all with you but the inside of you is miserable. You are suffering your capabilities and your intelligence is working against you.

The swami picks 3 big stones wraps it in a cloth and asks the businessman to carry it on his head. This should match the load of your suffering inside your head. Surprised and not sure what that meant the businessman followed instructions. Going a little distance the swami tells the businessman you are walking slow and seem exhausted, see I am quite easy and much older than you. Reacting to this the businessman replied if you were to carry the weight I am doing you would be no different. If the load on head is a pain you may throw away one stone and also try removing some unwanted thoughts from the mind said the swami. Removing 1 stone was quite a relief for the businessman he did well for the next one hour. A little later the businessman says swamiji can I discard one more stone. Swamiji took no objection and said remove an equivalent amount from the mind. They continued walking and the king reasons if I could do with two less I think I can discard the 3rd too. All the swamiji replied remove an equivalent amount of thoughts disturbing you from inside the head. Now walking with ease they reached the top and the businessman says except for giving me heavy stones to carry you have not helped me seek solutions. The swami smiled and said I have been teaching you all along, the three stones resembled the load inside your head with unwanted thoughts which can impact your entire body more than what the stones did.

Certainty of life is when blessed with the next breath, if the next breath does not come one is dead, in this sense tomorrow is uncertainty. But strangely our thoughts, time and energies are occupied in influencing and capturing tomorrow. Think deeply the tomorrow never comes, in existence it is always today. Unfortunately we have crippled our resources, energy potentials and truly neglect Today, because of working & worrying for tomorrow.

Like we do not use products post expiry date then why give our important time and energy living in the past (expired days). Yesterday is not for repenting, regretting, being bitter about, it is a referral for Today; to learn and not repeat the wrong doings.

Life is short to be worried, concerned or anxious what others think about you. Identify the influence of ego on you. Drop that ego that does not want to be criticized, ban the ego that thinks others should take us into consideration, and distance the ego which wants to be acknowledged all the time.

Taking a deep breath the swami gets up saying “Suffering is a consequence of ignorance and we shall talk about it more on our way downhill”.

To be continued.