A little boy was waiting on the edge of the road as if he wanted to cross the road. He was waiting there looking left and right for quite some time. A shop keeper was noticing the boy and was now concerned as to why the boy was not crossing. He thought, may be the boy needed help.
He came up to the boy and keeping his hand on his shoulder asked, “Hey, I have been seeing you now for a while standing on the edge of the road, as if you wanted to cross the road.” Boy said, “Yes, I do”. “Then why are you not crossing?” Shopkeeper asked.
Boy said, “I am waiting and looking for an empty space to pass before me to cross the road.”
– Osho
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Last Wednesday, I was almost awake the whole night as there were many thoughts crossing mind and was practically lost in thinking and talking to myself. I was fresh the next morning. By the time I reached office, I was running a little late than my normal schedule.
A friend, Aniruddha, who is also the co-founder of a start-up at our hub came for our usual morning catch up. I just told him casually that I was late because I had a “Selfie Meeting” last night.”…….. But then I really liked what I said…
Just as we take selfies, we must take time out to meet ourselves and self-reflect. We should have a talk with ourselves, joke with ourselves and learn to enjoy our own company. Renowned Sage Pujya Murari Bapu was once asked: “Bapu, what you do when you travel?” And Murari Bapu gave a simple but profound answer: “I do Prakriti Darshan. (I observe nature) Sometimes I see external nature and sometimes internal.”
In our discussion, Aniruddha mentioned something about undercurrent of waves. We spoke about the waves on the surface of the ocean rise because there are waves and currents deep below in the ocean where even the light cannot reach. These water currents sustain the life deep in the ocean. I could connect this thought with self and realized that occasionally, we must take a deep dive into self and experience these inner waves and inner currents that keep our inner-self alive.
My elder son Kshitij is a dance teacher and a professional choreographer. Many a times we have discussion on offbeat subjects. Once I asked him, how do different choreographers design and choreograph the same song in a completely different manner. Kshitij said, “Dad, the music track has some obvious beats and subtle beats. It depends on the choreographer as to which beat he/she is picking up and visualizing the sequence. A new choreography would evolve each time.”
The boy was not seeing cars that were passing by but was looking for X X (empty space) to come before him so that he could go through. Between two thoughts, there is an empty space. Usually, we keep jumping from one thought to another and hence our mind is always occupied and cluttered with thoughts. The day we start focusing on the empty space in between two thoughts and keep jumping from one empty space to the other, we will experience the blissful state of emptiness which we call meditation. With a little practice and discipline, we can experience such a state even in the middle of a busy day.
We plan meetings. One after the other. The whole day — literally the whole life appears busy, heavily packed, and the time is spent in meetings after meetings and more meetings. If that’s the way we are structured to live, should we not schedule our calendars in a manner where we can have regular meetings with ourselves?? Like Swami Vivekananda said, “Talk to yourself once in a day….otherwise you may miss meeting an Excellent person in this world.”
SIDNEY SHELDON wrote an awesome fiction suspense titled “A Stranger in the Mirror”. Do we really know who we see every day in the mirror? Do we try and decode that person? Are we comfortable with the person in the mirror?
Are we feeling the inner waves? Are we picking up the subtle beats? Do we look for the empty spaces? Do we plan ‘selfie meetings’?
Chal beta selfie le le re!
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My son Kshitij has created a video and choreographed film ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s’ song — Chal beta selfie le le re! With his team DanceStation.
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I am reminded of Jagjit Singh’s awesome Ghazal:
कहाँ अपने सफर के हम हैं ?
रुख हवाओ का जिधर का है उधर के हम हैं l
Apani marzi se kahan apane safar ke hum hain?
rukh hawaon ka jeedhar ka hai, udhar ke hum hain.
My travel is not decided by me, I am driven by the direction of the wind.