The faster you find your center and
anchor in it the more peaceful and happy you will be.
Yesterday, I read a beautiful op-ed piece
that was carried by The New York Times
last week. Titled “Abundance Without
Attachment”, the piece, written by author and President of the American
Enterprise Institute, Arthur C Brooks, encourages us to move away from
materialism and find happiness, abundance and inner peace through detachment.
Brooks uses the metaphor of the wheel of fortune,
rota fortunae, to explain how as
people, as a race, we have all been conditioned to cling to the periphery of
Life, holding on to the material aspects of our lives – power, wealth and
assets; and so when the wheel of Life turns, as it surely will, you are pushed
down if you are on top and you are pushed up if you are down. Per ancient Roman
philosophy, the Goddess Fortuna, rotates the wheel which has the picture of a
king on top and a picture of the same man as pauper at the bottom. This
basically means that as long as you are on the periphery of Life you will have
to deal with the ups and downs, with the highs and lows, with gain and loss, with
success and with defeat. But, says Brooks, if you move inward, to the center of
the wheel, you could be unmoved by all that happens to you in Life: “Fixed at
the center was the focal point of faith, the lodestar for transcending health,
wealth, power, pleasure and fame — for moving beyond mortal abundance.”
I completely relate to Brooks’ perspective.
You can too. Just look around you. You will not find one human being who is not
touched by this wheel’s movement. Around you and me are millions of stories of
people who were once blessed with health, wealth and reputation who are now
struggling with none of these. And you will find millions more, who were
unknown, unheard of, making it to the limelight, gain wealth and living an
abundant Life. The only thing constant about Life is this change of position if
you are at the periphery. But if you choose to be detached, if you choose to
let go or reach the state of willingness to let go, you will be unmoved by
everything and anything that happens to you. Whether you are up or down,
whether you are gaining or losing, whether you are on a high or a low, nothing
will matter. Because at the center, you are untouched, and, therefore, unmoved.
Through the experience of our bankruptcy
and from being penniless in Life, I have learnt the value of finding my own
center. I realized that I am not my bankruptcy; I just happen to be in a
bankrupt state. This does not mean that I am poor. I reasoned that I am rich
with my experience, with my expertise and with my learnings from Life. It
became clear to me that it just so happens, that for an extended period of time
now, I don’t have money. This clarity emerged in my mind when I understood the
power of finding my center. I found my center thanks to a quote I read that is
attributed to Swami Vivekananda (1863~1902): “Live in the midst of the battle
of Life. Anyone can keep calm in a cave or when asleep. Stand in the whirl and
madness of action and reach the center. If you have found the center, you
cannot be moved.” Until I read this
quote, I would be consumed by anxiety and worry, I would snap at every
provocation and break down for the smallest of reasons. But Vivekananda
inspired me. I took to the practice of mouna
(observing daily silence periods). And through that practice, over a few
months, I found my center.
I still live, with my family, in the throes
of our abject and challenging financial condition. But I must report that I
have learnt to be at the center of my Life’s wheel. And, let me add, it’s a
blessing to be at the center. Living at the periphery always has this feeling
of inbuilt insecurity – what if you are blown away? But living at the center
means you know you will be provided for, taken care of, and will be given all
that you need. Being at the center also means, therefore, keeping the faith.
If you are struggling with an
imponderable – a health, money or relationship situation – try finding and
moving to your center. That’s the only way you can soldier on in peace!
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