You are not your problems. You
are not your assets, wealth or success. You are, in reality, beyond form and
beyond this lifetime and this experience.
Last evening we
attended a very soulful performance by the Bangalore-based group, Sunaad. Titled Isha Rumi: Beyond Form, the production married the stellar content
of the Ishavasya Upanishad, which is the
last chapter (a short one but most significant nevertheless) of the Yajur Veda, with some key verses from
the Masnavi, an extensive poem
written by the 13th Century Persian poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Sunaad’s performance, a theatrical and
musical juxtaposition really of the shlokas
from the Ishavasya Upanishad and the
verses from the Masnavi, was
brilliant. A seeker takes the audience on
a spiritual journey, in search of the answers to some all-important questions
that confront each of us at some point or the other in Life: Who am I? What is the purpose of this
experience called Life? How do I let go? How do I find happiness? The show
concludes, attempting to have decoded Life through professing an understanding
of what the shlokas and the verses
from two great works, from two timeless cultures, have had to say centuries
ago. In the end, the takeaway from Isha
Rumi is what the absolute truth is all about: you – and I – are beyond
form, beyond this worldly sojourn, beyond the experience of this lifetime,
beyond our relationships, wealth, memories and, most important, our bodies. So,
simply let go and live in the moment knowing that all that you see is
impermanent. And ultimately, the unseen, but what is felt – your breath which
keeps you ‘alive’ – and that which is formless, is who you truly are!
The beauty of Sunaad’s concept, effort and inspiring
delivery, lies in the fact that it shows, through a question-and-answer format,
how simple Life, at the core, really is. We complicate Life by applying our
academic, acquired intelligence to it. We call it science. We call it logic. And
so we push away, actually reject, what is simple to hold, understand and
internalize, and keep seeking, quite unnecessarily, more complex answers to
what Life really means.
In the end, to be
brutally honest in a real-world sense, Life may appear pointless. Because in
this journey from a choice-less birth to an inevitable end, death, you always
come with nothing and you will always go with nothing. So, when you can’t take
anything with you, why acquire anything? When this body will eventually perish,
why this attachment to the physical form? And that’s what the scriptures, in
the case of Sunaad – Isha Rumi,
really say. Real happiness lies in knowing that this lifetime is just a sum of
several experiences. Some that give you immense joy. And some that challenge
you with pain. You cannot prevent pain, but you can choose to avoid suffering
by accepting the pain, letting go of your desire to control (your) Life, and
moving on. Happiness really is accepting the Life you have, living in the
moment and knowing that everything is impermanent – except the energy, your
breath, that powers you and keeps you ‘alive’. And energy, as science has
proven, is neither created nor destroyed.
So, don’t get
vexed with this Who-am-I question? Know
that the real you, your true Self, is indestructible. You are not your
problems. Nor are you your wealth, qualifications, your assets and your
physical form. Don’t get lost in, and consumed by, the rat race to earn, save
and create material wealth. Your only wealth is your breath – what some call
the soul and the others call the atman.
This breath is formless. And is immortal. Without it nothing matters. And with
it anything’s possible. So, stop worrying. Start living. And when
you feel the way I do about Life, as Rumi’s followers – the swirling dervishes –
would do, just get up and dance!
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