What I learnt chasing Foo Dog figurines

Superstition always leads to fear and worry. Or just the opposite may happen too.

The other day a friend visited us. The conversation hovered on Vaastu and Feng Shui for a while. Then we talked about the merits and demerits of following rituals and believing in superstitions. After my friend left, I reflected, with amazement, on how I had grown out of “investing” in Vaastu and Feng Shui. I have nothing against these practices – I strongly believe they are sciences in their own way – or those who follow them. To be sure, I was, until a few years ago, very superstitious and heavily reliant on Vaastu and Feng Shui to determine how – where and with what – I must live.

Once, while on a three-day trip to Bangkok, Vaani and I spent over three-quarters of a day, in Chinatown, searching for Foo Dog figurines. Foo Dogs are the ancient sacred dogs of Asia who guard Buddhist temples – our Feng Shui consultant had advised us to get those figurines so that our home could be “protected”. Imagine, hunting for Foo Dog figurines in Bangkok, when there are possibly so many more entertaining, enriching, energizing things to do in that amazing city?!

Over time, with the practice of daily silence periods, I realized that relying on “external reference points”, however scientific they are or may have then appeared to be to me, are signs of a weak mind, one that is not self-aware. The ones with courage, I discovered, are the ones that know themselves. And if you know yourself, I soon learned to ask myself, why do you need to lean on a crutch __ a talisman, a figurine, a ring or a number? All these crutches are ostensibly to help you navigate better through Life. But Life is not the issue. It is your fear which is weakening you. And the best way to deal with fear is to look it in the eye and face it! These crutches cannot possibly help you face your demons, your fears. Never!

My evolution and learning has also taught me that what scares you often has the power to liberate you. Almost all of us have a good luck charm, a lucky number, and believe in something, often absurd, that we have been conditioned to. Nobody wants to do anything with the number 13 for instance. Or we prefer our favorite colors or numbers. There’s a view some people hold that if you bang into a piece of furniture when you are leaving to get something important accomplished, you must treat that as an early warning sign of something terrible that’s on its way. People that champion a scientific temperament will reason against this, intensely. And which is why those who want to believe in superstitions and premonitions will resist all rational arguments, however reasonable they may be. But here’s a simpler take. If everything is an event in this lifetime, a mere data point, including your birth and your impending death, and since the soul is imperishable, eternal, then what consequence does a furniture that comes in the way or a cat crossing your path or a mere number have?

In anyone’s Life, three things are absolutely inscrutable:  birth, death and soul. Now birth is without choice, death is unavoidable and the soul is not visible. What else is important when these three dimensions of your Life are beyond your control? When I look back, I feel that being superstitious, being ritualistic and being wedded to mere methods does make you fearful. And lonely. When I let go of whatever was controlling me, I felt free.

Enjoy being liberated. It’s a beautiful world out there. A stumble here, a fall there, a number here and a cat there, nor Foo Dogs figurines at your door, can make no difference to you, if you choose to feel the air in your lungs, being present in this – the only certain, happening, available, magnificent, miraculous – moment of your Life! 

Life cannot be fixed. It has to be faced and lived!

Life is pretty simple. Don’t complicate it by over-analyzing it.

Last week I met with someone who is a practitioner of new-age methods of healing. He had heard my “Fall Like A Rose Petal” Talk and reached out to me. He said he would analyze the water content in my body, study how my body responded to sound and recommend ways in which I could revive my business and career. “I will bring you back on track,” he suggested, reassuringly.

I politely declined his offer citing lack of time to engage with his proposition. But he persisted. I had to then tell him what I felt about what he was recommending I do. “I am already on track. I am anchored in faith and patience. I am aware that my business and career need to revive urgently. And I prefer working on my business than on attempting to change my Life design,” I said. The gentleman took the cue and backed off.

I don’t have anything against religions, rituals, conventional forms of prayer, astrology, Vaastu, Feng Shui, gemology or even science (for methods like the one this gentleman was recommending). I have tried all of those and have discovered that our individual Life designs are pre-planned, pre-ordained and are unalterable. We have to go through whatever is in our design. So, the best way to live Life is to live accepting whatever comes our way!

Indeed some of the methods we seek, or are advised to follow, do help us to be peaceful. But they can’t alter the course of our lives. What is ordained will happen. If we resist what is happening, we will suffer. If we accept whatever is happening, while there will undoubtedly be pain, there won’t be any suffering. When you are not suffering, you can focus better. And despite the pain you can be at peace.

My astrologer, a very wise man, who, at 85, is a Master in his own field, taught me this: “Astrology cannot alter the course of your Life. It can at best tell you about the weather conditions and tell you how long the storm or sunshine will last.” This is so contrarian to what most practitioners of astrology – or other methods and sciences – claim out there. Which is why, people like you and me, fall prey to them.

Actually there’s no point blaming anyone in today’s highly commercialized world. We must pause to reflect and examine if we are being sensible when we expect to someone or something to “correct” our lives when we are faced with a challenge. The truth is that Life cannot be fixed. It has to be faced. It has to be lived. It is through the experience of facing and living – and learning from – Life that we grow and evolve. It is when we grow and evolve that we understand that Life is simple. It is then that we realize that we complicate Life by wanting it to different from what it is. When we awaken to this realization, we will drop all our wants, we will let go, and then, we will be truly peaceful and happy!