Coping with life

In beginning my blogging adventure, I hope to look at life unmasked, sharing my experiences, and to learn from others experiences and insights. There is always the element of fear in being open about one's life. So like many of us, I too have wanted to cover it up by seeking positive experiences and pursuing goals that somehow mask my day to day realities and challenges. In being open about one's own life and its experiences, it is difficult to separate one's life from one's spiritual path. Yet I found in my case and that in those of many I know, that whilst the spiritual path gives us a sense of purpose to life, it also deprives us from the bare observation to our present state of mind.

We go through life developing a sense of identity with our work, our family, and our social and spiritual communities. These identities define our goals in life which in turn keep us away from learning to deal with our own mind and heart. With the spiritual practices of concentration and faith, there comes a certain skill in altering the state of the mind, atleast temporarily, to a more positive and hopeful state. This skill can help us in the short term to deal with life's trials, but in the long run keeps the deeper mental conditions carefully concealed....until the situations change to reveal these mental conditions in a greater degree.

As for my own self, "Coping with life" is the science and art which I have now chosen to study, learn and master. In my 20s and 30s, "being successful", "gaining knowledge" "realizing Self", etc. seemed to appeal more to me. For years my mind refused to accept such a simple concept as being my purpose to life. Diversions and amusements in life can keep us away from needing to learn this art, but eventually our circumstances will force us towards it. 

When you take out the influence of religious beliefs and its definition on life and living, what we are all seeking at a deeper level is to understand how to "cope with life". It may seem that seeking happiness in our life, the blissful mental states, the merits for an afterlife, or eternal freedom, are all a more grandiose objective to work towards. Yet all these objectives are rooted in our desire to finding a meaning to present day life. So why not just "look at life unmasked", fearlessly and willingly, without escaping into the promise of a glorious future! 

We would hope that Schools and Religious Organizations are there to train us in this art. But it is too big a curriculum for any school, and too presumptuous for any one religion to prescribe a discipline of practice that suits all individuals. So most of these Institutions, in their noble intentions, prepare us for "a better future", one where there is hope of least pain and most happiness. 

In my case, I have found this kind of training has made me so conscious of constantly "working for the future". Ofcourse, in order to do that, I have had to "draw on the experiences of the past". As a result, I never quite learnt to deal with present day life without a sense of wanting to control it. All talk and practice of "surrender and faith" was always some kind of a divine state of mind which somehow had nothing to do with my present situation - atleast that was the attitude I lived by, unconsciously. 

In fact, when I looked around and listened to many who I thought were proficient in this art, I noticed that what those people had actually discovered in their journey of life was either a means to control life's experiences through certain practices or to passively resign to life's conditions with a sense of faith. They defined this to be their means of "Coping with life". Although this seemed a very effective strategy, it became obvious to me that this was another means of escape, rooted at a subtler level with the unwillingness to accept the conditions of life. 

Obviously, this seemingly simple art seemed to have many layers. For those who are sincere in diving into the intricacies of this, the opportunities of discovery and freedom were greater! In our own life's circumstances, which seem to be customized to each one's state of mind, lies the one's own path of self-discovery. "Coping with life" is all the spiritual practice that one really needs. And for that practice, we don't need to run to the mountains or hide in the caves. It is the right attitude towards seeing one's life, right now and right where we are! 

Final Lap to Freedom!

I was inspired to write this version of the "final lap" as a comparion to all our pursuits in life, whether they be a worthy worldly ambition or a spiritual aspiration. It symbolizes to me a liberating moment, in and of itself, as it frees us from the striving, from the unnecessary stress or burden that one carries when the goal is not in sight. It also symbolizes to me something that is free from the indecisiveness of whether or not to move on, as the momentum picks up naturally leaving us with no choice of whether or not to stop or linger on! The state of mind of the runner in this "inspirational writing" that is running this final lap of freedom, is by itself the free mind aspired to by all the spiritual seekers! Am hoping to write second article that goes deeper into this comparison and its spiritual significance.

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The Final lap to Freedom

The bell has rung announcing the final lap and the finish line is now in sight. This sound has a positive and energizing effect on the mind of this marathon runner, which prompts her to run with a greater urgency to the finish line. This is when the pull factor of the finish line replaces the push factor from the runner all through the race. This runner and her world is now our screen! 

This particular runner is an experienced runner but has yet to taste the freedom that comes from winning the first major race. She has practiced for long and participated in many other races. Destiny has at times been with her in getting her the right team to practice with, the coach who knew her strengths and weakenesses and the sponsorships that always seem to play an important role behind the scenes. But then there has been times when she had wondered if there was any thing called "Luck" at all on her side. There were many who stood in her way, questioned her ability, and those authorities who seemed to even be threatened by her potential rather than nurture her talents. However, she had learnt the quality of being grateful to all those who had supported her and to all those who had intensified her trials and obstacles in life!

When the race began, she knew that it will take all her experience, and all the support of friends to carry her through. Every race is unpredictable despite all careful preparation. The bigger the race, greater the chances for things to go wrong - one wrong foot and it could be the end! Constant vigilance was now a more reliable tool than the best running gear or the comprehensive report on weather or road conditions!

Returning the narration to the final lap when the bell is rung......

Despite her spirits that is alive again, her "flesh is weak" as not just the feet but the whole body is aching and feels like breaking apart! Until now every step has been growing more and more shaky, unsure, and lacking the energy which had made her consider slowing down or even stopping if it continues to become unbearable!

But now she has reached this point where the dramatic words have resounded in her mind - "there is no more going back"! She just has to move on. 

No longer does she hear or see her coach even though she senses his presence from "the eyes behind her head" knowing him to be yelling out words of encouragment, words of caution! Any advice at this stage has no meaning as she alone knows her predicament, the pain in her feet, the tingling in her sciatia, the throbbing in her head, the thirst in her throat (which makes her regret on not grabbing the drink at the last opportunity) etc. She knows now the only way, the one mental attitude that she has to adopt to help her with her all these challenges. She alone knows how to loosen the chains that was fast tightening around her!

A slight thought lingered in the background of her mind about her other team-mates and whether they were still on the race. But then she knew that each person has to finish their own race not only for themselves but for a purpose that was bigger than was obvious! Teammates too were mature enough to understand this and there was no feeling of being let down. 

She could also no longer hear the crowd and was uncertain if they are cheering her or another racer who may have been closing up on her. She doesn't even want to look as she is now riveted on the finish line. Yet in that state, she is aware of everything as the watchful eye records the magnum opus of this moment which she know will be replayed again and again in her mind for a long time to come! Nevertheless, at this moment those feelings can not overwhelm her and there is an equilibrium of the focussed mind which she had never known before. After all this is the biggest moment, in the biggest race, she has ever run....and may ever again run!

At this stage, she begins to become aware that something strange has come in; something that is best described as "the force of momentum". It seems to lift her legs to move on not out of any sheer force of her own, but in an effortless push of energy. It seems to propel her first in the mind, and then fill her with a superhuman transcendence of the aches and pains in the body. "Whoa! Where did that come from?"she pondered for a second. Ah! But then she has known this momentum before and has glimpsed it on many occasions when she had given up trying to mentally control the race. She has known it well enough to just let it be and not to tamper with it, lest it be lost. Because for this momentum to sustain, it demanded complete obedience, an unquestioning faith and loyalty, qualities that were hardly dealt in training by any of her coaches.

But yet the profound nature of her experience was known to every racer who has completed his race! The secrecy of the momentum of the final lap was almost too sacred to even talk about. It was shrouded in such mystery because each one's experience, even when they attempted to share for other's benefit, seemed to be unique!

There was a sensation to her next step which seemed almost ecstatic! If she was fully aware of it, she would note that the momentum she experienced this time was not the same as before, although its characteistics had similar effect on her body-mind. Each experience of this momentum, if we can call it that, was new!

Yet there was no magic to the moment that was "out of this world". It was not to be mistaken as "a miracle" that took out all her bodily pains away and seamlessly lead her to finish line. To attribute the remainder of this race to such an uthopian experience is to deny the reality of every runner's hard landing foot on the merciless track - which discriminates not the runner's condition or whether it is the first lap or the final lap! Human mind is indeed fond of such miracles which at best is a upliftimg source of imagination to a mind low in hopes.

Instead it is the very desire to finish, and the commitment to hang on, that has brought on this surge. Her moves may now lack the form and grace that one wishes. Obviously control and will power, at this stage, is not so much from her mind but from a sense of instinctive surge just as she would run for life when chased by a tiger! So the form and flow too is not what she seeks to control as although she wishes to stick to the shortest lane (or the fastest path), her legs flow in free form with a will of their own. It seeks out the right lane, the right path, of its own accord (In fact it does actually have a certain grace, atleast for those who have the eyes to see it)

Despite the burst of energy pushing her onward, there is no fear and anxiety anymore! Whether she wins or loses too is irrelevant. She knows she has given her best and the outcome will be what it will be. It is now the responsibility of the "finish line" and its force of attraction to pull her in! This moment, this step, this lap - is all it has come down to!

Whether this runner is aware or not, whether she completes the race or not, she has found in this moment the state of supreme freedom, that state of mind and heart which comes from complete surrender!

To continue on with the narration on this screen is now redundant

The finish line and the goal which brings in the concept of "Time, Story, Personalities" are no longer relevant! On this "final lap of freedom", the Runner, the Race and the screen of this Race have fulfilled the purpose of their being!

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