Song of Gandhi

I woke up tired and cranky this morning. I have a full day of business ahead and I was sorely tempted to go back to bed and not deal with any of it. Instead, I sought to understand what it was that is really bothering me and I prayed for guidance.

Then I saw Gandhi.

As I bent down to pet the cat (avoiding this blog) I saw Gandhi's face on the cover of a British magazine called Resurgence, his eyes cast downward in perfect humility.

I opened the magazine and read:

"Gandhi inspired so many because he practiced what he preached: he lived the change he wanted to see in the world and his message was none other than his life itself. He was an honest seeker of truth, a fearless defender of the weak, and an uncompromising practitioner of nonviolence."

Well, that is a tough act to follow. How did he do this? Didn't Gandhi have challenging days? He was, after all, human.

A quick search for "gandhi's faith in god" and I find this quote:

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow."

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the central stories in the sacred Hindu text of the Mahabharata, an epic Sanskrit poem from ancient India. I studied this text when I took the Yoga Teacher's Training Course at the Sivananda ashram in the Bahamas in 2003. Bhagavad Gita translates as Song of God.

So let's do as Gandhi did, shall we?

Randomly chosen, here is Verse 7 of Chapter 6, The Science of Self-Realization:

"The being who has conquered the mind, transcending the dualities of cold, heat, happiness, distress, honour and dishonour, is firmly established with the Ultimate Consciousness within."

How do I conquer the mind? How do I transcend cold? Heat? Happiness etc.?

By accepting that the Ultimate Consciousness within is, in fact, the only reality. And this reality, I firmly believe, is Love. Everything else is an illusion. Everything else is a projection of the mind.

This is the great Hindu teaching and though it is difficult to grasp it will free me from my worldly concerns if I continue to seek its deeper meaning.

And this is all I have to do. Seek. Not conquer, not master. Seek. I can practice these things. I don't have to do anything perfectly.

Inspiring Message of the Day: When I am tired and cranky I can always seek the wisdom of a Great Teacher to comfort me. I will be given the teaching that I need when I ask for it.