Is it really so difficult to know ourselves? Each time I sit down to articulate my thoughts, I start with a question. Guess it’s so because I’m a seeker and a learner. The quest for answers for everything makes me start asking questions. The things we do, the relations we have, the way we behave in life, all leads to one thing - getting to know about ourselves – for the better.
From the time I came across the phrase Know Thyself, I have been pondering about it and getting closer to the conclusion that knowing myself leads me to the biggest question of my life – who am I?
A mother of an active five-and-a-half-year-old lad, my life revolves around my son Raghav. I enjoy doing household chores and particularly enjoy washing clothes and hanging them out on the clothesline on our terrace. And as I dry the clothes, I ask myself if we can do the same with our souls. We wash our soiled clothes to be used again. Can we do the same with our souls? I keep thinking about this every time I am hanging clothes to dry.
Different people, different souls, clean clothes but the souls get soiled, dirty with so many negative things around. Can we clean these just like our clothes and have new, fresh souls to use again?
I take the clothes off the clothesline, crisp and smelling good after a spell in the sun. They feel so fresh every time and I also see my soul getting cleansed of whatever negative emotions I have had. I feel fresh and free.
My soul-cleansing is done!
At least for the day.
Wonderful.This is the sign of a spiritual seeker. The basic question and the ultimate question is one and the same. "Who am I?" The answer is "Know Thy self and be free. Shankaracharya had a niti or way of doing it in the reverse order so to say. Ask what it is not and start the eliminating process. It is not this till you come to the conclusion what you are.
ReplyDeletebrava!
ReplyDeletea well-written, thought-provoking piece... and an intriguing question... i suspect the answer is 'yes, we can'... such is the nature of karma and dharma, is it not?
some years back, a gifted young clairvoyant told me she 'saw' that i had 'no karma' and was 'only dharma'... this concerned me, since it sounded like i was missing something i should have, not being entirely sure what karma was and not haveing a clue about dharma... then, after looking them up, i was shocked to learn it meant i had come to what seems to be a relatively rare state for a human... and i wrote this:
http://www.saysmom.com/maia/content.asp?Writing=173
thank you for the reminder, simrann!
love and hugs, maia
Dear maia,
ReplyDeleteyour encouraging words mean a lot !
thank you so much.
loved reading your thoughts and your poem-
Attainment :)
love and hugs to you too.
Simrann