Dr. Marguerite Theophil is an an educator, an organizational consultant to business houses and educational institutions, a personal growth coach, and the founder of WEAVE, a institute dedicated to the advancement spiritual knowledge. She recently wrote an article titled “Why Not Make Room For Joy?” which appeared in the Bangalore edition of the Times of India on November 11, 2013. The article has been well appreciated by the intelligentsia, who perceive it as being an effective tool to improve the quality of life at all levels.
In the article, Dr. Theophil mentions having visualized an extra room in her home to “Welcome Joy”, prompted by the unexepected comment of a friend who remarked that she had no room for joy in her life. 'Making a room' and 'make room' however are two different things. In order to make room for joy in one's lives, certain things need to be moved out, as it is very difficult to experience joy if our lives are cluttered. She listed out a few things that need to go out of our lives to make room for joy, such as:
· "Manic busy-ness”, by taking some quality
time off and relaxing
· "The external pressure of putting others
before self”, by ensuring that we're breathing first before attempting to help others breathe
·
“resentments”, by nipping evil in the bud and not
allowing it to take roots
·
“worrying about that which is clearly beyond our control”,
by accepting the reality of the fact (i.e. that these situations are indeed beyoond our control), and instead focussing on dealing with what is within our control.
·
“blaming others or own self”, by joyfully
observing the kindness, good deeds and other positives around us
·
“grumbling”, by appreciating the blessings
that always come our way
·
“awfulising” (a special coinage of a
psychologist), by consciously avoiding distortion of thinking and not making
a mountain out of a mole hill
One can think of many more such points, but when joy takes up residence within our selves, all the above get edged out of our lives.
When a qualified and
intelligent person writes a piece which touches the subtle side of our lives
and offers to provide tangible solutions, many amongst us are impressed and
motivated to follow such a person. Do you
know why? Because she is in the same orbit
as we are, albeit with a clearer concept of life than ours. Are we though able to accept in the same way a person
who comes from a higher or the highest orbit and provides a comprehensive,
one (i.e. singular) solution? Let us see.
While walking bare foot early morning on the dew-laden grass, if a few thorns were to get stuck in the sole of our
foot, we would not only stop walking and take a seat, but also look for a
bigger and stronger thorn to get the weaker embedded ones out. We would be unable to extract the embedded thorns with one of the same size and strength, howsoever attractive
or suitable looking that thorn may be. The tool with which one repair a defect
has to be by nature, of a higher category/orbit for it to do an effective and long-lasting job. Another example
(albeit from a different angle) is that of a defective car which is running and
cannot be repaired while it is in motion. The car has to be stopped and cooled down, the
right mechanic has to be found, a patient wait has to be undergone, a repair cost
has to be incurred - and only then does the car become available for further
driving. If any one of the above acts
isn’t performed, we may again run into problems with the car. The most
important of these acts is that of getting the right mechanic. A temporary or short-term fix can be provided
by many mechanics, and choosing such a mechanic may be acceptable to many amongst us, given our own lack of knowledge.
However the trouble shall recur and come to haunt us sooner or later. Such mechanics are readily available; they
work fast (which is to our liking as we are always in a mad rush), and have the
gift of the gab to easily convince us by communicating along the same
wavelengths that we do. Who however is this right mechanic? One who has a comprehensive, all-round
knowledge about his job; does his work patiently and thoroughly without
appeasing the customer by hurrying; generally talks less; never overtly tries
to convince anyone; and more often than not, is not very well known. Only those lucky ones who have come in
contact with such a mechanic truly know about his silent all round expertise,
his quiet excellence, his worth. It is interesting
to note that when these lucky ones refer him to others, many a times the others
come back not so impressed; simply because he does not behave and talk from our
plane or the way we expect him to. Many of you may have heard the above
examples from Prajnanpurush Sri Sri
Babathakur (the Master). I have simply elaborated on them through self-analysis
for my easier understanding.
Master’s offered the
following ‘One Solution’ to all ills of life — ‘All problems belong to the mind
and not to the Self which is Consciousness and Bliss Absolute. Since mind is
the modification of nature or prakriti,
it is non-self, hence unreal. When mind itself is unreal, all its problems are
unreal forever. As Self, you are Master of nature, not its slave. Remember
this.’
‘Even when you have a
problem or are in trouble, you just take some rest, relax yourself and think—No
I am Pure Consciousness which is the only substratum and background of all. See
how the problems get solved by themselves, leaving no trace at all.’
All problems get solved by
themselves, leaving no trace at all — one comprehensive, total solution to end
all ills of life for all individuals in this universe - wherever they may be
and whosoever they might be. This solution is
applicable to one and all, without any exception, whatsoever. It is simpler than the simplest, but harder
than the hardest.
How many of us who have
spent years with Him have been able to accept the above One Solution? The answer
is almost none. Why? Because the Solution
comes from an ‘orbitless orbit’ - sans any pomp and show, free of cost and
effort, not tailored specifically for our limited intellect and outlook (and yet
not difficult to understand at all with little introspection) - and last but
not the least, because it is the simplest and most direct of all solutions.
We are verily Joy
Itself. Do we still then need to make
room for joy?
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