WORTH READING 24 Feb 2005

How to Walk on the Path of Life

(A part of this mail is in Hindi)


When I was very young, not long after I came to Parmarth Niketan, a very
old, revered saint came to Rishikesh to give his divine satsang at
Parmarth
Niketan. However, rather than staying in the comforts of the ashram, he
used
to stay in a small hut on the banks of Ganga a little bit away from the
center of the ashrams.

I was given the special seva of going to pick him up each morning and
bring
him to the ashram. As we walked through the busy marketplace, I would
try to
push everyone and everything out of his way so that this revered saint
could
walk comfortably and unimpeded to the ashram. I asked everyone along the
way, Side please. Please give us the way to walk. I would gently push
all of
the wandering cows out of his path. I moved standing bicycles and fruit
carts out of the way so he could pass.

Finally as we reached the gate of the ashram I was feeling very glad
that I
had been able to bring him so safely and smoothly to the ashram, and
that I
had been able to clear such a nice path for him to walk. This saint,
however, looked at me lovingly and said, Beta, kis kis ko hatate rahoge?
Aur
kab tak hatate rahoge? My child, how many people and cows can you push
out
of the way?

For how long can you move other people and things out of your path? That
is
not the way. Apna rasta banate jao. Apna rasta banake nikalte jao. Do
not
try to move others; rather find your way between the others and around
them.
Make your own path, but do not worry about moving others. Find your own
way
in the midst of the chaos. In our lives we frequently get frustrated and
broken by feeling that others are blocking our way and thwarting our
path.
We blame their presence and their actions for our own failure. We
explain to
ourselves that we would have been able to succeed if only they had let
us,
if only they had moved out of the way for us. We try to push people and
obstacles aside to clear a way for ourselves in life.

However, obstacles never stop coming. People who are jealous never stop
trying to block our path. For how long can we try to move them aside?
How
many obstacles, how many enemies can we try to push away? The answer is
to
simply find our own way, around them, between them. If they are blocking
the
path on the right, we walk on the left. If they are blocking the path on
the
left, we walk on the right. We must be more concerned about finding our
own
way rather than focusing on moving all of those whom we think are
blocking
our path. For those who are pure in mind, thought and deed, there will
always be a path in which to walk. The path may be narrow at times and
it
may seem that obstacles and enemies line both sides. But we must humbly
and
sincerely make our own way on the path of life.

We must just keep walking the path of our dharma, the path of
righteousness,
the path of honesty, purity and piety without worrying about those who
try
to block our way. So much of our precious time, energy and focus are
wasted
in the futile task of trying to remove obstacles and other people from
our
path. It is not necessary. Find your own path around the obstacles. Find
your own path around the enemies. Do not try to push them aside or push
them
down or fight them for the right of way. Rather, carefully examine the
situation and see where the path is clear. Then, choose that path and
continue on your way. The more attention we give to those who are trying
to
sabotage us and trying to thwart our progress, the less time and energy
we
have to walk to right path. In that way, then, the enemies win, for they
have stolen our peace of mind, our tranquility, our joy and also our
time.
Instead of trying to fight them out of the way, we must remain humble,
pure
and single-minded on

the goal. If we can see our destination clearly then we will always be
able
to find a path in which to walk. So, keep the destination firm in your
mind.
Stay focused on the goal and nikalte chale, nikalte chale jao [move
around
the obstacles and continue on the path.].
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