Simplicity is our real nature
Why do we fail? Why do we resent? Why do we
feel hurt?
In tribal populations we used to come in
contact with very simple people. Why tribal, such people were also abundant in
general society.
Simplicity is a precious gift, one awarded to
those who are very close to the oneness that we call God.
We have the impression and also the warning
that those who are simple are easily exploited. This is worldly wisdom and it
is not without reason.
But the one who has that precious gem within
oneself does not really care. Tell him that he has been exploited and he either
smiles or shrugs it away or does both. It does not bother him in the least.
Sri Ramakrishna was a simpleton. Absorbed in
himself, the world did not matter to him. If people told him that he has been
taken for a ride, he used to smile and say, so what?
The simpleton puts God before everything. It
may not be visible on the surface. He may not also understand it fully. He also
cares for the world as he feels the entire world vibrating within him.
It is this simplicity that really drives the
world. The simpleton plants trees because he perceives that the world needs it.
He helps a passerby simply because he needs help. He has something to give and
he gives without thought. Something within him tells him that it is alright to
do so. Something within him whispers that he is being taken care of.
Bereft of simplicity we wallow and suffer in
this world because we feel that we should take care of ourselves and that the
world can take care of itself, so why bother?
We are so engrossed with our own pettiness
that we get offended very easily. We do not realize that such emotions occur
because we are full of the world and worldliness.
Worldliness is the cancer we embrace
willingly. It is the burden we carry with great effort. That burden tires us,
makes us even more burdened as we seek more of the very things that burden us.
Once Sri Ramakrishna, as a young man in the
city of Kolkata was paid just a quantum of puffed rice for the puja he rendered
in a temple. Some of it was snatched from him as he walked on the way home,
having tied it in a cloth. He laughed and let the remaining rice just float
away. That is how much he cared for the world.
This world is not going to go with us. It
drops off as we drop off our body and the small spark of consciousness that
accompanies the body. We loose it even in our sleep.
It is in our sleep that we really rest. We can
also rest if we can shrug off the world even when we are awake. Let us unravel
the complexity within us and become simple souls.
Simplicity is our real nature.
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