Pebbles in Sky

Lalit Gunjan Singh

There were a few kids playing near the river side of a village. One of them picked a pebble and pulled his maximum capacity to throw it deep into the sky. The process continued while others followed the trend with a visible sense of frustration on their face. A scientist was passing by. Curiosity stopped him and he approached them. Can I help you, friends? He asked. We are trying to throw these pebbles to make them disappear in the sky. We are trying our hardest possible, but it unfortunately comes back was the innocent reply. You surely can throw them in the sky and they will never come back. But what you need is a rocket to do that. Until the pebbles are thrown with a threshold speed, what we call Escape Velocity, they are bound to come back. Where will we get a rocket, sir? another innocent question from the kids. Well, you will have to work hard to qualify as a scientist in the organizations that specialize in the space shuttles. The scientist replied with a smile over his face. If we reflect on our own lives, we strive hard to come over the worldly pains. We seek for the basic needs, as the first level of Maslows hierarchical theory says. Once the basic needs are satisfied, we look for social status and so on. These various ways to seek fulfillment viz. material possessions, recognition, family, job, and so on are synonymous to the pebbles in the story. They may be of various degrees for different people, but as the pebbles fail to crack the gravitational pull of the earth, so do these outer forms. Well, there is nothing wrong in looking for the various outer forms but at the same time, one should strive to look for the rocket who will release one from the gravitational pull. The True Master is that rocket for us. When we have achieved the True Master, he launches us in the no-mind zone. As we know, its the pull of mind that keeps us in all pains. The mind by very nature loves wandering. We are looking for the peace. The mind and the peace are antonyms that way. All the usual practices that we know of, they teach us how to throw the pebble with more speed. Do you not realize when you are asked to observe thoughts, its an instant relief but short-living? Do you not understand that all the Pranayama practices enhance your vital energy but fail to connect with the permanent peace and bliss? Have you not noticed that when you are in a temple you are peaceful and as soon as you are out of the temple you are out of peace too? Do you need more evidence to experience the limited, dual and impermanent nature of the things and feelings in this cosmos?

Everything that you know of, witness or realize is from the plane of the mind, which we today find ourselves completely identified with. We have lost our own identity. When we say my mind, we clearly mean that I am different from my mind. But who is that I? We need the rocket to travel beyond the reign of the mind. We need an ultimate thrust to reach to the zone of immortality, permanence and infinity. This is the very reason why all the words of wisdom appraise that rocket so much. We need somebody to guide us through in every walk of life. Mom teaches us how to walk and talk. Primary school teachers start guiding us through the words. The process goes on. The same way, we need the True Master, who will guide us through the veils of darkness. The fear of unknown zone, which is our destiny the zone beyond that of mind, is overcome by His intense presence. Such is glory that one of the greatest Indian Saints, Kabir exclaims that the entire resources of cosmos put together will fail to convey His glory in complete: Saat Samanda ki Masi Karun, Lekhan Sab Banarai! Dharati Sab Kaagad Karun, Guru Guna Likha na Jaaye!! Its vital to search for the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent True Master. He is called the Sadguru. Seek for the true Sadguru. You may find it worthwhile to visit www.vihangamyoga.org to know how you can find your True Master.