Having been in India for over a month now I have learned so much about this country, the culture and the people. A couple of the things I have learned are how much the people do not think they really lack anything even though they may be poor… and how much they are not affected when things don’t work out as they plan. People here have such a spirit for life that’s so amazing to witness and participate in. This is very different than in the USA where a lot of the culture’s values are based in the outside world… in “stuff” that we can accumulate, our homes, our cars, our money and what the outside world can do to provide us comfort, fulfil our desires and attempt at eliminating suffering.
Living here in India has taught me that I need to be ok even more ok with uncertainty and the mystery of life. Traffic jams can happen anytime because a bunch of cows are immovable in the middle of the road. Mobile phone network infrastructure is inconsistent, and you won’t be able to access your data or get disconnected regularly when talking to someone. Internet connectivity is the same as well. As I was making my way from Sadhana Mandir ashram to Ram Jhula there was a parade that closed the road and I needed to walk a couple kilometers to my destination. As I sit here writing this at a coffee shop the power goes out, which happens regularly.
And people here all seem to be fine with all of this. Going with the flow. Not getting upset. No road rage. It’s pretty awesome!
Of course, we all have our desires for life. To find our soul mates. To have a full bank account. To travel the world, etc.. To live healthy lives and prolong our lives if that’s even possible. Yet there is so much we don’t have control over. When I was 16yrs old my uncle was struck and killed by a Chicago Transit Authority bus. How’s that for life’s uncertainty?
When I was staying at Swami Rama’s ashram he was talking about the unknown. We are born from the unknown and how the mystery of life creates life and we die into the mystery of what happens when and after we die? Humanity has tried to understand this for our entire existence. Uncertainty means that we do not know and yet we spend so much time in the quest for knowledge because knowledge is power because it is certain, and certainty means strength. People in India here devote themselves to the worshiping of idols which are shrouded in mystery and kept apart from those that worship them.
We need to develop a relationship with uncertainty and the mystery of life which is difficult to do. We like to think we have the answers to life and project our own judgments thinking we have the wisdom and knowledge. In some cases that is true as science has proved some things. In most cases it is not and we think we have the knowing of our paths and when there is an obstruction in our path we develop our own misery.
The body is the way we seek for power through our relationships. It’s the ego chosen weapon to get power, and love doesn’t seek for power… love seeks for relationship. How we develop our relationship to the mystery of love and the uncertainty of life will allow us to be at peace with our lives and ultimately be at peace with our mortality.
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