By: Sri Narasimha Swamiji
When someone speaks unpleasant words, why is it that I dislike them so much? Why does it hurt me deeply and how can I bear it?
In my close association with Dasganu Maharaj, a beautiful teaching I have learned is ‘total acceptance’. Once we went to Sholapur and on entering the town, someone came near and abused Dasganu Maharaj. Dasganu Maharaj just smiled at him and did not reply. That person had some vengeance against Dasganu Maharaj when he was at Sholapur in the Police force. Maharaj was now a recluse as a staunch devotee and Kirtankar of Sai Maharaj and the power of acceptance had dissolved his hurt. He kept quiet and the next day he came and apologized. Dasganu Maharaj explained – ‘He had an old account to settle with me and if I had abused him back, our account would have continued. Now everything is even with us.’ Therefore, Dasganu Maharaj advised me to learn to accept things as they come. We resist something and this resistance creates a conflict with what is.
When someone speaks unpleasant words, don’t create a conflict in your mind. Accept that it is others’ perception and others’ perceptions need not be true. Learn to be at peace with what is and that is possible if you completely accept the other. Acceptance is not endorsing his point of view but being at peace with others’ points of view. If you accept his unpleasant words without condemning him, then an inner understanding opens with deep awareness.
If you condemn him, then your memories of unpleasantness add themselves to the present unpleasantness and your pain increases. The dissatisfactions of the past will create distaste towards the present, leading to distrust of the future.
You dislike someone’s unpleasant words because you have a map of how others should behave and are addicted to that expectation. If others’ behavior does not fit into your expectations, you start disliking it.
Let us learn to practice acceptance at all levels. Let us accept our body as it is. Out of acceptance, improve the quality of the body. Accept the surrounding world as it is and out of that, learn to improve it.
Learn not to fight with life, but flow with life. The moment you flow with life, an inner lightness will envelop you, a new quality of aliveness will fill you, a new joy will bless you, and a different quality of cheerfulness will pervade you.
Such a person cannot be hurt, and cannot be disturbed. His perception of others will not be distorted. His factual perception is not influenced by his dogma and expectation.
Look at others who are hurt, discontentment fills their life. Their eyes are filled with expectations and hence they carry hurt inside their heart. “Those devotees who have become one with me with heart and soul, they will, naturally, be bound to be happy by listening to the story of my life.” – Shri Sai Baba (Chap 3, Ovi 17-18).
Acceptance is the key to transforming your life. When you accept, you experience the ‘such-ness’ of what is and not the fantasy of ‘what should be’. Let us remember Sainath’s assurance – “Such pious persons have become my followers whose sins have been destroyed and they have understood me.” – (Chap 13, Ovi 11-13).
Don’t be a victim of your logic; let the power of love teach you the art of operating from the heart and the heart knows how to accept. When there is love, there is acceptance. You will never know the poetry of life, the glory of life, and the grandeur of life, if you have not learned the art of acceptance. Many people wonder – “Most of us live in a state of chaos.How can one live in a sense of peace?”
The word ‘cosmos’ comes from the word ‘cosmology’, which means ‘order’.Mystics consider the universe to be an expression of order. There are levels of order and one has to be open and help oneself to climb the various levels of order. If one is living a mechanical life, one lives in chaos. Be more conscious and live in harmony, which is the order of the cosmos. Think of Lord Sainath who has commanded – “The whole universe is my home. I am myself Vasudev and an all-pervading God. I am myself the Parabrahma.” – (Chap 9, Ovi 47).
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