Netralayam

What is the root cause of pains and sufferings that I go through in my life? Is it a failure to live in the present moment and move on with life? Is it self-centered human nature to ask the question “Why me?” Is it caused by my past actions and therefore considered as Karma? Is it caused by the unfulfilled desires and unmanageable attachments I possess for the entire life time? Is it caused by the expectations I set out of developing certain principles in life and perform certain actions? Is it just a mere illusion caused by the mind interpreting certain happenings as pleasant and others as painful?

These are thoughts that came to my mind when I was sitting down for lunch with 15 minutes break I got in the Podiatry Camp I attended on 1[SUP]st[/SUP] of this month. When I see the people lining up to get their foot treated from the generous 7 Podiatrists who gracefully accepted to treat them for free, my life appears to be the bed of roses. When I compare myself with people who have accomplished great heights with great understanding and learned the art of leading life with no hick ups, I feel my life is painful. Primarily, it looks like it is the separation I feel that causes such pain and once I become expansive and see myself in everyone around me, the pain appears to disappear substantially.

There were 212 homeless people who registered to attend the Podiatry Camp. After the registration was over, 4 young volunteers were waiting to wash the feet of these homeless people, dry them out and put a brand new socks so that their feet are clean before they reach the Podiatrist. I have personally seen many homeless people in tears to see those young volunteers washing the feet of the homeless people. What makes those well settled young lads to attend such events to wash the feet of the homeless instead of hanging out with youngsters? What satisfaction they derive from such action? Only reason I could come up with is their satisfaction in seeing the smile in the faces of those homeless people that gives them a great sense of fulfillment never experienced before. Through their service, they are disintegrating their ego like a salt in the water.

After this step, their blood pressure and blood sugar were measured and they were provided with breakfast and hot coffee while waiting for the Podiatrist. After the Podiatrists examined them, some were given creams to reduce the fungus in their feet while others were given shots to reduce infection in their feet along with medications. After this step, volunteers measured the size of their feet and provided brand new shoes (for free) that makes them walk comfortably. Before they left, they were all provided bagged lunch for them to eat later.

When I was assigned the task of coordinating the patients visit to the Podiatrists’ offices, I interacted with many of them. When some shared their life experiences freely with me while others were curious to know what makes us provide this service regularly. One thing I noticed clearly is that they all pretty much live in the present moment, not by design or spiritual experience, but by what life demands from them. They have learned to accept the life as it comes and have been extremely helpful to each other recognizing the pains of others. Therefore, they don’t suffer from selfishness. My rational mind refused to accept that what they were going through is because of their past actions. Their experiences are real and definitely not illusion and therefore, I ruled out that possibility as well.

Other than the backpack that they had in which they stored their belonging, they had no desires and attachments. The pride possession in that backpack are only paste, brush, a set of clothes, comb, shaving cream, blades, etc. They have no attachment to any place as they don’t have any specific place to sleep every night. Therefore, it is not caused by unfulfilled desires and attachments. They had no expectations whatsoever and they had very little time to think about the principles in life and perform actions that would fulfill their principles.

The lesson I have learned out of this experience is to accept the life as it comes, set my expectations to accept both pleasure and pain equally, see the sufferings of the fellow beings as though they are sufferings of my own and extend the helping hand, hold everything in trust as a gift that could be taken away at any time, don’t get bagged down by the self-pity or attach reasoning such as Karma, don’t perform any actions expecting a desired outcome of such actions, live in the present moment and don’t worry whether the life is an illusion or real and carry on the life to the best of my abilities.

If we consider our life experiences as Temple of healing, what we see with our pair of eyes in life becomes heaven (Netralayam).

 

Dear GG,

Thank you for your first response to this post. Selfless service is always an elevating experience. The volunteers consist of Caucasians, African, Hispanic, Pacific Islanders, Indians, etc. They all joined together to provide service and some are part of our spiritual center.

I remember very well my Father in law who was the CEO of a Tobacco company in Chennai started his service activities by managing the slipper stand i.e. to collect and issue right slippers when the visitors of the spiritual organization provide the relevant token. He used to clean the slippers and put it down by bending down so that people can easily wear it. At that age, I didn't realize he used that as a tool to control his ego. I have learned so much from him as well as from my dad.

Viswa

 

Dear Mrs. Jayasala,

Thank you for reading and responding to this post. Volunteering provides a very elevating spiritual experience than donating money. I completely agree with you that satisfaction derived while interacting with people in need is extraordinary experience.

Thank you for sharing the information about the STC driver's effort to help the people in need in Salem. I have heard about Kannan in Madurai who left his job to serve the people in the street who are hungry. He does give them shave, shower, meals, place to stay overnight, etc.

When compared to people like Kannan and the driver in Salem, my service contributions are very insignificant. They are the true inspirational leaders for our society. Initially I was reluctant to share all these stories as I thought it would amount to promoting my service activities. Later, I realized it is a learning experience because others also share similar experiences that is elevating.

Viswa

 

Dear Neetu,

I feel very humbled and honored by your words of appreciation. But I am not sure I deserve such a praise especially after knowing the role models like Kannan in Madurai and the STC driver in Salem that Mrs.Jayasala mentioned.

Moreover, the feet washing was carried out by the youngsters and therefore, it is youngsters who teach us the humility and make me realize my life was worth nothing.

I am also a spiritual seeker like you and don't take my words without your own inquiry. it is my humble opinion that Karma should help us to remain humble but our graceful acceptance, demonstrated endurance and time spent in good actions despite our own sufferings should help us wash away those karmas with enormous amount of grace.

In fact, I learn more from the youngsters than I have learned out of my entire life long experiences. There is so much to learn from the new generation. There isn't day passes without me thinking that why I was not like that at that age.

Viswa

 

Dear Balajee,

You are right. We have to approach life with a lot of enthusiasm and don't get bogged down by the happenings over which we have no control. If we learn acceptance, endurance and do our good actions with love, things can change.

Viswa