There is an
interesting story in the Zen tradition.
A disciple went to
see the Master. It was raining, so he brought an umbrella with him. Before
entering the Master’s house, he left his wet umbrella and shoes in the
verandah. Later, in the middle of some serious conversation, Master suddenly asked
“did you put your shoes on the left side of the umbrella or on the right side?”
The disciple was astonished
and could not understand the relevance of this question in the middle of such a
serious spiritual dialogue. Confused, he said “I don’t remember. But Master! Why
is it important? What difference does it make if the shoes are on the right or
left side of the umbrella?”
“Awareness”, the
Master said.
“You need to be aware
of your Self; every nook and corner of the inside of your mind, of every
thought and desire. To practice this, you can start by being aware of your surroundings”.
This is true for most
of us. Isn’t it? We hardly pay attention to our surroundings. We may walk few
miles without noticing any trees or buildings or people on the way. Once in a
while, some extraordinary thing may attract our attention momentarily but we hardly
remember any details later. The
difference between ordinary people and the scientists and philosophers is that
the later pay detailed attention to the ordinary things. For thousands of
years, man had seen the fruits falling from the trees. It is an ordinary
natural phenomenon so no one ever paid any attention to it. But Isaac Newton
was different. When an apple fell on is head, he did not see it as an ordinary
phenomenon. He looked at it seriously, thought about it deeply, over and over,
and discovered the law of gravity.
We can also learn to pay proper attention by
looking, rather than seeing; by listening, rather than hearing; by analyzing rather
than assuming.
By practicing the ‘mindfulness’
of our outer surroundings, we can eventually learn to be aware of our ‘inside’
also.
“Be aware of your
thoughts”, the Upanishad says.
The Zen Master wanted
to know if the disciple placed his shoes on the left or the right side of the
umbrella.
We should ask
ourselves on which side we have placed God; before or after the ‘Maya’, the
materialistic world.
In our mind, does
the world revolve around God, or the thoughts and Sumiran of God circles around
our worldly needs and desires.
‘Rajan
Sachdeva’
Wow. Beautiful
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