Now or Never
You need somebody as a passive listener, to pour out the
thoughts troubling you. Sometimes it could be silly and even mundane. For
example, you can be eloquent about befriending an old woman, weak and supported
by walking stick whom you meet regularly on your morning walk. She gives a
toothy grin and wishes you. You feel embarrassed a little. Your listener tells
you to reciprocate. The act can pep you up and you can now smile at strangers!
After reaching home, pour out all these sort of puerile experiences to someone
close to you. Your mother would be the ideal person at the receiving end. Wife
is the second choice. If she is not available, request one of your friends whom
you like to drop in once a while. If you cannot find anyone to listen to you, do
not get disheartened; start writing diaries.
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Jay Marvin
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Become a farm-hand
If you have time to spare in the morning, try gardening. Better still; grow vegetables in the backyard
or at the terrace. Watering them by hand is a joyful experience.
Read a little
In depression, newspaper is not exactly an aid. You are not
naturally inclined to know how the world is doing! Nothing wrong! Don’t watch
TV too. The two things not only disturb your inner peace but also manipulate
you without your knowledge and consent! Instead, read something meaningful. My
choice is autobiographies and travelogues. One gets an insight to tackle
difficulties descending with alarming regularity. Uncertainties galore in most
cases. Nobody extends a helping hand! You can learn a lot from the accounts of
people who have gone through such experiences first hand. Okay, if you still
don’t feel like reading them, no issues. Read fairy tales!
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| Jay Marvin- Skull Garden |
Plan short travels with your family or with anybody else you
are comfortable. Kerala is so full of such places where you can unwind at
leisure. Crowd would be moderate and noise level is within reasonable limits.
What’s more, you’ll have opportunities for some physical exercises too,
trekking, swimming etc. A couple of decades back, before the advent of
home-stays, local people were gracious enough to invite you to their fold for a
small fee. Nowadays things are much easier.
Yoga / Meditation
After taking bath, it’s better to devote half an hour for
either yoga or meditation. One should learn these techniques from professionals
and practice at home on daily basis. According to one’s background and
mental-frame, the yoga/meditation prescriptions vary and keep it in mind not to
ask for yoga/meditation techniques to cure physical ailments.
The simplest form of meditation is a breathing exercise in
which you gently inhale fresh air, simultaneously attending to the cool
sensation at the tip of your nose. Exhale it slowly, feeling the warm sensation
at the same place. Your mind become focused and relaxed.
I had the privilege of learning Vipassana Meditation alongwith a batch of two hundred odd
students from all walks of life.
Silence of Bells
Acharya Satyanarayan Goenka was popularizing it by
starting several meditation centers in India and abroad. The HQ was at
Igatpuri, 150 km away from Mumbai. I toyed with the idea of joining their
nine-day residential camp and asked my doctor for permission. He granted it
without any hesitation. Getting off from the bus, one had to walk down through
the dry, rain-strapped fields for quite some time. The barren hills gave me no
solace. The Vipassana institute was
more like a school.
No money was charged from us for the training. Boarding and
lodging were free. If one felt like giving gurudakshina,
one was free to do so after completing the course.
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| Jay Marvin |
Two types of accommodation were available- cottages and dormitories. I opted for a hut made of mud and grass. I shared my hut with a noble faced German. We were not supposed to talk to each other. The living space was divided by a partition. Furnishings consisted of a wooden cot, mosquito net and an earthen pot. The floor was thick with dust. Insects and micro-organisms kept falling down from the roof. I felt restless. I kicked the dust from my bed and tossed it over the partition. It struck to me immediately that the German youth was staying at the other side. The lack of comforts and neat less environs didn’t seem to affect him at all. He was in his early twenties. I felt ashamed and wanted to say sorry. However, we also had a vow to keep – to contemplate in silence for nine days. The process was called aryamaun by which one was redirecting his/her energy inwards. Nobody was allowed to talk. Tired of the environment, I thought a change of place would work better. I moved to the dormitory. The meditation starts at four in the morning and one had to wake up very early. The sessions lasted for several hours at a stretch. We were being trained just to observe things without getting involved. One was to imagine a triangle with the upper lip as its base and nose as the vertex and every sensation in the area was closely being observed. Once you were through with the small area, the triangle could be enlarged covering face, neck, hands, torso and legs in that order. The whole of your body was now under surveillance. Suddenly, the focus of attention got shifted to the point between the eyebrows. This is the time when one started experiencing a fine flow of energy particles known as life force from head to toe. Unfortunately, I couldn’t feel it. I drew a blank. The only consolation was the toll of the tiny bells which kept on ringing in the wind. Satsang was kept for the evenings presided by Shri.Satya Narayana Goenka himself. He explained to us in simple language the dire need of getting oneself free from craving and aversion.
On the final day, we were divided into batches of ten and
Shri.Goenka initiated us formally to the two thousand five hundred year old Vipassana Meditation technique. He gave us the
mantra
Sachak
Sachet
Be alert and attentive.
I liked the mantra. Still, spending three hours per day for
meditation was quite a formidable task.
Later on, I found out that Love was the greatest form of
meditation and every other technique was just a warm up to that end! The Sadhak’s life becomes a meditation by
itself.
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