TRAVELLING
LIGHT
Recently we had a Spiritual
Training programme based on the Teachings of J.Krishnamurti (1895-1986). The
title for the session was “J.Krishnamurti: Life & Message”. Those who
participated in the workshop said uniformly in gratitude that a sense of
profound peace pervaded their mind and they experienced a surge of enthusiasm as
they listened to the Talk. I advised them, “You have now realised for yourselves
that an exalted state such as this is possible. Consolidate it and treasure it
in your soul”.
J.K. travelled long distances continually. It is said of him that during
any air-travel the only “luggage” he carried would be the plane-ticket in his
pocket. On reaching the destination he would alight from the aircraft and walk
away, without having to wait at the conveyor-belt. Travelling light is the
character of Apostles. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi and Subramania Bharati had the
same trait. These Sages were clear that the world is only a transit-camp for
humans and they did not hold with burdening themselves in any manner.
Even those of us who have not had occasion to board an aeroplane would
have travelled by train at some time or other. In what way is the process of
living different from an over-night train-journey, Sirs? You ensconce yourself
on the reserved berth right royally and you adjust the lamp and fan to suit your
convenience. But do you develop any Attachment to these appurtenances? Why
so? Because you are only allowed to
use the facilities and not to put them in your suitcase at the close of the
journey.
Likewise in the course of six or seven decades you inhabit the Earth, you
do need certain facilities and commodities but why do you commit the error of
becoming attached to them? You must keep them in good order in your own interest
but does not the link-up end there? Even Alexander the Great who set out to
conquer the world left the planet with empty hands. A new-born keeps its hands
closed but Time straightens the fingers so that they may hold nothing when the
bell tolls or the conch blows.
Let us eschew sentiment and get down to brass-tacks. Prolonged
association with proximate objects and persons generates the illusion in your
mind that they are permanent and it is this baseless concept that lands you in
the trap called Attachment. If your interaction with your environment is such as
not to generate any friction under any circumstances, the objects of the world
will not be a mental burden to you. If you come to realise that your association
with them is time-bound, you would not be inclined to cling to them nor
entertain any expectations from them for the future. Whatever is due to you
cannot be taken away from you; and what is not due to you will not come to you.
In the light of this wisdom relationships will be weightless on your mind. Has
not J.Krishnamurti said, “Live lightly in the world, even as a guest stays in a
house, observing the activities around him but not getting bogged down in them?”
Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi counsels us to deal with worldly affairs as a
Bank-cashier handles the money coming to his table.
These Sages, out of
compassion, have given us a plan of action that would dispel the mirage of
Attachment from our mind. Theirs is not a preaching but only a conditional
advice: “If you seek to be freed from misery, adopt such and such an attitude to
life”.
When I was in school, I read a proverb in an old book of quotations which
I recite from memory: “One who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man; know
him. One who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep; awaken him. One who
knows not and knows not that he knows not is ignorant; teach him. And one who
knows not and knows that he knows not is a scoundrel; thrash
him!”
Now is the time for everyone of you to decide whether you want to be only
awakened or whether you are in need of a sound thrashing, at the hands of Nature
which would only give you a blow without a word!