Serendipity or Intelligent Design dropped a copy of James Retfield’s “The Nine Insights of the Celestine Prophecy” into my lap at the tender age of 16; the third insight literally rocked my world, which until then was chock full of unruly, near chimp like tendencies that most spirited teens are prone to. A mention was made of energy fields and how everyone, including inanimate objects, like trees and hills, is infused with.
As ascribed by the book, I lay back with the sunset sky as a backdrop, brought both tips of my index fingers about an inch apart and watched with a start as wisps of smoke swirled around my fingers, with a mercuric fluidity that astounded me. The book then went on to entail how this energy can be supplemented, even supercharged by right foods, chewing slowly and spending time in communion with energy rich sources like trees, mountains and beaches.
My new found knowledge filled me with awe and trained my eyes to see momentary pulses of aural halos around the breathtaking hills nestling the Sinquerim lighthouse, and to see each energy soaked leaf dancing in the wind; thus began my love affair with insight, a phenomenon that gently forces you look at ordinary occurrences in an altogether new light. Throughout my life, I have been made privy to insights that I feel compelled to share, so bear with me as I do. Osho’s quip, “Collect the flowers of each day, not the garbage” is a rule to live by when you realize that we can train our minds to instantly forget the single insult, embarrassment or failure that each day tends to bring us and blissfully replay all the myriad blessings that transpired, instead of vice versa.
The young and old alike could benefit from the Bible directive, “when you stand to pray, forgive all those that have sinned against you.” This powerful insight alludes to the fact that prayer allows you a tete-a-tete with the Creator of the universe, and your petty resentment shows up on your chest like garbage when the proper thing to do would have been to clean up and stand with empty hands and collect more than you could dream of asking for. Gandhi adds to this with his gut wrenching observation, “the weak can never forgive; forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”. On life and its seemingly endless ups and downs, Sylvester Stallone gently drawls to his whiny son in the movie Rocky Balboa, “nothing hits harder than life, but you have to take the hits and keep moving forward and not blame me, or her, him, nobody …you’re better than that!” our very own late great Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had put it cheerfully, “I’m not afraid of problems, I relish them; I’m proud of my skills as a problem solver”! On making mountains out of molehills, especially when you see the tragedies that are playing out across the world, Steve Wright says,” I was sad because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet”
To people in places of power and indeed all Indians, consider Gandhi’s haunting plea, “do not take so much as a pin from your workplace”. Author Robin Sharma adds the age old yet seldom practiced adage to his critically acclaimed treatise, ‘the Secret Letters of the Monk who sold his Ferrari’, “do ordinary tasks extraordinarily well”.
In conclusion, I leave you with an insight that has hitherto never crossed the minds of many, but will never be forgotten. I am an Indian. I would NEVER litter the holy ground I am entrusted to protect; The same sacred earth that was walked on by saints and my ancestors alike; The living soil that feeds my children and their children to come.
