Page 22 - NAMAH-Oct-2020

Namah Vol. 28, Issue 3, 15th October 2020

that is not only compatible with worldly life truth that may or may not reside in a form
but strengthens it with a new impulsion. that we need to discover. After all, at the end
This is typified in the great teachings of of it do we not want life to be beautiful? How
the Upanissads and the Gita, in the luminous are we to do it if we shun this soft power
writings of Swami Vivekananda and Sri which at its core is spiritual. Then there is
Aurobindo, writings that can set our soul the power that is the very base of everything
ablaze with the fire of spiritual truths alive. else. It is that much coveted and least found
But even if we set aside these great teachings Peace. The world suffers because of want
for a moment since we feel ourselves weak of Peace. Without Peace nothing enduring
and ill-equipped to handle them, then also can be built, nothing lasting can be erected.
things such as peace and equanimity that Peace is the very foundation of all things.
develop naturally through spiritual practices There is another quality which though not
or love and compassion and tolerance, give a soft power is yet an extension of Peace. It
us an edge even for our ordinary life. is Equanimity.

No wonder they are often referred to as soft Yogic texts lay a great emphasis on equanimity.
powers. It is a mistake to underestimate Yet it is one of the least understood and least
these powers. Even the humblest of them practised of qualities. Yet this one quality can
such as humility and gratitude have the help us not only withstand all the assaults
capacity to straighten out longstanding and challenges of life but put us in the right
misunderstandings. For those who value condition to understand things in a better
harmony and the joy of relationship with way and to give us the right response to them.
the world and its countless creatures that When our mind and emotions are disturbed
co-inhabit it, it is a small gain to discover and restless, then our perception about people
the secret of a happy and harmonious co- and events and circumstances are clouded
existence. Then there is something so soft and our reactions to them naturally confused.
and subtle as beauty, a power that has been How often has it not happened that in a
much distorted by equating it with surface given situation we responded in a certain
appearances. But Beauty when we look deep way which we repented much later, realising
enough into its soul is the sister of joy and the stupidity of our reactions.
the secret flaming core of love. It is because
we have shunned beauty or regarded it only But why did it happen and why do we
as something superficial that there has been understand it better as time rolls by? The
such a downfall, in India at least. We stopped thing is that with passage of time the dust and
valuing beauty and we can see the result in smoke and the storm and clouds settle down
every sphere whether it be vulgarity of speech and we can see things clearly. The initial
and sensations or vulgarity in thoughts and perception and reaction were coloured as it
actions, vulgarity in outer and inner life, in were by our own restless emotions, blinded
music and technology and everything else. by storms of anger and passion, darkened
by mistrust and all the rest that distorts our
Beauty is not just about the beauty of form. understanding of things and thereby opens
There is a formless essence of beauty, a mystic the doors to every kind of confusion. The

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