Monday Musings: Two Neo- Monks!
I write this with their permission of course. They are two of them.
I have always felt that there is more to the phrase ‘taking things for granted’ than what the words indicated. I always had this inexplicable unease about its frivolous usage all these years that we are perhaps using it too soon and too frequently even when the circumstances did not quite demand such an extreme expression. Very fragile egos, a heightened sense of entitlement and a general belief that if someone is not following our track or is not toeing our line indicates that one was being taken for granted.
The curious case of misplaced entitlement and the havoc it plays with our sense of being got highlighted by two recent conversations I had recently, with two dear friends, both of whom have come out victorious after battling with grave medical emergencies – what might clearly be called as near death situations. I can never be thankful enough to them to have shared with me their hearts and also a permission to write about it.
Such people have a lot to offer to us – but most of all they offer us clarity of perspective; something that is usually a casualty in the whirlwind of daily living. I was intrigued by the uncanny similarities in the two narratives, particularly when they described how this traumatic and testing phase has left them. I shall share a few of those common themes.
Goodness is real – their belief in the essential goodness of people seems to have been reinforced beyond measure. Help and very timely at that came their way from unpredictable and unimaginable quarters – from unknown strangers on the road to lowly orderlies in the hospital. It seemed to me that they have got rid of a general mistrust of the world and an overblown sense of suspicion about the motives of people. They both found small gestures that sometimes saved them and at other times consoled them during excruciating pain as their dominant memories. Looks like their faith in humanity is truly and permanently restored – in a manner we would not be able to imagine also.
The grand design – they found a very strong role that happy coincidences and nick-of-time help played in their being alive. A colleague who was just there when the emergency happened or the peak hour lift which miraculously did not stop even once during its climb down or a friends friend who just happened to be with the super-busy-difficult-to-get-super-specialist just when he was being wheeled into the hospital – are no longer coincidences alone. They are a part of a grand design to keep them alive – an unseen force that was working behind the scenes to keep them alive. It appeared to them that there is a meaning in everything that is happening around. They can see this grand design very clearly now – even if we cannot the way they do.
Unafraid of future – Describing their own reflections, both hinted how much gloom that the smog of future causes in our lives, mostly with paralysing effects. Looks like only these two have got the real essence and implication of the phrase ‘living in the present’ – the rest of us only parrot the line.
Taking for granted – they rediscovered so many small things that they were taking for granted like climbing stairs or eating samosas or even running. In no uncertain terms the point being made was, within the realm of reasonableness, do not deprive yourself! Eat what you want, do what you like and enjoy wherever you can. The ache of not being able to enjoy the small things was unmistaken, but more than the murmur of regret was the roar of resolve – that nothing shall be taken for granted anymore.
It is in the mind - this epithet that is mouthed so often by so many, and most of times perfunctorily came alive through words and implications in the conversation with both of them .They fought through the grave physical torment compounded by an even graver emotional turmoil only on the dint of spirit. I don’t know what that spirit means – whether that is best described as a will to live or an outright refusal to believe anything is wrong in the first place, almost de-fanging the debility – or may be both; but it was clear that the fight was being won by more than medicines and treatment. In many ways the treatment was the sideshow – their own spirit was central.
They were dipping into a very deep reservoir that lay inside of them – that they had nourished all these years possibly only for this day. I came out of those discussions wondering what was that reservoir for me and how deep it is – and if it shall last me my own journey should there ever be a need to dip into it. I think both of them, through a very testing process have acquired what some spend their whole life struggling to acquire – Wisdom.
Guru
I write this with their permission of course. They are two of them.
I have always felt that there is more to the phrase ‘taking things for granted’ than what the words indicated. I always had this inexplicable unease about its frivolous usage all these years that we are perhaps using it too soon and too frequently even when the circumstances did not quite demand such an extreme expression. Very fragile egos, a heightened sense of entitlement and a general belief that if someone is not following our track or is not toeing our line indicates that one was being taken for granted.
The curious case of misplaced entitlement and the havoc it plays with our sense of being got highlighted by two recent conversations I had recently, with two dear friends, both of whom have come out victorious after battling with grave medical emergencies – what might clearly be called as near death situations. I can never be thankful enough to them to have shared with me their hearts and also a permission to write about it.
Such people have a lot to offer to us – but most of all they offer us clarity of perspective; something that is usually a casualty in the whirlwind of daily living. I was intrigued by the uncanny similarities in the two narratives, particularly when they described how this traumatic and testing phase has left them. I shall share a few of those common themes.
Goodness is real – their belief in the essential goodness of people seems to have been reinforced beyond measure. Help and very timely at that came their way from unpredictable and unimaginable quarters – from unknown strangers on the road to lowly orderlies in the hospital. It seemed to me that they have got rid of a general mistrust of the world and an overblown sense of suspicion about the motives of people. They both found small gestures that sometimes saved them and at other times consoled them during excruciating pain as their dominant memories. Looks like their faith in humanity is truly and permanently restored – in a manner we would not be able to imagine also.
The grand design – they found a very strong role that happy coincidences and nick-of-time help played in their being alive. A colleague who was just there when the emergency happened or the peak hour lift which miraculously did not stop even once during its climb down or a friends friend who just happened to be with the super-busy-difficult-to-get-super-specialist just when he was being wheeled into the hospital – are no longer coincidences alone. They are a part of a grand design to keep them alive – an unseen force that was working behind the scenes to keep them alive. It appeared to them that there is a meaning in everything that is happening around. They can see this grand design very clearly now – even if we cannot the way they do.
Unafraid of future – Describing their own reflections, both hinted how much gloom that the smog of future causes in our lives, mostly with paralysing effects. Looks like only these two have got the real essence and implication of the phrase ‘living in the present’ – the rest of us only parrot the line.
Taking for granted – they rediscovered so many small things that they were taking for granted like climbing stairs or eating samosas or even running. In no uncertain terms the point being made was, within the realm of reasonableness, do not deprive yourself! Eat what you want, do what you like and enjoy wherever you can. The ache of not being able to enjoy the small things was unmistaken, but more than the murmur of regret was the roar of resolve – that nothing shall be taken for granted anymore.
It is in the mind - this epithet that is mouthed so often by so many, and most of times perfunctorily came alive through words and implications in the conversation with both of them .They fought through the grave physical torment compounded by an even graver emotional turmoil only on the dint of spirit. I don’t know what that spirit means – whether that is best described as a will to live or an outright refusal to believe anything is wrong in the first place, almost de-fanging the debility – or may be both; but it was clear that the fight was being won by more than medicines and treatment. In many ways the treatment was the sideshow – their own spirit was central.
They were dipping into a very deep reservoir that lay inside of them – that they had nourished all these years possibly only for this day. I came out of those discussions wondering what was that reservoir for me and how deep it is – and if it shall last me my own journey should there ever be a need to dip into it. I think both of them, through a very testing process have acquired what some spend their whole life struggling to acquire – Wisdom.
Guru
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