As the year 2023 speeds by, my mind races back to a few valuable lessons I have learned over the last few months, especially from April to June 2023.
If there is one powerful lesson my beloved Guru taught me, it is this, "Surrender to the Divine Will with complete faith and you will be protected."
Dissolve the Fears, Let go of Ego
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with a brilliant corporate leader, who asked me, point-blank, "I am curious and I have to ask you this. Where do you see yourself growing in the corporate ecosystem, five years from now?"
My reply was instant, "I am fully aware this would be the wrong answer to you but since the question is put to me and I want to tell my truth, here it is. The truth is that I don't see myself going anywhere in any corporate ecosystem because my Guru plans for me and I go wherever He wants me to go."
For a moment, an expression of disbelief passed through the person.
I explained, "The Acharyals say that we should never plan our life because the next moment is uncertain. If there is anything Covid taught us, it is the impermanence of life and the necessity to live mindfully in the present. Neither of us in this room can be 100% certain that we will be alive five years from now, five months or even five weeks from this moment - then what are we planning for in the corporate world, really? This is a wrong answer to you, but the most truthful answer that I would confidently place at my Guru's feet because in my journey of life, it is my Guru I want to please, not the corporate ecosystem and not anyone in the corporate system."
I expected the person listening to me to have a good laugh.
I was wrong.
She looked at me and said, "You are so lucky you have your Guru making your career ....you are damn lucky, the rest of us have to plan for our own growth and it doesn't always work out..."
I sensed a discontent within, an unspoken one, from the words.
We all have a bit of discontent in our lives because we are in a race.
A race to succeed.
A race to prove our worth.
A race to be more popular.
A race to reach the top.
A race to beat the others.
As Sri Ramana Maharshi famously said, "There are NO OTHERS."
My life's journey has taught me that we don't race to failure or unhappiness. We avoid it like we would want to avoid the Covid pandemic!
Many skeptics and friends may find this laughable but this is the truth.
To go with the flow of the Guru's Divine Will is like walking on a razor's edge. You fall more times than you are able to have a win-win moment.
My ego worked on the lines of, "But all the projects will crash without me, I cannot take a break now! And if I decided to slow down at this critical juncture, that will hit my professional growth badly."
Every day, I would place my worries at Swami's lotus feet. I would light the deepam, offer my prayers and convince Swami to take my career growth more seriously, knowing fully well the work of the 'ego' begins where we begin to believe that the world revolves around our work alone, that we are the ultimate 'Doers' - and we are egoistic enough to pitch that to the Guru Himself!
Out of the blue, every worry that I had placed before Swami began to dissolve itself in record time. The divine timing was unmistakable.
One day after the other, every issue that I had put to Swami was resolved automatically. It baffled me though I knew it was 'Swami's play' of teaching me a valuable lesson - 'You are not the Doer' and 'Why Fear When I am Here?''
Not only did Swami crush my uncertainties, He crushed my ego too.
Only the Guru can teach some invaluable lessons of life.
He is the only ONE who stands by you when your world falls apart.
Once again, I offer my humblest pranams and gratitude to my beloved SWAMI for teaching me the lessons I often rebel when it comes to learning.
Koti Pranam at His lotus feet forever and forever.
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