While waiting to cross the road, a heavily loaded truck entered the main road from a side road. Its movement will be slow on a congested road at that peek hour. The other vehicular movements too will be disturbed with its presence on the road!
There came a flashing thought in to my mind, while watching this sight. We as humans also travel heavily loaded with our inner feelings, memories, or aspirations. The travel becomes encumbered by disturbances, inhibitions or anxiety!
'Travel light' was the slogan of the Indian Railways a few years ago.
How are we to travel light when we encounter emotional upheavals or multiple challenges in life?
The three sources of our inner heaviness are on account of our disappointments, aspirations, or expectations. All of them exist in the domain of our control.
The interior space when crowded with such thoughts would need liberation ! This is the exercise of personal debriefing, when one has an inner conversation with oneself to feel liberated from an entrapped mind set.
The inner journey is towards inner sanctorum within, where the ambience is peace and goodwill. The clouds of disappointments, aspirations or expectations which descend in our inner being would get carried away, when our attention turns to experience the inner presence of the companion God.
Listening to one response of a seven year old child by giving away his birthday gift of a set of clothes to his classmate who did not have enough clothes, opened my eyes to this reality of travelling light. His response when parents reasoned with him was, ' I have enough but my friend does not have even the essential'! The boys's freedom to give away suggested his attachment to friendship rather than to things.
That example gave me an insight about another way of living- living relationally! Our needs or burdens become lighter to endure, when we have a mindful attitude towards others and their situations. We cultivate charity by being mindful of others and diffuse the traction of greed!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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