The Newsletters
There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cupcakes and several cans of soft drink and started on his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman. She was sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his soft drink when he noticed the lady looked hungry so he offered her a cupcake. She gratefully accepted and smiled at him. Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he offered a soft drink as well. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word. As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked, “What has made you so happy today?” He replied, “I had lunch with God.” Before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!”
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, “Mother, what has made you so happy today?” She replied, “I ate cupcakes in the park with God.” And before her son could reply, she added, “You know, he is much younger than I expected”.
Too often we under-estimate the power of a touch, smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring – all of which have the potential to turn life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
I tell you the story of Markandeya. You see, his father had no children and the father and mother were unhappy. So they prayed to Shiva and they said that we want to have a son. Shiva said, “I’ll give you the son, but I will have to take him back after eight years. So he’ll only exist till he is about eight years of age.” So they gave that boon to him, plus this kind of a curse. The parents were very upset that, “our child will die after eight years of age,” very upset. But they found the child very bright, brilliant, and also shining and very religious.
One day he asked his father, “Why do you always so worry? I mean, after all, I am your son.” So they said that, “It is said so, eight years or sixteen years, something like that, now I will be losing you very soon. Who can surpass Shiva? So I cannot think we can really ask anyone to neutralize the curse upon us. If you are not born to us we would not have been so attached to you. Now you are born to us, we are so much attached to you.”
He was a very wise person. He said, “No, I know someone. I know Adi Shakti.” And he went to this place where you got to see this Saptashringi. There he prayed to Her. Nobody had prayed to Adi Shakti. They would pray to Jagadamba. They would pray to all others. To Adi Shakti, who is the God, he prayed to Her… She came there, appeared from the Mother Earth. She just came out and he prayed to Her. He prayed to Her and then the whole place became so vibrated that Shiva could not touch him.
Then he wrote all this Markandeya things. I mean, he was the first who wrote about Adi Shakti. All these things that you read about Shankaracharya, he took it from Markandeya. He was the first who wrote about Kundalini, the first about realization. He was the first who did all that …
So that’s the great part of Markandeya. He took his birth later on as Buddha. Then he took his birth as Adi Shankaracharya. It’s the same personality. But he was actually the son of Rama, to begin with. He was Luv and he went to Russia and that is why they are called as “Slavs” … Another son was Kush, who went to China. That is why they are called as “Kushan”. Then they incarnated again and again, also as Hassan and Hussain, as Mahavira and Buddha, as Adi Shankaracharya and Gyaneshwara, like that.
Shri Mataji, Vienna, 1988
I have veered from Yama to the Lord.
My woes have vanished,
Happiness abides within me.
Those who were foes
Have turned into friends,
The evil have become gentle and pious.
Everything that happens
I now accept as a blessing;
I attained peace
When I realised the Lord.
A million afflictions infested my body;
Through my absorption in Sahaj
They have given way to bliss.
He who realises his true self
Sees the Lord
And only the Lord
In everything;
Nor disease, nor three fevers
Afflict him now.
My mind has returned
To its own Primal state;
I realised the Lord
When I died while living.
Says Kabir: I am merged
In the bliss of Sahaj;
I no longer know fear,
Nor inspire it in others.
Kabir
There was a study done in the 1960s which illustrates the nature of left-sided, right-sided and centred tendencies in children. The study, called “The Marshmallow Test”, was intended to shed light on the nature of emotional self-control. Initiated by the psychologist Walter Mischel, the study involved a number of four-year-old children.
Each child had a marshmallow put down in front of them. They were allowed to eat the marshmallow when the experimenter left the room, but if they waited until his return, they could have two marshmallows! The experimenter then left for up to twenty minutes. A number of the children were simply unable to hold out, and ate the single marshmallow. Others, however, were able to delay eating it, in favour of having the double treat upon the experimenter’s return.
What was remarkable, however, was that, twelve to fourteen years later, the children who were unable to hold out had developed many traits of the left side. They tended to shy away from social contacts, to be indecisive, to be easily upset by frustrations, to see themselves as unworthy, and to still be unable to put off self-gratification.
Of the children who resisted the temptation of the single marshmallow, we find two distinct groups: those whom we would call right-sided; and those who were more centered. Those of the right side, when tracked down in adolescence, were characterised by self-assertiveness; they embraced challenges, pursued goals, were quick to take the initiative and were often aggressive. Those who were of the centre, who were also able to withstand temptation in the Marshmallow Test, were characterised as self-reliant, confident, trustworthy and dependable.
Where the left-sided child is simply unable to resist, and the right-sided child has to exercise strong self-control, the centred child remains detached, distancing himself or herself for as long as is required, doing so with little effort. Such a child neither implodes nor explodes in the face of difficulty, but responds to it with an appropriate attitude that best serves themselves and those around them.
Brian Bell