Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Back when we were in school, it was a tradition to offer something to the teacher every day. So, whatever sweets were prepared at home, we would share them with her. She lived alone, so she wouldn’t be able to eat much of it. So, she would store everything fresh in a box and distribute the previously stocked stale sweets among children, and the sweets would start to smell.

Children laughed about it, saying that the teacher gave us ‘antique’ sweets. The sweets we gave her came from our house, but when they circled back to us, they carried an extra odour. We stuffed them in our pockets and later quietly threw them away.

This is exactly what we do with our emotions. We carry around old feelings and do not pay attention to new feelings and ideas that emerge today. We mix them with old, stale impressions from yesterday, hurt from years ago, expectations stored since lifetimes. This is where the precious Shiv Sutras offer deep wisdom to free the mind. To fly a kite and guide it from the ground, we need a thin thread. While this thread stays on the ground, the kite soars in the air. That thread is a sutra. Likewise, for our life to soar higher and expand into vastness of infinity, we need a sutra that acts as a link between humanity and Divinity.

One of the sutras is ‘Nartak atma’ . The Self is the dancer or actor. What does that mean? One who dances or acts in a play uses a variety of gestures to express the navaras, nine flavours of emotion. Have you noticed how a dancer expresses feeling? He expresses it so completely with skill and art. If he needs to express anger, the eyes turn red; if sorrow is to be shown, the entire body participates. Yet the dancer does not replay yesterday’s expression into today’s performance.

A good dancer can give good expressions. He can switch roles and expressions in a moment. Similarly, in your life, when you get angry, how long does it take for you to cool down and return to normal? How much time passes before you laugh again? A good dancer does not require much time. In an instant, he changes his feelings and expressions. ‘Nartak atma’ – the Self is just like a dancer. A good dancer does not replay yesterday’s expressions today.

Likewise, the Self expresses Itself as a play. Anger comes and goes; love rises and dissolves, and fear appears and disappears. If you observe, you will see that no emotion, desire, or worry lasts forever. With a little awakening, dispassion naturally dawns in you.
When we understand this, our expectations from even time drop away. We do not sit waiting for time to heal all hurt.

We simply wake up and see life as a play, and everything dissolves instantly. This is called going beyond time – kalatata. That is why Shiv is called mahakal – grand time , the essence of the Self . This essence can be experienced effortlessly on certain days of the year, such as the night of Maha Shivratri. During this time, you feel a deeper connection to existence.

As the giver of experience of the Self, Shiv Sutras are timeless.

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