An ILLUMINATION

Out of the blue, in the middle of all the mental chaos and turmoil…
SUDDENLY…life brings you to a point where everything becomes absolutely clear!
All the fears and insecurities…all the hurt and pain, simply vanish!
And, in that moment of clarity, you find YOUR INFINITY….the absolute truth!

The mental struggle simply stops! After all the long sessions of sobbing and wailing, you become peacefully silent. And then, while wiping away your tears, standing at your window, you see the dawn breaking through the dark night. And while the rising sun illuminates the world around you, you experience a new dawn inside yourself too….
You experience a light within….breaking through the old you…
…..an ILLUMINATION happens inside you!

And, like a new born, you begin to see the world in a fresh new light!

You realize that your happiness and peace never depended on some CHANGE in the outside world. You realize that your well being is not in the hands of some girl/boy or some event that you hoped to have in your life like passing an exam or winning a competition or buying some object.
You realize that true happiness which lasts till your last breath, BEGINS INSIDE YOU, independent of anything on the outside!

You stop playing the blame game! You realize the power of CHOICE that you have been having since the beginning. You awaken to the fact that everything you did or did not do, in the end, boils down to it being your OWN CHOICE & DECISION! And hence, you peacefully accept the fact that directly or indirectly, your life today, be it good or bad, is wholly and solely your own making!

You realize that your entire life you have been REACTING to situations and never RESPONDING. And hence, you learn the difference between REACTION and RESPONSE. You begin breaking out of this habit of giving “Reaction”. Your way of “looking at & handling of” situations & events begins to undergo a drastic change.

You realize that, except a very few of them, most people in your life are not the FOREVER you hoped them to be and that you never had any control over it…EVER!
Everyone was and is “entitled” to their own choicesand you are definitely “not entitled” to have a say in that! You learn to be ok with that fact with dignity and grace!

You begin to learn the art of looking at people and situations as they are! You see everything in absolute clarity! Not how you wished them to be, not how you were trained to look at them, not based on on your bias….. but simply as they are!

You realize the importance of reading and travelling. You realize that the world is full of cultures, practices, belief systems, ways of life and possibilities that might be, until now, beyond your imagination or understanding. Your realm of possible and impossible…right and wrong…starts expanding.
Your mind and heart open up. You begin to explore and experiment.
And in the journey, you find what you wish to become and what you wish to stand against in Life!

You reach a realization that most of your thoughts about how you should behave, how you should look, what you should wear, where you should shop, how and where you should live, what you should do for a living, whom you should sleep with, whom you should marry, how the marriage should be, what you should expect from a marriage, the importance of having and raising children, or what you owe to your parents or children and innumerable other aspects of life and living….are NOT YOUR OWN THOUGHTS!!
It becomes clear to you that the world around you has been a constant influence in feeding you thoughts about the what, the how, the when, the where, the why, etc.
And now, very patiently and peacefully, you begin to peruse through all the crap you’ve been fed throughout your life. You glance through it all and analyse everything from a neutral perspective, an open minded perspective, in a completely unbiased way, trying to figure out what is it that you would like to retain and what is meant to be discarded!

You begin to easily thrive in all dualities and all extremes. You would love to be loved and appreciated but not having that does not make you feel empty or dissatisfied anymore. Materialistic possessions might make you happy but absence of it does not make you sad anymore! You are absolutely OK with people having their opinions about you that might not be well meaning…it does not trouble you anymore. You become absolutely comfortable with who you are…the way you are! You naturally keep on evolving and improving, but that is not to show others…it becomes a natural process irrespective of what others think of you!

You realize that it is absolutely natural to have needs of various kinds and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands. You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with true love, kindness, sensitivity, and respect. BUT….you also reach the clarity that FIRST, a person needs to prepare himself/herself and BECOME WORTHY of the Love, Kindness, Sensitivity and Respect and only then it would all come to you…
It begins with yourself….

You learn that in order to achieve success, you need direction, discipline, faith, strength, actions, sacrifice and perseverance. And as you understand the essence of each of those qualities, you realize that each one is an encyclopedia in its own way! You learn that wishing for something to happen is very different from working towards making it happen. And that sometimes, success might evade you but you learn not to give up if what you pursue is what you REEEAALLY want! You overcome dejection each time it strikes you! Failure does not affect you in a negative way anymore. You realize that nothing is over until YOU believe and say it is over! You learn the art of looking at failure and success in the same light….with the same perspective! You stop making a big fuss about succeeding or failing, the fuss which was in your own mind supported by the people and society around you.

You understand the TRUE MEANING of TEAMWORK. You realize that the biggest or the smallest of achievements in any human beings life story always has a lot of roles played by many people, directly or indirectly. No one in this world can claim to have done anything all alone!

You learn that in order to lead a fulfilling and happy life, it is a basic necessity to FACE YOUR FEARS as soon as possible! Only then can you ever dream of living a life as per your innate desires and wishes! And hence, you start making a mental list of what scares you, and you face your fears with courage and overcome them!
And you make a promise to yourself that in future, you shall nip every fear in the bud itself!

You realize and understand that- YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM and that life is not scheming against you! You realize that sometimes bad things might happen to you. Many bad things have happened to lots and lots of good people. And hence, sometimes, bad people might enter your life and cause some destruction or you might have to go through some bad events which have no logic or reason for happening to you. But that doesn’t mean that you are condemned. You learn the right and valuable lessons and enrich yourself with knowledge rather than continuing to live in a past experience and not going on to the next level. You might have to bear a few hits every once in a while but NO ONE HAS THE POWER TO BREAK YOUR SPIRIT!

You learn that negative traits such as EGO inclusive of all its by-products such as anger, envy, resentment, stubbornness, selfishness, greed, jealousy and pride must be understood to its core, looked in the eye and destroyed, otherwise they WILL suffocate and destroy the life out of you and they WILL poison every relation with every person around you.

You might have been betrayed by people whom you considered an unbreakable part of your life and, due to that, you might have lived in misery for a long time. But now, you are able to empathize and forgive them. You don’t even feel the pain anymore. You stop craving for the pleasures and happiness that you got when those people were with you. You like to look ahead into the future without any resentment or bitterness from your past.
You realize that loving someone is not dependent on getting the same in return.
True Selfless Love, definitely, does not require that!

You become a master empathizer. You amazingly empathize with the happy as well as sad stories and events around you. But you are not emotionally or mentally affected by any of it. You don’t get sucked into it or let your state of mind be affected. Your mental frame is in your control. It is not at the mercy of what you hear, what you see or what you read.

You don’t wait for answers to questions that used to haunt your heart and mind, not because you are tired or have given up but because you reached the calm realization that life does not give answers when you demand an answer but it answers when it is the right time for you to get the answers! And hence, in the highest level of calmness and patience, you stop waiting for the answers but start waiting for the right time.

You are no more interested in playing vicious games of manipulation and deceit to feed your Greed or Ego. Peaceful and balanced life becomes your first priority. Arguing or fighting over something, only to nourish your ego, is not even a thought anymore. You understand the difference between a discussion and an argument. COMPASSION & CONSIDERATENESS replaces COLDNESS & SELFISHNESS!

You stop competing with others. The only competition you have is with yourself. You only wish to become better than your yesterdays self and that is all that matters to you. You realize that just as a wheat plant cannot bear roses or a locksmith would starve if he would try to work as a goldsmith, you are not meant to imitate someone else…You realize the importance of understanding and following one’s own true calling.

You realize the importance of following instincts and having clarity in thoughts! And you realize that Mother Nature is always trying to give you a direction…one simply needs to learn her language…and thus while coming close to mother nature by learning to understand her…you start understanding your own nature!

As your journey reached this point of illumination, you realize the importance of soulmates. You realize that when the time is not on your side and when the worldly support does not give any assistance, your spiritual partner is the one that you need….your SOULMATE.
Someone who marks a before and after in your life in the most beautiful way! You realize that your soulmate gives you a clarity, a direction that you never thought was possible! Everything that was gloomy, dark and painful starts vanishing. Their words, a touch or maybe just a HEARING ear gives you PEACE.
You awaken to the fact that you have to wait for that connection to realize…Every person is destined to have soulmates but you have to wait for the time when you get to meet them. Meeting your soulmate is about love…it is about healing and evolving….FINALLY!
You realize that there is no particular age when you meet your soulmate. You meet when you reeeeaallly need one, when it is the most difficult to carry on….but most importantly, when you are ready!
You also realize that you have to be able to recognize that connection and not simply let it pass by or go away. And you have to allow the soulmate to come closer to you and let the relation evolve both of you!

In the end, you begin to take responsibility for yourself and by yourself, and you try to make a promise to never ever settle for less than your heart’s desire. And with the calmness of a “yogi”, you listen to the sweet music of the wind while watching the rising sun. You let this illumination and the profound clarity take over your existence!

And finally, while taking a deep breath and blinking away the last tear, you make a promise to keep smiling and to staying open to every wonderful possibility in this momentous journey……called LIFE!

May Peace Be Unto You.

-Vishrut