(I)dentity or (I)nfinity?

Imagine wearing undersized garments or living in a tiny compartment, all your life, how would it feel?

Bounded

And imagine removing those clothes or stepping out of that tiny compartment one day, how would that feel? A sigh of relief, a feeling of freedom, comfort, naturalness, isn’t it.. Similar is an experience one gets in meditation.

All the identifications of the spirit with the body, like our gender, caste, creed, color, religion, rank in society, roles we play etc are all like wearing undersized clothes. Because however big the identity/role may be it is only an iota of what the spirit is. The Spirit or Energy from which this whole creation is made. Yet all our lives are directed towards strengthening these limited identities. The identity we hold on feels like our most precious jewel isn’t it.

But for those who have meditated have experienced how it feels to break through those shackles and experience being infinity, even if it is for a fraction of second, it brings great relief to the tired soul, which has been stuck in those limited identities for life times. The relief is similar to that child’s, who once parted with his parents at birth and reunited with them again. Can you imagine how he would feel? Comfort, love and freedom.

Comfort. Love. Freedom

No matter how precious the King’s crown is, he too has to remove it while going to bed. Only then can he sleep and get rest. But how about the crown we wear even to bed! The crown of identification which we carry 24/7, which makes us so tired one day, so very tired that life itself feels like a big burden. Only if we learned to let go of this dearest crown of ours, for few moments every day, the quality of life could be different.

Gurudev once explained the symbolism of the peacock feather in Krishna’s crown. He said it symbolizes lightness of feather he carried with his role. Though he was a king, his identity as a king did not weigh heavy on his head, it was light as a feather. Even in the posture that he stood, with one foot on the ground and the other tilted above, it represents lightness of dance.

When we meditate daily, life becomes like a dance. We can carry our identities with us, just like a play, like we did when we were kids, remember playing chor police!

But knowing for sure this is not who I am, I am infinite, unbounded, scintillating energy and I am indestructible.

How long do you propose to live in those undersized clothes, we have a choice, resolve and meditate daily.

Meditate daily!

Time froze, so did all the mental activities… name melted.. what remained was nothingness… and absolute rest.

– Vasudha Jhunjhunwala