Beyond the Peepal Tree

Posted by on May 17, 2010 in Archived Features | No Comments
  Me: A perpetual work in progress. The return flights are booked. Come 11th May we’ll be bound for London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3! After seven months of travel, casually marvelling my way through lands far far away, I’m now looking towards a much more familiar destination. I’m feeling jovial! I have many exciting plans to put in to place and of course seeing family and friends after the time I’ve had to ‘work on myself’ (or ‘gallivanting’ as they’d probably put it) makes also me feel quite giddy! Having said that I’m a bit apprehensive about my London instincts coming back into play… The preoccupation with productivity and perpetual to-do lists: I’m not saying it’s a bad thing however the life I’m used to these days is easy, simple and sweet. We’re tucked away in a little hillside village near Dharamsala and every day is a summer breeze. Clearly I’m going to need to pick up the pace BUT somehow maintain the constant gurgle of peacefulness I feel inside! Easier said than done, of course, but I realised something really important in a workshop yesterday and it was that in order to be fulfilled I need to have a ‘balanced mind’. Sounds simple I know but my problem was that I thought I wanted ‘peace of mind’ – and I do (!) but to be of this disposition ceaselessly is not possible – not for a mere sapling like me anyway! It came as a celestial thunderbolt! An a-ah moment :) and great relief too!! Anyway, thanks to this Buddhist philosophy, I feel I have an updated personal melody whose lyrics are about having a healthy body – balanced mind – happy heart and peaceful soul – just for this moment, just for today :) Ha! I sound so refined and virtuous (of course I’m a work in progress!) but getting home and creating the pace of life that allows me to achieve what I wish and practice what I preach will be the greatest guide! Reshma
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead - US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology (1901 - 1978)

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