Silent Spectators

Life is so simple and beautiful to live, provided one can rise above these human failings. They always keep one entangled in the net of worry and misery. Whatever has to happen, has already happened and we human mortals are just helpless spectators. If we can just withdraw this ‘self’, then only can we enjoy this drama of life.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, as quoted in Treasure Beyond Measure}

The idea of viewing life from the spectator’s chair does seem a lot more enjoyable than what we are used to. Rather than being tossed back and forth between the emotions of passion and hatred, the laughter and wailing, the fear and courage or the meeting and parting that take place on stage under the heat of the spotlight, just sitting back and detachedly enjoying the drama while having some popcorn does seem like a much better option.

Unfortunately, life does require us to get on stage and do some acting. There are duties that we need to carry out and responsibilities that we must fulfil, but this does not mean that we cannot take a step back and enjoy our own performance.

We are so caught up in the struggle to make an impression, to survive the competition and secure a permanent presence on stage that we forget that the script has already been written, the roles have already been chalked out and our exit from this stage has already been scheduled.

Intellectually, we know that life will unfold the way it has to in spite of our constant kicking and pushing. We know that the drama has to end in spite of our much desired long-lasting stardom, but we unfortunately cannot seem to extract ourselves from the scenario.

At a very opportune moment, though, our Master has entered the sets and keeping our welfare in mind, he calls for a “Cut!” We are forced to take a break from the commotion on stage and sit back and relax, in our meditation.

It is in meditation that we are given a chance to press the ‘refresh’ button and get a new dose of courage to face the grind of the stage. It is in meditation that we are granted a sigh of relief from the heat of the spotlight, and it is in meditation that we come to understand that ours is just a role to be played and not the reality.

While sitting in meditation, we learn to detach ourselves from the daily grind; we learn to zoom out of our troubles and focus on the bigger picture, and thus we learn to act and not react to our given script. When we take that step back, through meditation, we learn to relax in the Director’s will, rising above the heartache of loss, the disillusionment of failure and the great burden of decision making.

The Master’s call to ‘Cut!’ and his tender ushering to the comfort of the eye centre is an opportunity that we just cannot afford to turn down. In fact, if we only valued this break that we are constantly offered, we would eagerly jump at his call and rush to sit for meditation without any further ado.

Meditation helps us become silent spectators in this world of passing shadows. It helps us become silent observers of the unfolding of our own destiny; that destiny which is now in our Master’s gracious hands and which cannot but have a happy ending.

This is my delight thus to wait and watch at the wayside where
shadow chases light and the rain comes in the wake of the summer
… from dawn till dusk I sit here before my door and I know that all
of a sudden the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.
_{Rabindranath Tagore, as quoted in Bengali Flower}