Nothing much left to say about Pop King Michael Jackson… or is it, that too much is left to be said. The legend is gone, numbed forever by a history of long abuse of prescription drugs. An old clipping of Sunday Times ignites my thoughts to sizzle, as I read the first page: Combo of Painkillers, Drugs killed Jackson. Striking dance-steps and mind-boggling costumes penetrate to stay on in my memory lane; the bright-eyed singer held the world spell-bound with all his dazzling feats in concerts. Alas! Michael Jackson is no more. Alas! Alas! Alas! Michael Jackson is only one of the many who tore his life apart while living.
With the many-many ‘troubled’ living Jacksons, we are in trouble, too! Inside out the world is a ‘troubled’ place. Is it not? Despite our aversion to sickness, we are not realizing the lethal effects of our ungroomed style of living. Apart from poverty, pollution, social injustice, global warming, (to name a few of mankind’s afflictions) we are deeply under troublemaking waters: by not recognizing the importance of spirituality in our lives. Conceded, sufferings are a part and parcel of life, the healing for our sufferings can importantly come through a spiritual routine, spiritual way of life. In a tick, people come to a decided conclusion that even coming close to the term ‘spirituality’ will sound the death-knell for their earthly ambitions and goals; that, ‘spirituality’ will push them into a cave of detaching them from all desires and enjoyments. All the more reason for these censuring crowds to clear the grief of their hardship-misunderstanding!
Think. How many of us know the actual meaning or value of ‘spirituality’? Think. When did you last plan a dedicated spiritual time-table for yourself? Think. How long did you faithfully keep it up? Think. It needs not much figuring out that we can spend endless hours on our business development, leisure in different forms, directionless holidays. However, the highways of our spiritual evolvement are languishing. Schools should have a compulsory syllabus covering aspects of divine laws. Our ministers must discuss and act (without politicizing and starting off one more controversy) to see that true non-sectarian methods of yoga, meditation are introduced in school-time. We are told of many kinds of yoga and meditations; it all looks good stuff and it may be, or may be not. It is the safest to go with masters who have been deeply guided by the knowledge and practice of solid scientific techniques. Let’s boil it down to say, “I have to find the finest university with the finest master, so that I may capture the finest lifetime refinements for myself.”
India has produced sages who flourished in their craft. They solved the mysteries of human existence, human challenges, human turmoil. Similarly, every nation… I repeat… every nation of the world has produced sparkling examples of those who studied of the nature of God and religious truths. They spread the holiness of truth by grasping the core meaning of theology. To each of us, the effective consciousness will only come to develop through a genuine guru – a mentor, who showed, or shows his own life as the true example of sainthood. (A guru can be living, or may not be living. I regain the strong presence of my revered guru through his remarkable teachings). Remember! There are colleges and colleges, universities and universities, teachers and teachers; so, be extremely cautious, even picky, when you choose your guru. Please remember, it is never too late to mend our souls and that by itself, is the most beautiful feature of following the spiritual path to attain contentment and ever joy!
Geeta Chhabra
