Weakness of Dispossession To All-embracing Love
A girl in a fishing village in Kerala stood in the presence of the Mother of the Universe. The pain of the abuse she faced daily seemed to wash away. The Mother had turned into pure effulgence and merged into her. She began to feel a spontaneous overflow of compassion. She had transformed into Ammachi, mother to all, dispenser of hugs, and giver of unconditional love. In western India, an exacting guru trained a woman in the rigours of Vedanta. To test her realisation of the universal one- ness of Brahmn, and her detachment to her earthly form, her guru would prescribe such activities as nightly visits to the cremation ground. Unmindful of social ridicule, she THE pressed on. Today, though she is no more, her satang’s continue to spread a powerful and unequivocal message of Supreme Oneness. Tenzin Palmo, an English woman ordained as a nun in Tibetan Buddhism, entered a cave in the Himalayas where she stayed in meditation for 12 years. Her aim? To achieve enlightenment in a woman's form, to embody a female Buddha in the face of all those scriptures that claim nirvana to be a 'men only' club. A young woman mystic, Anandamurti Gurumaa, claimed self-realisation for herself. She had no male guru and insisted on the possibility of women following a solitary path to enlightenment. These women are examples of extraordinary grit and determination. Sure, they didn't run countries or erect big business like some other women we justifiably celebrate. Yet, we must also acknowledge and honour these women who walked on the difficult path of spiritualc heroism, who rose beyond 612 their social and economic contexts and touched that ineffable space of undiluted awareness and pure being that is our core Self. These four women- and many more like them- are remarkable also because they are our contemporaries. They provide us with a framework of spiritual attainment that is current- it is not something that used to happen in an idealised past but can happen right here in our imperfect world. With hearts free of deadening social strictures, minds free of the constrictions of conditioning, we can find true freedom of allencompassing oneness. True, not all of us can live in a cave. We do what makes the most sense for us given our circumstances; else we risk the trap of imitation. Each one of us walks a path made entirely by our own exertions. What we can learn from those who have gone before us is the direction in which to make the effort. These women show us the way. Rather than imitate the particulars of their practice, we could focus on the relentlessness, the hard work, and the equanimity cultivated in the face of worldly challenges. The world doesn't become kinder just because we have embarked upon the spiritual path. Rather, like Tenzin Palmo constantly threatened by avalanches and wild animals in her cave, we must continue our practice amidst adversity and injustice, illness and loss, within the cloister of our being, keeping its flame strong and unwavering like the Vedanta guru and Anandamurti Gurumaa. And Ammachi, who inspires the movement from the weakness of dispossession to the richness of all-embracing love.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are SWATI CHOPRA kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: SWATI CHOPRA Speaking Tree,Times of India
Weakness of Dispossession To All-embracing Love
A girl in a fishing village in Kerala stood in the presence of the Mother of the Universe. The pain of the abuse she faced daily seemed to wash away. The Mother had turned into pure effulgence and merged into her. She began to feel a spontaneous overflow of compassion. She had transformed into Ammachi, mother to all, dispenser of hugs, and giver of unconditional love. In western India, an exacting guru trained a woman in the rigours of Vedanta. To test her realisation of the universal one- ness of Brahmn, and her detachment to her earthly form, her guru would prescribe such activities as nightly visits to the cremation ground. Unmindful of social ridicule, she THE pressed on. Today, though she is no more, her satang’s continue to spread a powerful and unequivocal message of Supreme Oneness. Tenzin Palmo, an English woman ordained as a nun in Tibetan Buddhism, entered a cave in the Himalayas where she stayed in meditation for 12 years. Her aim? To achieve enlightenment in a woman's form, to embody a female Buddha in the face of all those scriptures that claim nirvana to be a 'men only' club. A young woman mystic, Anandamurti Gurumaa, claimed self-realisation for herself. She had no male guru and insisted on the possibility of women following a solitary path to enlightenment. These women are examples of extraordinary grit and determination. Sure, they didn't run countries or erect big business like some other women we justifiably celebrate. Yet, we must also acknowledge and honour these women who walked on the difficult path of spiritualc heroism, who rose beyond 612 their social and economic contexts and touched that ineffable space of undiluted awareness and pure being that is our core Self. These four women- and many more like them- are remarkable also because they are our contemporaries. They provide us with a framework of spiritual attainment that is current- it is not something that used to happen in an idealised past but can happen right here in our imperfect world. With hearts free of deadening social strictures, minds free of the constrictions of conditioning, we can find true freedom of allencompassing oneness. True, not all of us can live in a cave. We do what makes the most sense for us given our circumstances; else we risk the trap of imitation. Each one of us walks a path made entirely by our own exertions. What we can learn from those who have gone before us is the direction in which to make the effort. These women show us the way. Rather than imitate the particulars of their practice, we could focus on the relentlessness, the hard work, and the equanimity cultivated in the face of worldly challenges. The world doesn't become kinder just because we have embarked upon the spiritual path. Rather, like Tenzin Palmo constantly threatened by avalanches and wild animals in her cave, we must continue our practice amidst adversity and injustice, illness and loss, within the cloister of our being, keeping its flame strong and unwavering like the Vedanta guru and Anandamurti Gurumaa. And Ammachi, who inspires the movement from the weakness of dispossession to the richness of all-embracing love.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are SWATI CHOPRA kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: SWATI CHOPRA Speaking Tree,Times of India