Renunciation- A way to look at it

All of a sudden dialogue delivery turned into a debate, when my roomy had incepted about renunciation in-between the happily going discussion among all of the roomies, in which everyone was putting up their best foot forward. I also, could not hold myself back stating that the essence for leaving everything should come from within. Alias, one can feel relaxed and self-focused even if surrounded by crowd of thousands. As for me I see it like as if I am on a journey and I keep on meeting new patrons in the progress; but still I only know where I am heading towards. The destination is still propounded by me. It is just that I was joined by competitors in between. Moreover, even if your attire changes to the one similar to a saint, that does not separate you from the rest of the world. Even if a dispassionate one like an ascetic travel in a group. His social life still exists. According to me, if a common man can abort the belongings and go to peaks of Himalayan but still he is thinking about his credit card bills, mobile bill and has assigned this duty to someone else keeping only following up work for him. In this situation he can pretend to the world as if he is a waiver but deep inside his mind he acknowledges the other way around. When you have dependents, it will be seen as if you are deliberately offloading yourself from your responsibilities of them.

Ending the deliberation, I would like to conclude that if one can restrict oneself to the issues related to him/her only without peeping into others life or without imitating others, one can reach the state of selflessness where he can feel detached of the world besides remaining in the world. Surroundings will have no impact on the thoughts copyrighted by one’s mind. Till the time you are suffering from the disease of anxiety about what’s cooking in neighbor house, you won’t be able to achieve contentment and would go on finding the place for peace, which in turn, lying besides you. As corporate victims, we should not be worried about the how many zeroes are there in the other patron pay-slip who just puts up in your cubicle rather we should be concerned about our own progress and goal achievements. How does it affect your lifestyle if he gets five figure salary or four figure salary? We keep on starving for answer to the question which is not a question in actuality. Just think over it folks. Ultimately, parents and your beloved ones are your belongings which are assigned to you at the time of birth only. Moreover, Friends will never add burden in a person’s life rather help to find the right direction to the boat which is sailing through tough conditions. If deep down the heart, one is thinking to get rid of family and friends in order to achieve the motto; one is cheating oneself keeping in mind what favors the most. But in real check, he would not be able to achieve the success

I am neither educating you nor teaching you all lessons of morality, spirituality or self-esteem for that matter. As always I am sharing my thoughts with my friends, if I can add some value to their lives.

Just because one has more than 300 contacts in mobile directory, this solely does not set criteria for eligibility in race of achieving renunciation. Further, that does not force you to remain celibate or remain unmarried. It’s just your inner soul which should reside in peace deep inside your body.

A JOURNEY WHICH LEADS TO ….

Having explained about my take on renunciation I would now like to take you all again on a spiritual trip after KUMBH. (Don’t be surprised about the sudden u turn taken by the script) However, somewhere both are connected to each other. We talked about something which is very closely related to pilgrimage trip which all of us must have experienced in our life times. Some people go to their respective ancient GOD places to reach the state of self contentment after getting frustrated from all the troubles that they have faced.
Coincidentally I had seen one lady visiting VAISHO DEVI on her stomach. She was literally crawling on the mountains to reach the top and pay her homage to the GODDESS.

By the way, I visited the holy place on 28 August. As they say if you are invited by the GODDESS herself then only you are lucky enough to pay your visit; no matter how many plans you make for the same. By GOD grace I have been travelling there once in a year for last few years. And I consider myself luckier than the luckiest. We five friends started the journey with a KHTAARA (in Punjabi) train, as I want to name it. After spending 15 hrs which were supposed to be max 10 hrs, we reached JAMMU on 28 August @ 3pm. We were group of some GETs and experienced persons as two of us were going to pay homage to GODDESS for the first time. In the train we were accompanied by another group of young engineers, girls also included (nothing much to say). Train journey was spent playing Dumb Sharades, the best indoor game I know, can be played without any prerequisites & sleeping. At some point of time when the destination was so close, train bombed and remained silent for almost one hour, we thought that we could have reached station by walk instead of waiting for miracle to happen.

In the meanwhile Vikas spotted his floaters which, we though, had been missing since few hours. This time, these were the property of a fellow passenger, one of the members of other group. We all pumped him to ask for the property that belongs to him and had been illegally possessed by someone else. So he approached that person asking for the footwear but the fellow person refused to return it stating that they belong to him only. Vikas could not argue as he is a nice guy though he was thinking about keeping the floaters along with him on the berth only as most of us had done. We consoled him in the best way we could (you all can understand). Finally when train arrived at JAMMU, he luckily spotted another set of floaters under one seat but this time it was one size shorter. But he adjusted with situation instantaneously. Now it was time to take a bus to KATRA from where we could start going up the hill. Weather, at its best, was very pleasant. I could feel the joy and was totally unaware about the excitement waiting for us.

Finally we reached KATRA where, after having our registration slip, hired a room to freshen up ourselves and get ready for the adventure. Stuffed our tummies with PRANTHAS and started the journey which leads to heaven @ around 9.30pm. On the check post of BAN GANGA we could see a huge line of devotees who were also willing to worship the GODDESS. But as soon as the checking got finished, we all started in full swing and could easily recognize the pace difference between ours and fellow patrons. Two newcomers were initially fully charged but could not match up the experienced ones. Without any extremities we reached AARDHKUMARI within 2 hours and took the ticket for DARSHAN which we thought can be done while returning due to long waiting hours. We took the easier way now onwards to reach the destination as soon as possible due to time constraint. Weather was pleasant; we were neither sweating nor shivering. Moreover no rains from GOD end also. We enjoyed throughout the journey by pulling legs of one another, sometimes remembering GOD in our mind, discussing civil engineering while looking at structures built on the mountains, resting, eating & drinking. All facilities are there on the way for the ease of pilgrimages. Some cafes like CCD, NESCAFE are also opened keeping in mind the young generation like us. This makes this journey more comfortable and enjoyable. On mountain we were having our respective tastes with the aroma of mind soothing sensations.

Due to stamina and pace difference, at one point of time we all got separated then only I saw a lady who was trying to reach the common destination by laying on her stomach i.e. DAND YATRA. A small crowd was following her and reciting name of GODDESS again and again. I was amazed by the courage and bravery of hers. She was setting an example of inspiration of many of the other patrons, who were to reach same destination, on their feet. Some people were bare footed; some were loaded with the luggage while some were enjoying the horse riding. I was one of the thousands of crowd that day that were aspiring to seek blessings of the GODDESS and every time I go there I fell proud of myself. First time I visited, when I was 10 yrs old with my family. That and today when almost 13 yrs have leaped away, still I have same respect and will to go there again and again.

We reached the residence of the GODESS @ around 1.15am. Within four hours we all excelled in our goal even the freshers somehow managed. But again even after giving such a brilliant performance we dared not to think for rest as we were just on time as per our schedule. After taking bath in nerve freezing iced cold water and wrapping myself into new clothes, submitted the belongings in cloak room and adjusted ourselves into the row which ends only after meeting the GODDESS personally. What a spiritual feeling it was. I started reciting the name of the GODDESS from starting of row. I was totally lost in the field of selflessness, contentment, peace. Within 2 hours of time we were blessed. All of us were feeling very nice after paying our homage to the GODDESS. Around 3.30am we started off for BHAIRON GHATI. The steep slopes tested our endurance limit but we were determined enough to conquer it. We managed to reach there around 4.45am. After paying homage to BHAIRON BABA, we started downing the mountain. As the GODDESS blessed him with the endless support, we were also hoping for the same. Now we could feel the strain and pain. At one point, senses broke down along with dawn break. Now nothing mattered, only we need to catch the train which is scheduled to depart at 11.00am from JAMMU. We all were completely stressed and legs were cursing us to put them in such a situation but in vain. Most of us opted for steps. One behind the other, each one of us could see the fellow members of the group. Even if we did get separated from each other yet we could meet each other after some distance. @ Around 6.30am we checked the status of our turn at AARDHKUMARI, but we were short of time by 4 hours to witness the holy cave. Nevertheless we happily started getting down from there. Continuously stepping down, surprisingly sweating in mountainous morning amidst the clouds, I reached BAAN GANGA check point@ 8.10 am followed by other members of the crew soon. After packing luggage in our room, without wasting a second, we hired a taxi from KATRA to drop us to JAMMU station at 9 am. Concluding we were at station @10.45am, had time to eat CHOLE BHATURA and settled on our respective berths. When Delhi came, we did not even realize. The train journey which seemed unending while starting now appeared very short and we wanted to have it more. After a week also, I remember it like a new refreshing memory.

Discussion started with the definition of renunciation and ended with the ways to achieve it. I made my point very clear while the other roomies were hesitant to accept it. Never mind, it’s not necessary to have brigade after you to register a victory, one man army sometimes, enough to conquer the target. Renunciation is a balance of your routine and your spiritual growth. Once you understand it then it is the easiest thing to achieve. Think about it!! Discussion is still open at both ends.

.Regards

PARUL GOYAL