While reading horoscopes, I often wonder whether a person can see the future clearly and, if so, how difficult their life would be. He can see his own death, the death of his children and all the family members. He can see major problems and crises. Basically, he will start worrying about something that will happen in the future. The known will itself become a heavy burden. He may run from pillar to post, but will be unable to get rid of it. But what if he knows that there is a life beyond death?
We know a few things, and what we know heavily influences our decisions. Our rights and wrongs, good and bad, are defined by what we know, and our decisions are primarily based on them. Basically, our brain tries to conform to the known framework. In our childhood, our parents told us that we should not talk to strangers because we were vulnerable as kids. Later, we realise that it is fun talking to strangers, especially when they come from different cultural backgrounds and religions. We realise that we confined ourselves to some artificial boundary.
The known helps us make decisions, and we feel safe within that limited domain. We like to travel to places we have heard of, read the books we are interested in, talk to like-minded people, and work in organisations that align with our skill sets. But doesn't that fixation prevent us from venturing into the domain of the unknown and grow? Yes, but then how do we make a decision? We choose a particular path because that career offers something we like. We enter into relationships and make friends, and something within them attracts us towards them. We go to the places we like. How can we overlook our likes and dislikes, and both the good and the bad?
Probably it's not about doing away with the known, but also about giving space to new possibilities. Not closing with what we know. We go to a hill station with the pre-decided points and then discover something profound. Why would we reject that profound experience just because it doesn't find a mention in our to-do list? We talk to a stranger and discover that he has so many different perspectives to tell. Why would we not listen to that stranger? We meet a friend and realise that he is doing something in life that we would also like to explore. Why would we not change the career path we have chosen? A little openness and observation can work wonders.
Quite often, we make a mockery of the openness. We would often claim that we go by the flow and we accept whatever comes to us with the grace of God. Then, we sit in judgment. I have got so much money with the grace of God. By the grace of God, everyone in the family is doing well. With the grace of God, health is perfect. What about the people who are poor, whose families are suffering from a crisis, and whose health is not good? Do they not have the grace of God? Is the grace of God so selective that only a few people have the privilege to get it? Did Ram have the grace of God when he was sent to the forest? Did he have the grace of God when his wife was kidnapped? Did Krishna have the grace of God when he was asked to go to Mathura, leaving his friends? Did the Pandavas have the grace of God when they were thrown out of their empire by cheating? In fact, all their growth is attributable to these situations. Ramayana and Mahabharata inspire millions because of the resilience and equanimity of Ram and Krishna despite so many challenging situations. Why do we need to consider these challenges as a lack of grace to God? That's why it's more important to come out of the classifications within our minds about good and bad, right and wrong. Then we can see the things in totality. Otherwise, we will continue to be prisoners of our rights and wrongs, our good and bad, and keep justifying them in the name of God's grace.
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